Global nickel anomaly links Siberian Traps eruptions and the latest Permian mass extinction

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Rampino, Michael R., Rodriguez, Sedelia, Baransky, Eva, Cai, Yue
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group UK 2017
• Subjects: Article; Spitzbergen
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5622041/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28963524; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-12759-9

Anomalous peaks of nickel abundance have been reported in Permian-Triassic boundary sections in China, Israel, Eastern Europe, Spitzbergen, and the Austrian Carnic Alps. New solution ICP-MS results of enhanced nickel from P-T boundary sections in Hungary, Japan, and Spiti, India suggest that the nickel anomalies at the end of the Permian were a worldwide phenomenon. We propose that the source of the nickel anomalies at the P-T boundary were Ni-rich volatiles released by the Siberian volcanism, and by coeval Ni-rich magma intrusions. The peaks in nickel abundance correlate with negative δ13C and δ18O anomalies, suggesting that explosive reactions between magma and coal during the Siberian flood-basalt eruptions released large amounts of CO2 and CH4 into the atmosphere, causing severe global warming and subsequent mass extinction. The nickel anomalies may provide a timeline in P-T boundary sections, and the timing of the peaks supports the Siberian Traps as a contributor to the latest Permian mass extinction.