Methanogenic burst in the end-Permian carbon cycle
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Rothman-2014-Methanogenic burst i.pdf
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Author(s)
Rothman, Daniel H.
Fournier, Gregory P.
French, Katherine L.
Alm, Eric J.
Boyle, Edward A.
Summons, Roger Everett
Cao, Changqun
Date Issued
April 2014
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Citation
Rothman, D. H., G. P. Fournier, K. L. French, E. J. Alm, E. A. Boyle, C. Cao, and R. E. Summons. “Methanogenic Burst in the End-Permian Carbon Cycle.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, no. 15 (March 31, 2014): 5462–5467.
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Final published version
Abstract
The end-Permian extinction is associated with a mysterious disruption to Earth’s carbon cycle. Here we identify causal mechanisms via three observations. First, we show that geochemical signals indicate superexponential growth of the marine inorganic carbon reservoir, coincident with the extinction and consistent with the expansion of a new microbial metabolic pathway. Second, we show that the efficient acetoclastic pathway in Methanosarcina emerged at a time statistically indistinguishable from the extinction. Finally, we show that nickel concentrations in South China sediments increased sharply at the extinction, probably as a consequence of massive Siberian volcanism, enabling a methanogenic expansion by removal of nickel limitation. Collectively, these results are consistent with the instigation of Earth’s greatest mass extinction by a specific microbial innovation.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Lorenz Center (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1318106111
