Dying in the Sun: Direct evidence for elevated UV-B radiation at the end-Permian mass extinction

2023/01/06 by Feng Liu, Huiping Peng, John Marshall +5 · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils

paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/sciadv.abo6102

openalex publication_date 2023/01/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Land plants can adjust the concentration of protective ultraviolet B (UV-B)-absorbing compounds (UACs) in the outer wall of their reproductive propagules in response to ambient UV-B flux. To infer changes in UV-B radiation flux at Earth's surface during the end-Permian mass extinction, we analyze UAC abundances in ca. 800 pollen grains from an independently dated Permian-Triassic boundary section in Tibet. Our data reveal an excursion in UACs that coincide with a spike in mercury concentration and a negative carbon-isotope excursion in the latest Permian deposits, suggesting a close temporal link between large-scale volcanic eruptions, global carbon and mercury cycle perturbations, and ozone layer disruption. Because enhanced UV-B radiation can exacerbate the environmental deterioration induced by massive magmatism, ozone depletion is considered a compelling ecological driver for the terrestrial mass extinction.

Citations

• Lethally Hot Temperatures During the Early Triassic Greenhouse
• Coverage‐based rarefaction and extrapolation: standardizing samples by completeness rather than size
• No mass extinction for land plants at the Permian–Triassic transition
• A high-resolution summary of Cambrian to Early Triassic marine invertebrate biodiversity
• Toxic mercury pulses into late Permian terrestrial and marine environments

Cited by

• 2023 in paleontology [wikipedia]