Coupled carbonate-shale thallium isotopes reveal the evolution of deep-marine anoxia during the end-Permian mass extinction

Ocean anoxia played a key role in the end-Permian mass extinction, the most severe biotic crisis in Earth's history, yet reconstructions of oxygenation through this event have lacked a focus on deep-water oxygen loss. Thallium isotopes, which track deep-ocean oxygenation via manganese oxide burial, offer a potential solution but have only been applied to siliciclastic sections, limiting spatial and temporal coverage. Here, we present a combined carbonate-shale Tl isotope record, spanning four geographically distant regions and providing a near-continuous record of global-scale redox change during the extinction interval. Both lithologies record deep-marine anoxia beginning 1 million years before the extinction, demonstrating that carbonate- and shale-hosted Tl isotopes preserve consistent redox signals. Late Permian oxygen depletion likely remained largely constrained to the deep ocean and was distinct from the shelf- and slope-depth euxinia of the Early Triassic that was coupled with climate warming and central to the loss of animal diversity.

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Journal
Science Advances
Published
2026-10-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aef5669
Primary Topic
Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Coupled carbonate-shale thallium isotopes reveal the evolution of deep-marine anoxia during the end-Permian mass extinction

Sune G. Nielsen, Susannah Herz, Tapan Mukerji, Demir Altıner et al.
2 links
Science Advances
Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
article

Coupled carbonate-shale thallium isotopes reveal the evolution of deep-marine anoxia during the end-Permian mass extinction

Sune G. Nielsen, Susannah Herz, Tapan Mukerji, Demir Altıner, Diego P. Fernández, Chadlin M. Ostrander, David P.G. Bond, Stephen Edward Grasby, Daniel J. Lehrmann, Jonathan L. Payne, Yanan Shen, Andrew Siciliano, Menghan Li, Christopher R. Anderson, Meiyi Yu
article en

Abstract

Ocean anoxia played a key role in the end-Permian mass extinction, the most severe biotic crisis in Earth's history, yet reconstructions of oxygenation through this event have lacked a focus on deep-water oxygen loss. Thallium isotopes, which track deep-ocean oxygenation via manganese oxide burial, offer a potential solution but have only been applied to siliciclastic sections, limiting spatial and temporal coverage. Here, we present a combined carbonate-shale Tl isotope record, spanning four geographically distant regions and providing a near-continuous record of global-scale redox change during the extinction interval. Both lithologies record deep-marine anoxia beginning 1 million years before the extinction, demonstrating that carbonate- and shale-hosted Tl isotopes preserve consistent redox signals. Late Permian oxygen depletion likely remained largely constrained to the deep ocean and was distinct from the shelf- and slope-depth euxinia of the Early Triassic that was coupled with climate warming and central to the loss of animal diversity.

Science AdvancesVol. 12(44)
Macau University of Science and Technology (MO), University of Science and Technology of China (CN), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Geological Survey of Canada (CA), Guizhou University (CN), University of Hull (GB), Middle East Technical University (TR), University of Utah (US), Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques (FR), Trinity University (US), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (US), Stanford University (US)
National Science Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Environment Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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