Severe selenium depletion in the Phanerozoic oceans as a factor in three global mass extinction events |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, POB 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia;2. Museum Victoria, PO Box 666, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia;3. ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits (CODES), School of Physical Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 79, Hobart Tasmania, 7001, Australia;4. South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia;5. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia;6. School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK;7. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA;8. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia;9. Institute of Mining Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany;1. State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China;2. College of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China;3. Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, PetroChina, Beijing 100083, China;4. Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0013, USA;5. Petroleum Production and Research Institute of SINOPEC, Beijing 100083, China |
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| Abstract: | Selenium (Se) is one of the key trace elements required by all animal and most plant life, and Se deficiencies in the food chain cause pathologies or death. Here we show from new geochemical analyses of trace elements in Phanerozoic marine pyrite that sustained periods of severe Se depletion in the past oceans correlate closely with three major mass extinction events, at the end of the Ordovician, Devonian and Triassic periods. These represent periods of Se depletion > 1.5–2 orders of magnitude lower than current ocean abundances, being within the range to cause severe pathological damage in extant Se-reliant organisms. Se depletion may have been one of several factors in these complex extinction scenarios. Recovery from the depletion/extinction events is likely part of a natural marine cycle, although rapid rises in global oxygen from sudden major increases in marine productivity and plant biomass after each extinction event may also have played a crucial role. |
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