Abstract
Earth experienced repeated episodes of widespread surface and deep-ocean anoxia with a significant accumulation of sulphide-rich waters over the past two billion years1,2. The resulting massive releases of hydrogen sulphide from the oceans, together with methane from the geosphere, have been suggested as a cause for mass extinctions through destruction of the ozone shield and a lethal accumulation of hydrogen sulphide at the surface1,2,3,4. Here, we use a two-dimensional atmospheric chemistry-transport model5,6,7 with representative climate8 and atmospheric composition9 to simulate the effect of large hydrogen sulphide and methane releases at the time of the end-Permian mass extinction ∼251 million years ago. In our simulations, the integrity of the stratospheric ozone shield is maintained for oceanic hydrogen sulphide releases up to 15,000 Tg S yr−1, a limit far exceeding the threshold for ozone collapse identified previously1 (2,000–4,000 Tg S yr−1). Scenarios of simultaneous hydrogen sulphide and methane injections also failed to significantly deplete the Earth’s ozone shield, and generated non-lethal hydrogen sulphide concentrations (1–2 p.p.m.) at the surface. In our two-dimensional model simulations, the high photolysis environment in the tropics maintains the oxidizing capacity of the tropical troposphere, with high local hydroxyl radical concentrations, and greatly diminishes hydrogen sulphide entry into the stratosphere. We suggest that given current constraints on possible hydrogen sulphide and methane releases from anoxic oceans, and the geosphere, over the past 0.5 billion years, these gases seem unlikely to be the cause of coincident terrestrial biotic mass extinctions.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kump, L. R., Pavlov, A. & Arthur, M. A. Massive release of hydrogen sulphide to the surface ocean and atmosphere during intervals of oceanic anoxia. Geology 33, 397–400 (2005).
Grice, K. et al. Photic zone euxinia during the Permian-Triassic superanoxic event. Science 307, 706–709 (2005).
Lamarque, J.-F., Kiehl, J. T., Shields, C. A., Boville, B. A. & Kinnison, D. E. Modeling the response to changes in tropospheric methane concentrations: Application to the Permian-Triassic boundary. Paleoceanography 21 doi:10.1029/2006PA001276 (2006).
Lamarque, J.-F., Kiehl, J. T. & Orlando, J. J. Role of hydrogen sulphide in a Permian-Triassic boundary ozone collapse. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34 doi:10.1029/2006GL028384 (2007).
Harwood, R. S. & Pyle, J. A. A two-dimensional mean circulation model for the atmosphere below 80 km. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 101, 723–747 (1975).
Harwood, R. S. & Pyle, J. A. The dynamical behaviour of a two-dimensional model of the stratosphere. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 106, 395–420 (1980).
Law, K. S. & Pyle, J. A. Modeling trace gas budgets in the troposphere. 1. Ozone and odd nitrogen. J. Geophys. Res. 98, 18377–18400 (1993).
Kiehl, J. T. & Shields, C. A. Climate simulation of the latest Permian: Implications for mass extinction. Geology 33, 757–760 (2005).
Berner, R. A. The carbon and sulfur cycles and atmospheric oxygen from middle Permian to middle Triassic. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 69, 3211–3217 (2005).
Benton, M. J. & Twichett, R. J. How to kill (almost) all life: The end-Permian extinction event. Trends Ecol. Evol. 18, 358–365 (2003).
Wignall, P. & Twichett, R. J. Oceanic anoxia and the End Permian mass extinction. Science 272, 1155–1158 (1996).
Visscher, H. et al. Environmental mutagenesis during the end-Permian ecological crisis. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 101, 12952–12956 (2004).
Foster, C. B. & Afonin, S. A. Abnormal pollen grains: An outcome of deteriorating atmospheric conditions around the Permian-Triassic boundary. J. Geol. Soc. 162, 653–659 (2005).
Krull, E. S. & Retallack, G. J. δ13C depth profiles from paleosols across the Permian-Triassic boundary: Evidence for methane release. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 112, 1459–1472 (2000).
Berner, R. A. Examination of hypotheses for the Permo-Triassic boundary extinction by carbon cycle modelling. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 99, 4172–4177 (2002).
Payne, J. L. et al. Large perturbations of the carbon cycle during recovery from the end-Permian extinction. Science 305, 506–509 (2004).
Harfoot, M. B. J., Beerling, D. J., Lomax, B. H. & Pyle, J. A. A 2-D atmospheric chemistry modelling investigation of Earth’s Phanerozoic O3 and near-surface ultraviolet radiation history. J. Geophys. Res. 112 doi:10.1029/2006JD007372 (2007).
Canfield, D. E. The early history of atmospheric oxygen: Homage to Robert Garrels. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 33, 1–36 (2005).
Beerling, D. J., Harfoot, M., Lomax, B. & Pyle, J. A. The stability of the stratospheric ozone layer during the end-Permian eruption of the Siberian Traps. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 365, 1843–1866 (2007).
Bekki, S. & Pyle, J. A. Two-dimensional assessment of the impact of aircraft sulphur emissions on the stratospheric sulphate aerosol layer. J. Geophys. Res. 97, 15839–15847 (1992).
Bhambhani, Y., Burham, R., Snydmiller, G., MacLean, I. & Martin, T. Effects of 5 ppm hydrogen sulfide inhalation on biochemical properties of skeletal muscle in exercising men. Am. Ind. Hyg. Assoc. J. 57, 464–468 (1996).
Durenkamp, M., De Kok, L. J. & Kopriva, S. Adenosine 5’-phosphosulphate reductase is regulated differently in Allium cepa L. and Brassica oleracea L. upon exposure to H2S. J. Exp. Bot. 58, 1571–1579 (2007).
Thompson, C. R. & Kats, G. Effects of continuous H2S fumigation on crop and forest plants. Environ. Sci. Technol. 12, 550–553 (1978).
Chapman, S. A theory of upper-atmosphere ozone. Mem. R. Meteorol. Soc. 3, 103–125 (1930).
Osborn, M. T., Decoursey, R. J., Trepte, C. R., Winker, D. M. & Woods, D. C. Evolution of the Pinatubo volcanic cloud over Hampton, Virginia. Geophys. Res. Lett. 22, 1101–1104 (1995).
Baran, A. J. & Foot, J. S. New application of the operational sounder HIRS in determining a climatology of sulphuric acid aerosol from the Pinatubo eruption. J. Geophys. Res. 99, 25673–25679 (1994).
Rosenfield, J. E. et al. Stratospheric effects of Mount Pinatubo aerosol studied with a coupled two-dimensional model. J. Geophys. Res. 102, 3649–3670 (1997).
Giannakopoulos, C. Modelling the Impact of Physical and Removal Processes on Tropospheric Chemistry. Thesis, Univ. of Cambridge (1998).
Cooper, D. J. & Saltzman, E. S. Measurements of atmospheric dimethyl sulphide and carbon-disulfide in the western Atlantic boundary layer. J. Atmos. Chem. 12, 153–168 (1993).
Rampino, M. R., Prokoph, A. & Adler, A. Tempo of the end-Permian event: High resolution cyclostratigraphy at the Permian-Triassic boundary. Geology 28, 643–646 (2000).
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge discussions with L. Kump and financial support through an award from the Natural Environment Research Council (NER/A/S/2002/00865) and a studentship to M.B.H. (NER/S/J/2003/11963). NCAS are thanked for provision of computing resources.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
M.B.H. designed and conducted the model experiments and drafted sections of the manuscript, J.A.P. supervised the calculations and model modifications and D.J.B. designed the model experiments and drafted the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Harfoot, M., Pyle, J. & Beerling, D. End-Permian ozone shield unaffected by oceanic hydrogen sulphide and methane releases. Nature Geosci 1, 247–252 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo154
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo154
This article is cited by
-
The nature of the Pacific plate as subduction inputs to the northeastern Japan arc and its implication for subduction zone processes
Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2023)