Major biological events and fossil energy formation: On the development of energy science under the earth system framework

PAN Songqi,ZOU Caineng,LI Yong,JING Zhenhua,LIU Entao,YUAN Ming,ZHANG Guosheng,YANG Zhi,WU Songtao,QIU Zhen,LIU Hanlin

Table 2. Environmental background and ecosystem changes of major Phanerozoic biological events.

Major biological events Major biological events Cambrian life explosion[39-40] Mass extinction at the end of Ordovician[41] Late Devonian mass extinction[42-43] Mass extinction at the end of Permian[44-45] Mass extinction at the end of Triassic[2,46] Mass extinction at the end of Cretaceous[39,47] Event Starting time Around 541 Ma Around 445.2 Ma Around 371.7 Ma Around 251.9 Ma Around 201.5 Ma Around 65 Ma Time duration 514-541 Ma 443.8-445.2 Ma 360-376 Ma 251.88-251.94 Ma 201-219 Ma (No definite time yet) years to millenniums around 65 Ma, or longer Episodic Continuing outbreak Episode 1: late Katian to early Hirnantian, Episode 2: late Hirnantian Upper & Lower Kellwasser Event Episode 1: top C.yini, end-Permian, Episode 2: top I.staeschei, early-Triassic Two-episode One-episode Environmental background Tectonic setting Southward drift of Gondwana supercontinent and northward drift of other plates Late stage of Rodinia supercontinent's break-up and early stage of Pangea supercontinent's convergence, Hirnantian glacial event Pangaea began to form, rapid expansion of Paleo-Tethys Ocean Formation of Pangaea by paleo-plates' combination, Emeishan and Siberia large igneous provinces Breakup of Pangaea, closure of Paleo-Tethys Ocean, Central Atlantic igneous Province Separation of South America and Africa, emergence of Red Sea Rift, northeastward drift of the Indian Continent, eruption of basalt, super mantle plume Climate changes Icehouse climate ended and the global climate turned warm gradually Episode 1: rapid cooling, Episode 2: rapid recovery to warm climate Transformation from greenhouse to icehouse, frequent fluc- tuation of climate Rapid rise of temperature Greenhouse effect Greenhouse effect, frequent acid rain Atmospheric conditions Atmospheric oxygen content increased Higher concentration of CO2 CO2 content decreased and O2 content increased Dysoxic-anoxic, CO2 and CH4 contents increased CO2 and SO2 contents increased Severely anoxic, CO2 and CH4 contents increased Sea level changes Marine transgression globally Episode 1: sea-level dropped by 70-100 m, Episode 2: sea-level rose sharply Two events of marine transgression- regression Marine regression, two cycles in Tethys region Marine regression-transgression cycle Sea-level dropped Seawater physical changes Clear seawater Water substantially upwelling Light transmittance increased Water depth increased, light transmittance decreased Salinity increased, light transmittance decreased Seawater chemical changes Oxygen content rise, salinity decrease, increase of calcium ion concentration Episode 1: oxygen-rich sulfided gas upwelling, Episode 2: severely anoxic condition on the seabed Extensive anoxic condition, seawater temperature dropped by 3-7 °C Water eutrophication and acidification, oxygen content drop Oxygen content drop, water acidification Main geochemical marker Negative excursion of carbon isotope Positive excursion of carbon isotope, oxygen isotope and sulfur isotope Positive excursion of carbon isotope, Negative excursion of nitrogen isotope, Negative excursion of sulfur isotope Negative excursion of carbon isotope, Negative excursion of nitrogen isotope, significant fluctuation of sulfur isotope for several times Significant negative excursion of carbon isotope Iridium anomaly, Negative excursion of carbon isotope Ecological system Nutrition type Osmotrophy, filter-feeding, suspension-feeding Osmotrophy, filter-feeding, suspension-feeding Sessile benthic filter- feeding animals Sessile benthic filter-feeding animals Predatory mammal species and sessile benthic filter-feeding animals Changes in biological species Most of phyla appear in this period Extinction of 86% marine species Extinction of 75% marine species Extinction of 90% marine species and 70% land species Extinction of 52% marine genera and 76% marine species Extinction of 16% marine families and 47% marine genera Causes of biological events Various abiologic processes combined, and interacted with biological factors Paleotemperature changes, water vulcanization and oxygen deficiency, volcanism Changes in climate and seawater, volcanism and rift activity, asteroid strike, etc. Asteroid strike, Siberia volcanism, sea-level fall, oceanic anoxia, extreme high temperature event, acidification event Asteroid strike, severe marine transgression- regression, global warming Atlantic igneous Province Asteroid strike, large-scale volcanic eruption, seawater acidification and oceanic anoxia Standard section Southeastern Newfoundland, Canada Top of Hirnantian: Wangjiawan, northern Yichang City, Hubei Province Bottom of Hirnantian: Section of Scotland La Serre, France Meishan section, Changxing County, Zhejiang Province Luojiagou section, Zigui Country, Hubei Province CGY-CGD section, southern Datang County, Nanxiong Basin Problems High-precision chronostratigraphy, paleontology toxonomy, palaeoenvironment Seawater temperature, microbe and other markers, water properties Spatial variation, coupling of biological and environmental events One-way effect of environment to organisms Selective extinction and terrestrial ecosystem collapse Influence of asteroid strike