Mercury isotope evidence for a non-volcanic origin of Hg spikes at the Ordovician-Silurian boundary, South China

• Published in: Earth and planetary science letters Vol. 594; p. 117705
• Main Authors: Shen, Jun, Algeo, Thomas J., Feng, Qinglai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.09.2022
• Subjects: anoxia; black shale; isotopic fractionation; large igneous province; mass extinction; volcanism; black shale; mass extinction; large igneous province; anoxia; isotopic fractionation; volcanism

Ordovician-Silurian transition (OST) sections of South China contain extremely high mercury (Hg) concentrations (>1000 ppb) of uncertain provenance. The main hypotheses concerning their origin are: (1) contemporaneous elevated seawater Hg concentrations (e.g., due to volcanogenic inputs) combined...