Volcanism in the extinction record
Mercury anomalies point to massive eruptions alongside the ice as a cause of the dying.
- When
- Known to
- ± 2 million years
- Era
- Ordovician, Paleozoic
Sedimentary mercury spikes, a fingerprint of large igneous province volcanism, occur at both pulses of the Late Ordovician extinction, though with different chemical signatures. This has revived the argument that eruptions contributed alongside glaciation and anoxia. The Late Ordovician remains the one major mass extinction traditionally attributed to cooling rather than volcanic warming, and that consensus is now under pressure.