To study the origins of the Late Ordovician mass extinction (LOME), which might have been partly triggered by marine anoxia, researchers modeled global ocean oxygen conditions using uranium isotopes from marine limestones of the Late Ordovician-Early Silurian Periods, and report an abrupt but prolonged ocean anoxic event worldwide that coincided with the onset of the LOME and persisted through peak glaciation in the Late Ordovician and deglaciation during the Early Silurian, suggesting that global cooling might have played a role in driving ocean anoxia during the LOME, according to the authors.
Article #18-02438: "Abrupt global-ocean anoxia during the Late Ordovician-early Silurian detected using uranium isotopes of marine carbonates," by Rick Bartlett et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Maya Elrick, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; tel: 505-277-5077, 505-235-2661; e-mail: < dolomite@unm.edu >
###
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences