A dilute sodium hydroxide technique for radiolarian extraction from cherts.

Radiolarians have been used to determine geological ages and have contributed markedly to our understanding of Earth's history. Hydrofluoric acid (HF) has traditionally been used to extract radiolarian fossils from siliceous deposits (i.e., radiolarian cherts), but this acid is strictly regulated because of environmental and human health concerns. Here we report on the successful extraction of radiolarians from cherts using a low-concentration NaOH solution (1 mol/L NaOH) as an alternative to HF. The degree of chert dissolution in NaOH is strongly temperature-dependent and is limited at < 80 °C. However, even a 1 mol/L NaOH solution is sufficient to dissolve chert at 100 °C. Our new NaOH method yields better-preserved radiolarian fossils compared with the conventional HF method. The 1 mol/L NaOH solution is less hazardous, easier to handle, and has fewer effects on the environment and human health than HF. Therefore, this method can be widely used for research and teaching purposes in studies of radiolarian fossils, even in institutions where HF cannot be used owing to chemical restrictions.

Pelagic responses to oceanic anoxia during the Carnian Pluvial Episode (Late Triassic) in Panthalassa Ocean.

The Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) was a short interval of extreme rainfall in the Late Triassic that caused significant changes in marine ecosystems. Global warming induced by Wrangellia volcanism is thought to have resulted in oceanic anoxia during the CPE, but the global extent, duration, and severity of anoxia, and its effects on major marine taxa, remain unclear. To address this, we examined an equatorial record of conditions in the Panthalassa Ocean during the CPE, focusing on marine Os isotope data, redox conditions, and conodont and radiolarian biostratigraphy. The results show that Wrangellia volcanism peaked in the latest Julian (early Carnian), coinciding with development of reducing conditions in the deep-sea Panthalassa. A strong conodont turnover occurred during the period of oceanic anoxia, whereas radiolarians were less affected and their diversity increased after the recovery from anoxia. The increased radiolarian diversity during the early Tuvalian (late Carnian) can be attributed to chemical weathering and enhanced nutrient fluxes associated with global warming and the more humid climate of Pangea.

Groundwater oxygen anomaly related to the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake in Southwest Japan.

Here, we report the groundwater oxygen isotope anomalies caused by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake (MJMA7.3) that occurred in Southwest Japan on April 16, 2016. One hundred and seventeen groundwater samples were collected from a deep well located 3 km to the southeast of the epicenter in Mifune Town, Kumamoto Prefecture; they were drinking water packed in PET bottles and distributed in the area between April 2015 and March 2018. Further, the oxygen and hydrogen isotopes were evaluated via cavity ring-down spectroscopy without performing any pretreatment. An anomalous increase was observed with respect to the δ18O value (up to 0.51‰) soon after the earthquake along with a precursory increase of 0.38‰ in January 2016 before the earthquake. During these periods, there was no noticeable change in the hydrogen isotopic ratios. Rapid crustal deformation related to the earthquake may have enhanced the microfracturing of the aquifer rocks and the production of new surfaces, inducing δ18O enrichment via oxygen isotopic exchange between rock and porewater without changing δ2H.

Groundwater helium anomaly reflects strain change during the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake in Southwest Japan.

Geochemical monitoring of groundwater and soil gas emission pointed out precursor and/or coseismic anomalies of noble gases associated with earthquakes, but there was lack of plausible physico-chemical basis. A laboratory experiment of rock fracturing and noble gas emission was conducted, but there is no quantitative connection between the laboratory results and observation in field. We report here deep groundwater helium anomalies related to the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, which is an inland crustal earthquake with a strike-slip fault and a shallow hypocenter (10 km depth) close to highly populated areas in Southwest Japan. The observed helium isotope changes, soon after the earthquake, are quantitatively coupled with volumetric strain changes estimated from a fault model, which can be explained by experimental studies of helium degassing during compressional loading of rock samples. Groundwater helium is considered as an effective strain gauge. This suggests the first quantitative linkage between geochemical and seismological observations and may open the possibility to develop a new monitoring system to detect a possible strain change prior to a hazardous earthquake in regions where conventional borehole strain meter is not available.

Bolide impact triggered the Late Triassic extinction event in equatorial Panthalassa.

Extinctions within major pelagic groups (e.g., radiolarians and conodonts) occurred in a stepwise fashion during the last 15 Myr of the Triassic. Although a marked decline in the diversity of pelagic faunas began at the end of the middle Norian, the cause of the middle Norian extinction is uncertain. Here we show a possible link between the end-middle Norian radiolarian extinction and a bolide impact. Two palaeoenvironmental events occurred during the initial phase of the radiolarian extinction interval: (1) a post-impact shutdown of primary and biogenic silica production within a time span of 10(4)-10(5) yr, and (2) a sustained reduction in the sinking flux of radiolarian silica for ~0.3 Myr after the impact. The catastrophic collapse of the pelagic ecosystem at this time was probably the dominant factor responsible for the end-middle Norian conodont extinction.

Osmium isotope evidence for a large Late Triassic impact event.

Anomalously high platinum group element concentrations have previously been reported for Upper Triassic deep-sea sediments, which are interpreted to be derived from an extraterrestrial impact event. Here we report the osmium (Os) isotope fingerprint of an extraterrestrial impact from Upper Triassic chert successions in Japan. Os isotope data exhibit a marked negative excursion from an initial Os isotope ratio ((187)Os/(188)Osi) of ~0.477 to unradiogenic values of ~0.126 in a platinum group element-enriched claystone layer, indicating the input of meteorite-derived Os into the sediments. The timing of the Os isotope excursion coincides with both elevated Os concentrations and low Re/Os ratios. The magnitude of this negative Os isotope excursion is comparable to those found at Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary sites. These geochemical lines of evidence demonstrate that a large impactor (3.3-7.8 km in diameter) produced a global decrease in seawater (187)Os/(188)Os ratios in the Late Triassic.

Deep-sea record of impact apparently unrelated to mass extinction in the Late Triassic.

The 34-million-year (My) interval of the Late Triassic is marked by the formation of several large impact structures on Earth. Late Triassic impact events have been considered a factor in biotic extinction events in the Late Triassic (e.g., end-Triassic extinction event), but this scenario remains controversial because of a lack of stratigraphic records of ejecta deposits. Here, we report evidence for an impact event (platinum group elements anomaly with nickel-rich magnetite and microspherules) from the middle Norian (Upper Triassic) deep-sea sediment in Japan. This includes anomalously high abundances of iridium, up to 41.5 parts per billion (ppb), in the ejecta deposit, which suggests that the iridium-enriched ejecta layers of the Late Triassic may be found on a global scale. The ejecta deposit is constrained by microfossils that suggest correlation with the 215.5-Mya, 100-km-wide Manicouagan impact crater in Canada. Our analysis of radiolarians shows no evidence of a mass extinction event across the impact event horizon, and no contemporaneous faunal turnover is seen in other marine planktons. However, such an event has been reported among marine faunas and terrestrial tetrapods and floras in North America. We, therefore, suggest that the Manicouagan impact triggered the extinction of terrestrial and marine organisms near the impact site but not within the pelagic marine realm.