Huyue Song

• PhD
• Professor at China University of Geosciences

The Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) was a Late Triassic interval of global environmental changes and biological turnovers linked to C-cycle perturbation and global warming. Records of the CPE come mainly from low latitudes, and its impact at higher latitudes is poorly known. Here, we present organic matter (OM) C-isotope and Hg concentration data of...

Geochemical data from ancient marine sediments are crucial for studying palaeo-environments, palaeo-climates, and elemental cycles. With increased accessibility to geochemical data, many databases have emerged. However, there remains a need for a more comprehensive database that focuses on deep-time marine sediment records. Here, we introduce the D...

At the end of the Mesoproterozoic Era (1.1−1.0 Ga), crown-group eukaryotes including rhodophytes and chlorophytes diversified and began to dominate the marine ecosystem. It is commonly thought that the oxygenation of Earth’s surface environment was the driver behind this eukaryotic evolution and ecosystem change, but there is currently little evide...

Acritarchs, microfossils with an algal affinity, are of great significance for studying the origin and evolution of early life on Earth. Acritarch data are currently dispersed across various research institutions and databases worldwide, lacking unified integration and standardization. Palynodata was the largest database of acritarchs, containing 1...

The miniaturization of organisms during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, as an ecological strategy in response to environmental devastation, has been widely recognized in diverse marine invertebrates. Previous studies on the extinction process and miniaturization of foraminifers in the Permian-Triassic interval have relied on the fossil record...

The Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) was a major global climate change event in the early Late Triassic that significantly affected marine ecosystems and carbon cycles. One of the most prominent features of the CPE is the coupled multiple negative carbonate-organic carbon isotope excursions. However, at Erguan and Xiashulao from eastern Tethys, a deco...

Geochemical data from ancient marine sediments are crucial for studying palaeoenvironments, palaeoclimates, and elements’ cycles. With increased accessibility to geochemical data, many databases have emerged. However, there remains a need for a more comprehensive database that focuses on deep-time marine sediment records. Here, we introduce the “De...

Climate breakdown driven by massive volcanic eruptions was the likely cause of the terrestrial Permian−Triassic mass extinction (ca. 252 Ma). However, establishing the relationship between climate factors and terrestrial ecosystem responses is difficult. Furthermore, it is unclear if the pattern and timing of the terrestrial ecosystem crises are co...

The Permo-Triassic mass extinction was linked to catastrophic environmental changes and large igneous province (LIP) volcanism. In addition to the widespread marine losses, the Permo–Triassic event was the most severe terrestrial ecological crisis in Earth’s history and the only known mass extinction among insects, but the cause of extinction on la...

Recurrent global marine anoxia marked the Early Triassic in the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Growing evidence suggests contrasting redox histories across regions, with differing durations and intensities of anoxic conditions, but proposed climate-induced mechanisms for marine anoxia cannot fully explain these contrasting redox...

Extinction selectivity determines the direction of macroevolution, especially during mass extinction; however, its driving mechanisms remain poorly understood. By investigating the physiological selectivity of marine animals during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, we found that marine clades with lower O2-carrying capacity hemerythrin proteins...

Climatic and environmental conditions play a pivotal role in the evolution of the biosphere, serving as the primary natural factors influencing biological evolution and the development of human civilization. The study of the evolution of Earth’s habitability primarily revolves around the reconstruction of climatic and oceanic conditions in geohisto...

During the Marinoan Ice Age (ca. 654–635 Ma), one of the ‘Snowball Earth’ events in the Cryogenian Period, continental icesheets reached the tropical oceans. Oceanic refugia must have existed for aerobic marine eukaryotes to survive this event, as evidenced by benthic phototrophic macroalgae of the Songluo Biota preserved in black shales interbedde...

Finely preserved fossil assemblages (lagerstätten) provide crucial insights into evolutionary innovations in deep time. We report an exceptionally preserved Early Triassic fossil assemblage, the Guiyang Biota, from the Daye Formation near Guiyang, South China. High-precision uranium-lead dating shows that the age of the Guiyang Biota is 250.83 +0.0...

Global warming, widespread oceanic anoxia and stagnation, and large perturbations of the global carbon cycle characterized the end-Permian to Middle Triassic interval. Nitrogen isotopes of marine sediments (δ15Nbulk) decreased through the Permian–Triassic transition, implying development of nitrate-limited and ammonium-dominated conditions (i.e., a...

The Early Triassic records the largest inorganic carbon isotope excursions of the Phanerozoic. The causes of these enormous δ¹³C shifts remain unclear. Here, we present a new high-resolution marine carbonates δ¹³C record from the Yashan section in the northeastern Yangtze Platform of South China. The δ¹³C profile shows two significant positive excu...

The end-Triassic (∼201 Mya) records one of the five largest mass extinction events of the Phanerozoic. Extinction losses were coincident with large igneous province volcanism in the form of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) and major carbon isotope excursions (CIEs), suggesting a link between these phenomena. Marine anoxia has been impl...

Oxygenation, a key control on marine life, has a long and varied history. This is well seen in the early Mesoproterozoic. During this critical period, midway between the Great Oxidation (GOE) and Neoproterozoic Oxidation (NOE) events, low marine levels of pulsed oxygenation - likely driven by fluctuations in cyanobacterial productivity - alternated...

The role of volcanism as a driver of climate change remains widely debated. Following the end-Permian mass extinction, the protracted Early Triassic recovery interval was characterized by extreme climatic and environmental perturbations (hyperwarming, intense subaerial weathering, and extensive marine euxinia) and large carbon- and sulfur-cycle per...

A detailed magnetostratigraphic study, linked to a new latest Permian U-Pb ID-TIMS age, was undertaken on the continental Shichuanhe section (SCH) in North China in order to provide a magnetic polarity scale for the Late Permian-early Middle Triassic interval. Tilt-corrected mean directions of the characteristic remanent magnetization pass the reve...

The Cryogenian interglacial period have witnessed dramatic changes in clim ate, oceanic environment and biological evolution. The nitrogen isotopic composition, as an important biogeochemical proxy, has the potential to track both the nutrient cycling and redox conditions in the past. However, nitrogen isotopic data during this interglacial time is...

Volcanism is one of the most important geological processes that impact Earth's surface system. However, little is known about how a volcanic eruption in the past could cause environmental changes in the sea and its impact on organic matter (OM) accumulation due to the difficulties in gaining high-resolution sedimentary records. Here we conducted a...

The Permian–Triassic transition witnessed the extinction of some 90% in the marine realm and 70% taxa on land. Paleoclimate seems to have played a key role in this largest Phanerozoic biodiversity crisis. However, to understand past climatic conditions on land, which display significant spatial variability (e.g., in terms of local temperature and h...

Climate change is a critical factor affecting biodiversity. However, the quantitative relationship between temperature change and extinction is unclear. Here, we analyze magnitudes and rates of temperature change and extinction rates of marine fossils through the past 450 million years (Myr). The results show that both the rate and magnitude of tem...

Nitrogen isotopes have been widely used as indicators of depositional conditions in studies of ancient sediments. Bohai Bay Basin is a major continental hydrocarbon province in NE China, but nitrogen isotopic signatures of this lacustrine system (connected with the open ocean occasionally) have barely been investigated. We report a study of paleoen...

The mid-Proterozoic (ca. 1.8–0.8 Ga) witnessed a period of stable carbon cycling and long stasis in eukaryotic evolution, which was commonly ascribed to the persistently low oxygen levels in the atmosphere-ocean system. Recently, several pulsed marine oxygenations were identified from different continents, and presumed to have facilitated the short...

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum was the most pronounced global and transient warming event of the Cenozoic and was associated with marked changes in the biosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere. On the basis of the large benthic foraminiferal (LBF) biostratigraphy coupled with δ¹³C record, the PETM event and the Paleocene-Eocene boundary are cons...

The Permian–Triassic mass extinction was marked by a massive release of carbon into the ocean-atmosphere system, evidenced by a sharp negative carbon isotope excursion. Large carbon emissions would have increased atmospheric pCO2 and caused global warming. However, the magnitude of pCO2 changes during the PTME has not yet been estimated. Here, we p...

The biotic recovery following the Permian/Triassic boundary mass extinction was influenced by several secondary extinctions during the Early Triassic, of which the late Smithian crisis is the most severe known for some nekto-pelagic organisms such as ammonoids. The Smithian-Spathian transition is characterized by successive global biotic and enviro...

The marine calcium (Ca) cycle is controlled by rates of continental weathering, seawater pH, and carbonate deposition on the seafloor and is linked to atmospheric CO2, climate change, and marine biotic evolution. Here, we provide the first continuous seawater Ca isotope profile from conodont apatite in South China for the latest Permian to early Mi...

The recovery of marine ecosystems in the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction was accompanied by significant carbon-cycle perturbations, as reflected in large-amplitude global excursions in Lower Triassic carbonate carbon isotope records. In the present study, we generated paired carbonate carbon (δ13Ccarb), organic carbon (δ13Corg), a...

Recent geochemical and paleontological studies have revealed a significant ocean oxygenation episode and an evolutionary leap of eukaryotes at the onset of the Mesoproterozoic. However, the potential role of nitrogen availability and its interaction with other nutrients in these environmental and biological events have not been investigated. Here w...

Rationale The carbon isotope composition of carbonates is widely used in petrology and paleoenvironments as a proxy for carbon sources and environmental parameters during mineral formation or late diagenesis. However, most carbonate minerals in nature are complicated mixtures (i.e., coexisting calcite and dolomite). Precise separation of individual...

In order to reconstruct the redox history of surface seawater for Ediacaran shallow marine facies on the Yangtze Platform, as well as to understand its implications for geological events (oxidation and phosphatization) and early evolution of life, we have conducted a systematic high-resolution investigation on microfacies analyses, pyrite morpholog...

The Permian-Triassic mass extinction is widely attributed to the global environmental changes caused by the eruption of the Siberian Traps. However, the precise temporal link between marine and terrestrial crises and volcanism is unclear. Here, we report anomalously high mercury (Hg) concentrations in terrestrial strata from southwestern China, syn...

The end-Permian mass extinction (ca. 252 Ma) represents the most severe biotic crisis of the Phanerozoic, and it was accompanied by profound environmental perturbations, especially to the global carbon cycle, as indicated by sharp negative carbon isotope excursions (CIE) in both carbonates (δ13Ccarb) and organic matter (δ13Corg). To date, carbon is...

The relationship between oxygen and evolution of early eukaryotes including algae and primitive animals in geological history has been debated, partly due to the varying estimates of oxygen levels in the mid-Proterozoic (ca. 1.8–0.8 Ga) ocean and atmosphere. The upper part of the Gaoyuzhuang Formation (ca. 1.60–1.54 Ga) in North China hosts decimet...

The date of paper: A pulse of oxygen increase in the early Mesoproterozoic ocean at ca. 1.57–1.56 Ga.

The Smithian/Spathian boundary (SSB) represents a major climatic-oceanic-biotic event within the ~5-Myr-long recovery interval of the Early Triassic following the end-Permian mass extinction. The SSB was associated with pronounced cooling following the middle Smithian hyper-greenhouse, a ~ +2 to +8‰ positive carbon isotope excursion, and a second-o...

Carbonate oceanic red beds (ORBs) are unusual in Phanerozoic shelf settings but can be widespread during discrete intervals. Several scenarios have been invoked to explain the origin of these ORBs but there remains uncertainty about the process by which the red pigmentation of ORBs forms. Here, we propose that the occurrence of ORBs at intermediate...

Carbonate concretions provide unique records of ancient biogeochemical processes in marine sediments, and have the potential to reflect seawater chemistry indirectly. In fine-siliciclastic settings, they preferentially form in organic-rich mudstones, owing to a significant fraction of the bicarbonate required for carbonate precipitation resulted fr...

Oceanic environments and biotas were in a state of near-continuous perturbation during the Early Triassic, the ~5-million-year interval following the latest Permian mass extinction (LPME), but the underlying cause(s) remain uncertain. The role of episodic volcanic or intrusive magmatic activity in triggering global-scale perturbations during this i...

The Permian-Triassic (P-Tr)crisis was the largest mass extinction of the Phanerozoic and eliminated over 90% of marine species. However, the nature of marine productivity changes during the crisis is a matter of on-going debate. Here, thermoluminescence (TL)measurements from 144 bulk carbonate samples from Meishan (South China)show two levels of va...

Ocean temperature and dissolved oxygen concentrations are critical factors that control ocean productivity, carbon and nutrient cycles, and marine habitat. However,the evolution of these two factors in the geologic past are still unclear. Here, we use a new oxygen isotope database to establish the sea surfacetemperature(SST) curve in the past 500 m...

The Triassic rocks are widespread in China, and both marine and terrestrial strata are well developed. The Triassic stratigraphic architecture of China is very complex in both spatial variation of the so-called “South Marine and North Continental”, i.e. the southern areas of China occupied mostly by marine facies while the northern China by terrest...

The Smithian-Spathian boundary (SSB) was an interval characterized by a major global carbon cycle perturbation, climatic cooling from a middle/late Smithian boundary hyperthermal condition, and a major setback in the recovery of marine necto-pelagic faunas from the end-Permian mass extinction. Although the SSB has been linked to changes in oceanic...

Sea-floor carbonate precipitates (SCPs), commonly seen in pre-Cambrian strata, were widely developed during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction and the Early Triassic recovery interval. Most SCPs are found in shallow water facies, with few SCPs reported from deep sea settings. Here, we document Lower Triassic deep sea SCPs from turbidite deposits...

Global warming is inferred to have been one of the main causes of the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) boundary mass extinction. Although a strong temperature rise in tropical sea-surface temperatures during the latest Permian has been documented, coeval climate changes in terrestrial sections are less well-known. Here, we analyzed multiple weathering index...

Shallow carbonate platforms exhibit major changes in faunal composition and facies types during the latest Permian and earliest Triassic. Although the microbialites that developed following the latest Permian mass extinction (LPME) have attracted wide attention, temporal variations in shallow-platform facies and faunas prior to the LPME have been l...

Banded iron formations were a prevalent feature of marine sedimentation ~3.8–1.8 billion years ago and they provide key evidence for ferruginous oceans. The disappearance of banded iron formations at ~1.8 billion years ago was traditionally taken as evidence for the demise of ferruginous oceans, but recent geochemical studies show that ferruginous...

The cause of the Frasnian-Famennian boundary (FFB) biotic crisis, one of the "Big Five" Phanerozoic mass extinctions, remains poorly understood. Here, we generated a high-resolution uranium-isotope profile (δ²³⁸U) for a marine carbonate section at Baisha, South China, in order to document secular variation in mean global-ocean redox conditions and...

Evidence for microbial mats has been reported repeatedly from marine Lower Triassic rocks, but scarcely mentioned in post-mass extinction terrestrial facies. Here, we report from the terrestrial Lower Triassic Liujiagou Formation in North China the presence of five kinds of microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS) or sedimentary surface te...

Survival and recovery are important dynamic processes of biotic evolution during major geological transitions. Disaster and opportunistic taxa are two significant groups that dominate the ecosystem in the aftermath of mass extinction events. Disaster taxa appear immediately after such crises whilst opportunists pre-date the crisis but also bloom in...

The significant increase of abundance and expansion of depositional environments that produced unusual sediments in the Early Triassic indicates stressed ecosystems in the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) mass extinction. As one of the characteristically common Early Triassic carbonate sediments, ooids provide a potential proxy to refine un...

Survival and recovery are important dynamic processes of biotic evolution during major geological transitions. Disaster and opportunistic taxa are two significant groups that dominate the ecosystem in the aftermath of mass extinction events. Disaster taxa appear immediately after such crises whilst opportunists pre-date the crisis but also bloom in...

Wrinkle structures in rocks younger than the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) extinction have been reported repeatedly in marine strata, but rarely mentioned in rocks recording land. Here, three newly studied terrestrial P-Tr boundary rock succession in North China have yielded diverse wrinkle structures. All of these wrinkles are preserved in barely biotur...

Long-term secular variation in seawater sulfate concentrations ([SO42−]SW) is of interest owing to its relationship to the oxygenation history of Earth's surface environment. In this study, we develop two complementary approaches for quantification of sulfate concentrations in ancient seawater and test their application to late Neoproterozoic (635...

Various environmental changes were associated with the Permian-Triassic mass extinction at 252.2 Ma. Diverse unusual sediments and depositional phenomena have been uncovered as responses to environmental and biotic changes. Lithological and detailed conodont biostratigraphic correlations within six Permian-Triassic boundary sections in South China...

The Qingyan Biota is one of the most diverse biota among the global Middle Triassic fossil assemblages, yielding more than 300 species belonging to 17 fossil groups, and marking the radiation of benthic organisms after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. This study aims to uncover the detailed foraminiferal and algal recovery dynamics through the...

The latest Permian mass extinction (LPME) coincidedwithmajor changes in the composition ofmarine plankton communities, yet little is known about concurrent changes in primary productivity. Earlier studies have inferred both decreased and increased productivity inmarine ecosystems immediately following the end-Permian crisis.

The lastest Permian mass extinction (LPME) coincided with major changes in the composition of marine plankton communities, yet little is known about concurrent changes in primary productivity. Earlier studies have inferred both decreased and increased productivity in marine ecosystems immediately following the end-Permian crisis. Here, we assess se...

Widespread oceanic anoxia has been implicated as an important factor in the PTB (Permian Triassic boundary) mass extinction and the delayed recovery of Early Triassic marine ecosystems. An investigation of framboidal pyrite in the Bianyang section (Nanpanjiang Basin, South China) suggests that euxinia/dysoxia peaked during the Induan, late Smithian...

A Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) boundary section of continuous carbonate facies, which well recorded the biotic and environmental processes through the great P-Tr transition in the shallow non-microbialite carbonate facies, has been studied in Yangou, Leping County, Jiangxi Province. The P-Tr sequence is well correlated with the Meishan section according...

Long-term secular variation in seawater sulfate concentrations ([SO42–]SW) is of interest owing to its relationship to the oxygenation history of Earth's surface environment, but quantitative approaches to analysis of this variation remain underdeveloped. In this study, we develop two complementary approaches for assessment of the [SO42–] of ancien...

The Yangtze Gorges area is one of the hot spots for the investigation of the Neoproterozoic in the world because of its well-preserved stratigraphic sequences recording the "Snowball Earth", "Cap Carbonate", and the "Miaohe Biota". The Qinglinkou section presented in this paper is one of the typical best-outcropped Neoproterozoic sequences in the a...

Ocean anoxia has been widely implicated in the Permian-Triassic extinction. However, the duration and distribution of the ocean anoxia remains controversial. In this study, the detailed redox changes across the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) in the shallow platform interior at Great Bank of Guizhou (GBG) has been reconstructed based on the high-re...

The marine sulfur cycle is intimately linked to global carbon fluxes, atmospheric composition, and climate, yet relatively little is known about how it responded to the end-Permian biocrisis, the largest mass extinction of the Phanerozoic. Here, we analyze carbonate-associated-sulfate (CAS) from three Permo–Triassic sections in South China in order...

The Permian-Triassic mass extinction was the most severe biotic crisis in the past 500 million years. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the crisis, but few account for the spectrum of extinction selectivity and subsequent recovery. Here we show that selective losses are best accounted for by a combination of lethally warm, shallow water...