
Jacopo Dal CorsoChina University of Geosciences
Jacopo Dal Corso
PhD in Geological Sciences
About
103
Publications
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Introduction
I'm a geologist working on mass extinctions and palaeoenvironment reconstruction using a multidisciplinary approach that includes geochemistry, stratigraphy, sedimentology and palaeontology.
Additional affiliations
October 2017 - September 2019
May 2017 - June 2017
September 2016 - August 2017

Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg
Position
- Fellow
Description
- Principal Investigator of a research project on "Carbon Cycle Perturbation and the Birth of Pelagic Calcification in the Carnian (Late Triassic)"
Education
January 2008 - January 2011
September 2005 - September 2007
September 2001 - July 2005
Publications
Publications (103)
Major climate changes and mass extinctions are associated with carbon isotope anomalies
in the atmosphere-ocean system and have been shown to coincide with the onset of large igne- ous provinces (LIPs) and, by association, their emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols. However, climatic and biological consequences of some known LIP eruptions hav...
Records suggest that the Permo–Triassic mass extinction (PTME) involved one of the most severe terrestrial ecosystem collapses of the Phanerozoic. However, it has proved difficult to constrain the extent of the primary productivity loss on land, hindering our understanding of the effects on global biogeochemistry. We build a new biogeochemical mode...
The Carnian Pluvial Episode (Late Triassic) was a time of global environmental changes and possibly substantial coeval volcanism. The extent of the biological turnover in marine and terrestrial ecosystems is not well understood. Here, we present a meta-analysis of fossil data that suggests a substantial reduction in generic and species richness and...
Significance
The Carnian Stage of the Triassic Period marks one of the most significant intervals of the past 250 My. Within the space of ∼2 My, the world’s biota underwent major changes with dinosaurs becoming the notable incumbents. These events coincide with a remarkable interval of intense rainfall known as the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE). He...
The link between the Permian–Triassic mass extinction (252 million years ago) and the emplacement of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province (STLIP) was first proposed in the 1990s. However, the complex cascade of volcanically driven environmental and biological events that led to the largest known extinction remains challenging to reconstruct. I...
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...
Insects are the major contributor of Earth’s biodiversity, as the most diverse group in the modern biosphere. Considerable debates on the timing of entomofauna modernization remain, but most recent studies indicate it could have happened during the Triassic, following the “Great Dying” across the Permian–Triassic boundary. Using global insect diver...
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...
The nature of the magma plumbing system of Large Igneous Provinces is still poorly understood. Among these exceptional magmatic events from Earth’s past, the end-Triassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) and the end-Cretaceous Deccan Traps (Deccan) coincided in time with two of the most catastrophic biotic crises during the Phanerozoic. In...
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...
The Early Jurassic Jenkyns Event (or Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event T-OAE) was an episode of global warming and C-cycle perturbation that affected both marine and terrestrial ecosystems, but the interplay between climate change and vegetation is not established in detail from sections outside of Europe. Here, abundance changes in spore-pollen assemb...
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...
The emergence of intracellular calcification among marine unicellular eukaryotes in the Late Triassic (237-201 Ma) had profound consequences for the carbonate buffering capacity of the ocean. Research on the appearance of calcification typically focuses on the reasons that made this process successful on a global scale. The underlying environmental...
The rise of calcifying nannoplankton in the Late Triassic (237–201 Ma) had profound consequences for the carbonate buffering capacity of the ocean. Research on the appearance of calcification typically focuses on the reasons that made this process successful on a global scale. The underlying environmental and physiological conditions that led to it...
This PDF contains the extensive Supplementary Data of the paper "Amber and the Cretaceous Resinous Event" at the end of it
THE PAPER IS IN OPEN ACCESS IN THE URL:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104486
Amber is fossilized resin that preserves biological remains in exceptional detail, study of which has revolutionized understanding of past terrestrial organisms and habitats from the Early Cretaceous to the present day. Cretaceous amber outcrops are more abund...
The Early Jurassic Toarcian oceanic anoxic event (T-OAE, ca. 183 Ma) was accompanied by a major biotic turnover in the oceans and substantial vegetation change on land. The marine biotic crisis has been attributed to several triggers, e.g., anoxia, warming, ocean acidification, yet the processes underlying the collapse of the terrestrial ecosystem...
A higher precipitation regime during the early Late Triassic Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE; 232–234 Ma) in many marine basins is evidenced by thick siliciclastic deposits, which are coeval with C-cycle perturbations and global warming. However, the mechanisms driving higher siliciclastic deposition are still not fully explored and could be linked to...
Massive carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are widely assumed to be the driver of the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME). However, the rate of and total CO2 released, and whether the source changes with time, remain poorly understood, leaving a key question surrounding the trigger for the EPME unanswered. Here, we assimilate reconstructions of atmosphe...
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 Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE, ∼183 Ma) was marked by a pronounced negative carbon-isotope excursion, rapid global warming, ocean deoxygenation, and turnover of marine and terrestrial biota. The T-OAE has been linked to carbon (C) release from volcanism, but the mechanisms controlling the cycling of C, metals, and nutrients during the ev...
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 Sinemurian-Pliensbachian boundary event (ca. 193 Ma) is recorded as a global perturbation of the carbon cycle, as evidenced by a large negative carbon-isotope excursion recorded in many marine sedimentary successions. Whereas multiple lines of evidence testify that the Sinemurian-Pliensbachian boundary event was associated with environmental an...
The Late Ordovician mass extinction (LOME, ca. 445 Ma; Hirnantian stage) is the second most severe biological crisis of the entire Phanerozoic. The LOME has been subdivided into two pulses (intervals), at the beginning and the ending of the Hirnantian glaciation, the LOMEI-1 and LOMEI-2, respectively. Although most studies suggest a rapid cooling a...
The end-Triassic mass extinction (ETME) was associated with intensified deep-water anoxia in epicontinental seas and mid-depth waters, yet the absolute oxygenation state in the shallow ocean is uncharacterized. Here we report carbonate-associated iodine data from the peritidal Mount Sparagio section (Southern Italy) that documents the ETME (~ 200 M...
Past major biological turnovers are coeval to large injections of CO2 into the atmosphere–ocean system that are often linked to the emplacement of Large Igneous Provinces. The impact of these CO2 pulses on ecosystems is however different at different times, and this difference is contingent on the initial boundary conditions. Here, we show how dela...
The climatic and environmental impact of exclusively volcanic CO2 emissions is assessed during the main effusive phase of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), which is synchronous with the end-Triassic mass extinction. CAMP volcanism occurred in brief and intense eruptive pulses each producing extensive basaltic lava flows. Here, CAMP vol...
Exceptional magmatic events coincided with the largest mass extinctions throughout Earth’s history. Extensive degassing from organic-rich sediments intruded by magmas is a possible driver of the catastrophic environmental changes, which triggered the biotic crises. One of Earth’s largest magmatic events is represented by the Central Atlantic Magmat...
The Late Triassic Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) was a time of biological turnover and environmental perturbations. Within the CPE interval, C-isotope and sedimentary records indicate multiple pulses of depleted carbon into the atmosphere–ocean system linked to discrete enhancements of the hydrological cycle. Data suggest a similar cascade of events...
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...
Teratological spores and pollen are widespread in sediments that record the Permian- Triassic mass extinction. The malformations are thought to be the result of extreme environmental conditions at that time, but the mutagenic agents and the precise timing of the events remain unclear. We examined the abundance of teratological sporomorphs and metal...
It has been argued that the beginning of significant pelagic calcification could have been linked to the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE), a climate change in the Late Triassic (~234–232 Ma) that was marked by C-cycle disruption and global warming. Nevertheless, abundant calcareous nannofossils have been described so far only in post-CPE rocks, and th...
The role of ocean anoxia as a cause of the end-Triassic marine mass extinction is widely debated. Here, we present carbonate-associated sulfate d34S data from sections spanning the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic transition, which document synchronous large positive excursions on a global scale occurring in ~50 thousand years. Biogeochemical modeling...
Large Igneous Province eruptions coincide with many major Phanerozoic mass extinctions, suggesting a cause-effect relationship where volcanic degassing triggers global climatic changes. In order to fully understand this relationship, it is necessary to constrain the quantity and type of degassed magmatic volatiles, and to determine the depth of the...
The Permo-Triassic marine mass extinction has been blamed on a range of culprits including anoxia, acidification, high temperature and increased sedimentation and nutrient influx, the last two being a direct consequence of terrestrial biomass die-off and climatic changes. In marine settings, the role of these kill mechanisms is likely to be depth-d...
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 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 Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) is an interval of global climate change that profoundly modified the Upper Triassic depositional systems. The CPE influenced both shallow and deep water environments and investigations are revealing the complex expression of its effects in different geological settings. The Southern Alps of Italy host an articulate...
The CAMP was emplaced at ca. 201 Ma, close to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (Marzoli et al., 1999; 2018; Youbi et al., 2003), during the early stages of the break up of the supercontinent of Pangaea that led to the opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean. CAMP magmatism is nowadays represented by remnants of intrusive (crustal underplates, layered i...
Early Jurassic shallow water carbonate environments of Tethys experienced important changes in a context of rifting that climaxed with the final break-up of Pangea. This time was also characterized by major perturbations of the global carbon cycle, some of which likely linked to the emplacement of large igneous provinces. At the Sinemurian–Pliensba...
The Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) was a perturbation of the Late Triassic climate that had a strong impact on marine and terrestrial ecosystems. The CPE is still a relatively neglected episode if compared to the other global ecosystem turnovers of the Mesozoic. Nevertheless, the CPE is synchronous with a major biological turnover, with both extinct...
Here we present the second part of the special thematic issue on the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE). In this issue, two works on terrestrial sedimentological and floral changes linked to the CPE, and new carbon-isotope records from Oman and China are presented. The papers published in this issue complement those contained in the previous issue; they...
The Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP) consists of basic rocks emplaced as shallow intrusions and erupted in large lava flow fields over a land surface area in excess of 10 million km2 on the supercontinent Pangaea at about 201 Ma. The peak activity of the CAMP straddled the Triassic-Jurassic boundary and probably lasted less than 1 million...
In May 2017, in the delightful town of Delmenhorst (Lower Saxony, Germany), the first meeting on the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) was hosted by the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Institute for Advanced Study. This was a milestone event. For the first time researchers from around the world met to discuss this still poorly known episode of early Late Tr...
The Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) of the Late Triassic, 232 million years ago was a time of major volcanic eruptions, sudden changes in global climate and extinctions. These changes seemingly triggered an explosion of many modern groups of animals in the sea and on land. Oddly though, this episode is little understood and was only recently identifi...
Different lines of evidence suggest that the main trigger mechanism for the end-Triassic mass extinction was the release of volcanic and thermogenic gases during the emplacement of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). However, the short duration of the biotic and environmental crisis and the magmatic activity hinders precise control on th...
The Carnian Pluvial Episode was a phase of global climatic change and biotic turnover that occurred during the early Late Triassic. In marine sedimentary basins, the arrival of huge amounts of siliciclastic sediments, the establishment of anoxic conditions, and a sudden change of the carbonate factory on platforms marked the Carnian Pluvial Episode...
Amber (fossil resin) is not common throughout the fossil record, and previously the only globally significant deposits were thought to occur during the Cretaceous, Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene periods. Recent finds of Late Triassic (Carnian) ambers highlight a significantly older set of deposits. Here we review these ambers that appear coincident...
Amber is fossilised plant resin. It can be used to provide insights into the terrestrial conditions at the time the original resin was exuded. Amber research thus can inform many aspects of palaeontology, from the recovery and description of enclosed fossil organisms (biological inclusions) to attempts at reconstruction of past climates and environ...