Biological Impact of Ozone Depletion at the End-Permian: A modeling study

TL;DR

This study models how volcanic activity during the end-Permian could have affected atmospheric ozone and solar radiation, suggesting that sulfur dioxide and aerosols played a significant role in reducing UVB radiation and its biological impact.

Contribution

It is the first to incorporate sulfur dioxide and sulfate aerosols into atmospheric models of the end-Permian, showing their significant effect on UVB radiation transmission.

Findings

Sulfur dioxide and aerosols significantly reduce UVB transmission.

Inclusion of these factors decreases the potential biological impact of UVB.

Claims of UVB-driven extinction mechanisms may be overstated.

Abstract

The end-Permian mass extinction is the most severe known from the fossil record. The most likely cause is massive volcanic activity associated with the formation of the Permo-Triassic Siberian flood basalts. A proposed mechanism for extinction due to this volcanic activity is depletion of stratospheric ozone, leading to increased penetration of biologically damaging Solar ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation to Earth's surface. Previous work has modeled the atmospheric chemistry effects of volcanic emission at the end-Permian. Here we use those results as input for detailed radiative transfer simulations to investigate changes in surface-level Solar irradiance in the ultraviolet-B, ultraviolet-A and photosynthetically available (visible light) wave bands. We then evaluate the potential biological effects using biological weighting functions. In addition to changes in ozone column density we also include gaseous sulfur dioxide (SO2) and sulfate aerosols. Ours is the first such study to include these factors and we find they have a significant impact on transmission of Solar radiation through the atmosphere. Inclusion of SO2 and aerosols greatly reduces the transmission of radiation across the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths, with subsequent reduction in biological impacts by UVB. We conclude that claims of a UVB mechanism for this extinction are likely overstated.