Supernova Triggers for End-Devonian Extinctions

TL;DR

This paper explores the hypothesis that nearby supernova explosions may have triggered the end-Devonian extinctions by causing ozone depletion and ionizing radiation exposure, offering a potential alternative to climate-related causes.

Contribution

It proposes a novel supernova-based explanation for the end-Devonian extinctions and suggests specific isotopic evidence to test this hypothesis.

Findings

Supernovae at ~20 pc could have affected Earth during the end-Devonian.

Detection of Sm-146 or Pu-244 in strata would support the supernova hypothesis.

Nearby supernovae are consistent with the location of the Sun in the Galactic disk.

Abstract

The Late Devonian was a protracted period of low speciation resulting in biodiversity decline, culminating in extinction events near the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary. Recent evidence indicates that the final extinction event may have coincided with a dramatic drop in stratospheric ozone, possibly due to a global temperature rise. Here we study an alternative possible cause for the postulated ozone drop: a nearby supernova explosion that could inflict damage by accelerating cosmic rays that can deliver ionizing radiation for up to $\sim 100$ kyr. We therefore propose that the end-Devonian extinctions were triggered by supernova explosions at $\sim 20$ pc, somewhat beyond the "kill distance" that would have precipitated a full mass extinction. Such nearby supernovae are likely due to core-collapses of massive stars; these are concentrated in the thin Galactic disk where the Sun resides. Detecting either of the long-lived radioisotopes Sm-146 or Pu-244 in one or more end-Devonian extinction strata would confirm a supernova origin, point to the core-collapse explosion of a massive star, and probe supernova nucleosythesis. Other possible tests of the supernova hypothesis are discussed.