Evidence for Low Dissolved Silica in mid-Mesozoic Oceans

Clicks: 8
ID: 294670
2025
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #376 of 8,486 articles by views in american journal of science

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 8,486 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
The geologic history of dissolved silica concentration in the ocean (DSi) is central to understanding the evolution of silica biomineralization, the interactions between the global carbon and silicon cycles, and their combined role controlling global climate over geologic time. However, the silica cycle in the geologic past is under-constrained, especially during major mass extinction events that impacted biosilicifiers and were associated with dramatic climate change. We measured the silicon isotope ratios (δ 30 Si) of 76 sponge spicules from the Panthalassic Ocean spanning the Triassic–Jurassic boundary (ca. 201 Ma) to constrain DSi concentrations during the mid-Mesozoic. Spicule measurements have mean δ 30 Si values of –0.25‰ ± 0.99‰. Our data, combined with constraints on seawater δ 30 Si from coeval radiolarians, suggest that mid-Mesozoic DSi was between 20–100 µM, a similar range to the modern ocean. Our results support increasing evidence that by the Mesozoic DSi had already decreased by orders of magnitude relative to the Precambrian. These results imply that radiolarians and sponges were drawing down DSi prior to diatom ecological dominance. Increasing sponge δ 30 Si values across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary, coupled with modeling evidence and previous palaeoecological observations, support that warming, increased weathering, and Si delivery before the end-Triassic extinction may have facilitated sponge expansion during the extinction recovery interval.
Reference Key
openalex_W4406167597 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Joyce A. Yager, A. Joshua West, Elizabeth J. Trower, Woodward W. Fischer, Kathleen A. Ritterbush, Silvia Rosas, David J. Bottjer, Aaron J. Celestian, William M. Berelson, Frank A. Corsetti
Journal american journal of science
Year 2025
DOI
10.2475/001c.122691
URL
https://doi.org/10.2475/001c.122691
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.