Abstract
Mass extinctions in the early Palaeozoic have been attributed to global climate change and ocean anoxia with elevated phosphorus (P) proposed as a key driver. However, this hypothesis has lacked geochemical support due to the absence of proxies that can reconstruct changes in marine P availability. Focusing on the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction (LOME) and the Late Devonian Mass Extinction (LDME), we present carbonate-associated phosphate (CAP) data from seven globally distributed sections, providing a proxy record for seawater P variation across these events. Our data reveal short-lived, globally coherent P pulses that coincided with both events. These transient P surges align with biodiversity loss, widespread anoxia, and seawater temperature declines, suggesting a link between P flux, ocean anoxia, and global climate shifts, as supported by biogeochemical model results. These findings provide an empirical connection between brief marine P pulses and ecological crises during the LOME and LDME.
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Data availability
The CAP, C and O isotope data generated in this study have been deposited in the Figshare database under accession code ZZ https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30271312. Canning Basin phosphate oxygen isotope data are held in the UWA Repository https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/annette-george/datasets/.
Materials availability
All samples were collected and exported in a responsible manner and in accordance with relevant permits and local laws. Global coordinates and/ or location information and drill core names are given for all samples collected in the Supplementary Information files. Requests for materials should be addressed to C.L., A.D., O.H., D.Y., X.Y., A.G., M.E., Q.W., C.B.
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Acknowledgements
C.L. acknowledges support from the NSFC (grants # 42425002) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant numbers 2022YFF0800100). M.S.D. acknowledges support from the Forrest Research Foundation and UWA School of Earth and Oceans. B.J.W.M. is supported by UKRI grant EP/Y008790/1. A.D. acknowledges support from the research incubator of the Société du patrimoine Mondial Anticosti. O.H. was supported by the Estonian Research Council (grant PRG1701). A.S.M. is supported by ARC DECRA Fellowship DE230101642.
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M.S.D. and C.L. designed and organised the research. M.S.D., Z.Z., and A.Y.S. performed analyses. A.S.M. and B.J.W.M. performed modelling. C.L., A.D., O.H., D.Y., X.Y., A.G., M.E., D.W., Q.W., C.B. provided samples. The paper was written by M.S.D. with important inputs from all authors.
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Dodd, M.S., Li, C., Zhang, Z. et al. Recurring marine phosphorus spikes during major palaeozoic mass extinctions and climate change. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70701-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70701-y
