Mercury isotopes show vascular plants had colonized land extensively by the early Silurian

The colonization and expansion of plants on land is considered one of the most profound ecological revolutions, yet the precise timing remains controversial. Because land vegetation can enhance weathering intensity and affect terrigenous input to the ocean, changes in terrestrial plant biomass with distinct negative Delta Hg-199 and Delta Hg-200 signatures may overwrite the positive Hg isotope signatures commonly found in marine sediments. By investigating secular Hg isotopic variations in the Paleozoic marine sediments from South China and peripheral paleocontinents, we highlight distinct negative excursions in both Delta Hg-199 and Delta Hg-200 at Stage level starting in the early Silurian and again in the Carboniferous. These geochemical signatures were driven by increased terrestrial contribution of Hg due to the rapid expansion of vascular plants. These excursions broadly coincide with rising atmospheric oxygen concentrations and global cooling. Therefore, vascular plants were widely dis-tributed on land during the Ordovician-Silurian transition (similar to 444 million years), long before the earliest reported vascular plant fossil, Cooksonia (similar to 430 million years).

Automated summary

The colonization and expansion of land plants happened earlier than previously thought, during the Ordovician-Silurian transition, based on analysis of Hg isotopes in marine sediments from South China. The negative excursions in Delta Hg-199 and Delta Hg-200 found in these sediments indicate increased terrestrial contribution of Hg due to the rapid expansion of vascular plants. This expansion coincided with rising atmospheric oxygen concentrations and global cooling.