LAUSR

Abstract The end-Triassic event (ETE), a short global interval occurring at the end of the Triassic Period (~201.5 Ma), was characterized by climate change, environmental upheaval, as well as widespread extinctions in both the marine and terrestrial realms, associated with extensive perturbations of the carbon cycle, principally caused by Central Atlantic Magmatic Province volcanic emplacement in relation to the break-up of Pangea. The correlated change in atmospheric CO2 concentrations (pCO2) can be reconstructed with the stomatal proxy, which utilizes the inverse relationship between stomatal densities of plant leaves (here stomatal index (SI), which is the percentage of stomata relative to all epidermal cells) and pCO2. Fossilized Lepidopteris leaves are common and widespread in Triassic strata, thus offering great potential for high-resolution pCO2 reconstructions. A dataset of leaf cuticle specimens belonging to the seed fern species Lepidopteris ottonis from four separate sedimentary beds, representing three distinct time slices, in Skane (Scania), southern Sweden, provided the possibility of pCO2 reconstruction at the onset of the ETE. Here, we tested the intra- and interleaf variability of L. ottonis SI, as well as estimated the pCO2 during the onset of the ETE. Our findings confirm L. ottonis as a valid proxy for palaeo-pCO2, also when using smaller leaf fragments. Importantly, the statistical analyses showed that the SI values of abaxial and adaxial cuticles are significantly different, providing a tool to distinguish between the two sides and select cuticles for analysis. Reconstructed pCO2 increased from ~1000 pre ETE to ~1300 ppm at the onset of the event, a significant increase of ~30% over a relatively short time period. The pCO2 recorded here is similar to previously published estimates, and strongly supports the observed pattern of elevated pCO2 at the onset of the ETE.