Geochemical analysis of the 14.4-m-thick lacustrine succession of the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation (Jehol Group) has yielded new insights concerning vertebrate mass mortality events in the Lake Sihetun volcanic caldera in western Liaoning Province (northeastern China) that produced the Jehol Biota fossil lagerstätten. The long-term evolution of the caldera system resulted in a shift from felsic to mafic magma chemistry, accompanied by a reduced frequency of pyroclastic eruptions, declining hydrothermal activity, and lower lacustrine productivity. The basal Tetrapod Beds exhibit strong hydrothermal influence, as indicated by enrichments of boron (B), certain alkalis (Rb, Cs), rare-earth elements (REEs), yttrium (Y), and many metals (e.g., Co, Cr, Cu, Ge, Mo, Ni, Sb, U, V, and W), and by strongly negative molybdenum isotope compositions (d98Mo to -2.50 per mil) that may record large fractionations between molybdate and thiomolybdate species in the Sihetun caldera hydrothermal system. In contrast, the overlying Fish Beds and Non-Fossiliferous Beds have an elemental and Mo-isotopic composition similar to calc-alkaline basalts (d98Mo = -0.29 ± 0.04 per mil) in the surrounding watershed, suggesting weathering of Yixian Formation volcanic rocks as the major source of sediment. During its < 700-kyr-long history, Lake Sihetun was affected by four environmental cycles, each commencing with a series of pyroclastic eruptions that triggered systematic changes in lakewater chemistry. Following each eruption interval, enhanced weathering of volcanic ash in the surrounding watershed caused lakewater pH to decrease and lacustrine productivity to increase. Continued weathering of bases from basement volcanic rocks subsequently produced alkaline conditions in the lake, leading to precipitation of authigenic carbonate layers and lower lacustrine productivity. Analysis of geochemical redox proxies strongly suggests that the Lake Sihetun water column was completely oxic, in contrast to earlier inferences of a stratified anoxic water column, and that ubiquitous lamination in the lacustrine succession was due to other factors such as widespread microbial mats and/or rapid sediment deposition.
