T278 Early and Middle Triassic Restructuring Following the End-Permian Mass Extinction
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room 316
BIOTIC AND OCEAN-REDOX CHANGES DURING THE EARLY-MIDDLE TRIASSIC
Paper number: T278-3
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM
Authors
-
Kunio KaihoTohoku University, Sendai, N/A
-
Masahiro ObaTohoku University, Sendai
-
Satoshi TakahashiUniversity of Tokyo, Tokyo, N/A
-
Zhong Qiang ChenChina University of Geosciences, Wuhan
-
Li TianChina University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, N/A
-
Jing ChenYifu Museum, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, N/A
-
Jinnan TongChina University of Geosciences, Wuhan
Abstract
The most severe mass extinction in Earth’s history occurred at 251.9 Ma. Even after the end-Permian mass extinction interval, devastated environments seemed to persist. Rather than coming to an end, conditions harsh for life persisted for 5 million years after the extinction into the Early Triassic. The aim of this study is to describe the types of changes in biological and environmental oscillations that occurred from the earliest to the early Middle Triassic and to elucidate causes for the delayed biotic recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction using methods of organic geochemistry. We describe the results of organic analyses and clarify changes in biotic and ocean-redox conditions in the latest Permian–early Middle Triassic based on the stratigraphic sequences from South China. We reveal changes in redox conditions, the role of bacteria and eukaryotes in climatic changes, and the degree to which cyanobacteria and eukaryotic algae proliferation and decline. These observations provide a good example of the types of processes that terrestrial and marine environments undergo before biotic recovery from a mass extinction is complete.