Geological Society of America

T16 Piecing Together the Extinction Puzzle I: Integrated Approaches to Quantifying Organism-Environment Interactions

Sunday, 22 September 2024
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
204C

PREVAILING DETERIORATED PALAEOENVIRONMENTS RELATED TO THE HYPERTHERMAL PERMIAN-TRIASSIC MASS EXTINCTION

Paper number: T16-5
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:05 AM – 9:20 AM

Authors

Zhicai Zhu Presenting Author
Institute of Geology, Beijing
Zhicai Zhu Presenting Author
University of Bristol, Bristol
Yongqing Liu
Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing
Hongwei Kuang
Institute of Geology, Beijing
Alexander Farnsworth
Bristol University, Bristol
Andrew J. Newell
Oxford
Aradhna Tripati
Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Center for Diverse Leadership in Science, University of California - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Robert Eagle
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Michael J. Benton
University of Bristol, Bristol

Abstract

The Permian-Triassic mass extinction, one of the most severe biotic crises in Earth's history, has been attributed to sharp heating (nearly 15°C in low-latitude areas) initially triggered by massive volcanic eruptions of the Siberian Traps in the latest Permian. Drastic environmental changes have been identified worldwide, both in the sea and on land. However, the connections of global palaeoclimate changes, particularly their detection in complex terrestrial systems, remain debatable. Here, based on sedimentological and geochemical data and state-of-the-art modelling from North China, we emphasise the drastically deteriorated palaeoenvironments (e.g. unstable, drought and intermittent heavy precipitation) under a regime of sharp heating, mass wasting and acid rain on land may be significant causes of the mass killing events near the end-Permian and the subsequent Early Triassic long-lasting stressed terrestrial palaeoclimate that delayed the recovery of life. A prevailing desertification and storms after the mass extinction has been confirmed in North China across large areas. Understanding the Permian-Triassic hyperthermal crisis may also provide critical insight into similar events of different magnitudes in Earth's history, and could inform our near future, in the context of anthropogenic warming and our rapidly changing planet.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 56, No. 5

doi: 10.1130/abs/2024AM-405057

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