New geochemical and palaeontological data from the Permian-Triassic boundary in the South African Karoo Basin test the synchronicity of terrestrial and marine extinctions

Botha‐Brink, Jennifer; Huttenlocker, Adam K.; Smith, Roger M. H.; Prevec, Rose; Viglietti, Pia A.; Modesto, Sean P.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109467

Cited by 54 publications

(60 citation statements)

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“…1), are inferred to represent a complete Permo-Triassic Boundary (PTB) sequence 29 -but see geologic evidence for extensive unconformities contained in this stratigraphy 20,21,30 -and the locality has been utilized in studies on the extinction dynamics in the basin 29,31 . A rich assemblage of Lystrosaurus maccaigi, considered to be diagnostic of the pre-extinction fauna 4,29,32,33 , is overlain by two "marker" taxa, Lystrosaurus curvatus and Moschorhinus kitchingii, that have been used to support the placement of the "PTB" at the top of a so-called heterolithic facies 18,29,31 . A lower "PTB" position was recently proposed 18 , but the former 29 is used to delineate the vertebrate biozone boundary in the current study ( Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A rich assemblage of Lystrosaurus maccaigi, considered to be diagnostic of the pre-extinction fauna 4,29,32,33 , is overlain by two "marker" taxa, Lystrosaurus curvatus and Moschorhinus kitchingii, that have been used to support the placement of the "PTB" at the top of a so-called heterolithic facies 18,29,31 . A lower "PTB" position was recently proposed 18 , but the former 29 is used to delineate the vertebrate biozone boundary in the current study ( Fig. 2).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Upsection, mudrock displays increasingly reddish and brownish colors, while isolated and amalgamated sandstone lenses increase in abundance. These sandstones thin and split laterally, grading into thinly bedded, reddish gray and olive gray lenses of (coarse) siltstone; some of these heterolithic intervals have been interpreted to mark the PTB 18,29 (Fig. 2a-c, red arrow).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A middle Permian extinction pulse is identified at the top of the Tapinocephalus 24,25 AZ and is documented by several U-Pb ages 26 . In contrast, the reported turnover from the Daptocephalus (= Dicynodon 27 ) AZ to the Lystrosaurus AZ, long purported to be coeval with the end-Permian marine extinction interval, has never been well-constrained temporally, although an early Triassic detrital zircon age recently was reported for the upper Daptocephalus AZ 18 . The postulated correlation with the marine record currently rests on stable carbon-isotope and magnetic polarity data 3,4, but see 21 .…”

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confidence: 98%

“…Postulated global temperature increase over a time interval estimated to range from 60 to 120 ka 4,7 is also thought to have affected and reorganized terrestrial ecosystems [13][14][15] . Evidence for the effects of increasing aridity are purported to be found in the sedimentologic and paleobiologic records of the Karoo Basin 3,[16][17][18] , and elsewhere, and it is thought to have been recorded over a short stratigraphic interval. The Karoo model holds that changes in fluvial architecture, from broad and meandering channels to "braided" regimes 19 , resulted from the loss of wetland vegetation 16 which, in turn, reduced resource availability for late Permian vertebrates leading to rapid extinction and turnover 3,4 .…”

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The base of the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone, Karoo Basin, predates the end-Permian marine extinction

et al. 2020

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The current model for the end-Permian terrestrial ecosystem crisis holds that systematic loss exhibited by an abrupt turnover from the Daptocephalus to the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone (AZ; Karoo Basin, South Africa) is time equivalent with the marine Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB). The marine event began at 251.941 ± 0.037 Ma, with the PTB placed at 251.902 ± 0.024 Ma (2σ). Radio-isotopic dates over this interval in the Karoo Basin were limited to one high resolution ash-fall deposit in the upper Daptocephalus AZ (253.48 ± 0.15 (2σ) Ma) with no similar age constraints for the overlying biozone. Here, we present the first U-Pb CA-ID-TIMS zircon age (252.24 ± 0.11 (2σ) Ma) from a pristine ash-fall deposit in the Karoo Lystrosaurus AZ. This date confirms that the lower exposures of the Lystrosaurus AZ are of latest Permian age and that the purported turnover in the basin preceded the end-Permian marine event by over 300 ka, thus refuting the previously used stratigraphic marker for terrestrial end-Permian extinction.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 98%

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confidence: 99%

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The base of the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone, Karoo Basin, predates the end-Permian marine extinction

et al. 2020

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Extinction: End‐Permian Mass Extinction

Clapham¹

2021

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

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The end‐Permian mass extinction (251.9 million years ago) was an abrupt and severe loss of diversity on land and in the oceans, the largest extinction of the Phanerozoic. Recent palaeontological, geochemical and modelling studies link the extinction with eruption of the Siberian Traps flood basalts, which would have caused ocean warming and acidification, and shallow‐marine anoxia. On land, global warming, punctuated with episodic cooling from eruption‐related sulfur aerosols, and aridification were mostly responsible for the vertebrate and plant extinction. Although almost no marine group emerged unscathed, selectivity favoured more active animals, while sessile and heavily calcified taxa such as corals and reef‐building sponges suffered heavily. The recovery interval was unusually long, likely because of continuing stress, and the extinction resulted in permanent shifts in marine ecosystem composition and structure, giving rise to the mollusc‐rich communities that still dominate today. The end‐Permian mass extinction was a severe crisis for nearly every plant and animal group, on land and in the oceans. The extinction was abrupt, apparently synchronous on land and in the sea in the tropics (but perhaps earlier among high‐latitude plants), with the majority of taxonomic losses occurring over a few tens of thousands of years, approximately 251.9 million years ago. In the marine realm, more actively motile animal groups fared relatively better during the extinction. Reef ecosystems were particularly hard‐hit. The primary causes of the marine extinction were ocean warming, acidification and expansion of low‐oxygen water, ultimately triggered by CO 2 released by Siberia Traps flood basalt volcanism. The terrestrial extinction was also caused by global warming and the resulting dry conditions and perhaps acid rain or ozone destruction and enhanced UV radiation. It took an unusually long time (5–7 million years) for most marine and terrestrial ecosystems to recover from the extinction, likely because of continuing intermittent stress. The extinction triggered permanent changes in the composition and structure of marine ecosystems, giving rise to mollusc‐dominated communities that remain dominant today.

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Global coal endowment and coalbed gas potential

Flores,

Moore

2024

Coal and Coalbed Gas

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New geochemical and palaeontological data from the Permian-Triassic boundary in the South African Karoo Basin test the synchronicity of terrestrial and marine extinctions

Cited by 54 publications

References 124 publications

The base of the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone, Karoo Basin, predates the end-Permian marine extinction

The base of the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone, Karoo Basin, predates the end-Permian marine extinction

Extinction: End‐Permian Mass Extinction

Global coal endowment and coalbed gas potential

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