Shallow marine sedimentary facies in the earliest Triassic (Griesbachian) Cordilleran miogeocline, U.S.A.

Paull, Rachel K.; Paull, Richard A.

doi:10.1016/0037-0738(94)90004-3

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Both sections are largely unfossiliferous and all sampled levels are interpreted to have been deposited in outer shelf environments as suggested by the absence of sedimentary structures indicative of wave activity. This agrees well with paleogeographic reconstructions, which place the Bear Lake area within the offshore basin of the Dinwoody Basin (e.g., Paull and Paull, 1994).…”

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confidence: 89%

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A new paleoecological look at the Dinwoody Formation (Lower Triassic, western USA): intrinsic versus extrinsic controls on ecosystem recovery after the end-Permian mass extinction

2013

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The Dinwoody Formation of the western United States represents an important archive of Early Triassic ecosystems in the immediate aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction. We present a systematic description and a quantitative paleoecological analysis of its benthic faunas in order to reconstruct benthic associations and to explore the temporal and spatial variations of diversity, ecological structure and taxonomic composition throughout the earliest Triassic of the western United States. A total of 15 bivalve species, two gastropod species, and two brachiopod species are recognized in the study area. The paleoecological analysis shows that the oldest Dinwoody communities are characterized by low diversity, low ecological complexity and high dominance of few species. We suggest that this low diversity most likely reflects the consequences of the mass extinction in the first place and not necessarily the persistence of environmental stress. Whereas this diversity pattern persists into younger strata of the Dinwoody Formation in outer shelf environments, an increase in richness, evenness and guild diversity occurred around the Griesbachian–Dienerian boundary in more shallow marine habitats. This incipient recovery towards the end of the Griesbachian is in accordance with observations from other regions and thus probably represents an interregional signal. In contrast to increasing richness within communities (alpha-diversity), beta-diversity remained low during the Griesbachian and Dienerian in the study area. This low beta-diversity reflects a wide environmental and geographical range of taxa during the earliest Triassic, indicating that the increase of within-habitat diversity has not yet led to significant competitive exclusion. We hypothesize that the well-known prevalence of generalized taxa in post-extinction faunas is primarily an effect of reduced competition that allows species to exist through the full range of their fundamental niches, rather than being caused by unusual and uniform environmental stress.

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confidence: 89%

“…1.1). During Permian and Early Triassic times, the area remained tectonically quiescent (Paull and Paull, 1994). The maximum thickness of the Dinwoody Formation is about 750 meters in the depot center, located today in southeastern Idaho (Kummel, 1954).…”

Section: Geological and Stratigraphical Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new paleoecological look at the Dinwoody Formation (Lower Triassic, western USA): intrinsic versus extrinsic controls on ecosystem recovery after the end-Permian mass extinction

2013

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“…However, biostratigraphic studies have not been carried out in Sheep Creek Valley. The presumed Guadalupian Age for the formation (based on outcrops 300 km to the west) has led previous geologists to assume a 4 to 7-million-year hiatus at the top of the formation during the Lopingian Age, the last age of the Permian (Sprinkel et al 2000 Newell & Kummel, 1942;Paull & Paull, 1994, Hofmann et al 2011.…”

Section: Based On Biostratigraphic Ranges Of Conodonts and Brachiopodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sperling and Ingle (2006) were the first to document a continuous Permian-Triassic section based solely on carbon isotopes in northern Nevada in the deeper marine facies of the Quinn River Formation. And study of late Permian and early Triassic rocks in southeastern Idaho has also suggested a possible boundary section (Wignall & Hallam, 1992), although often these sections have been interpreted as drowning unconformities due to rapid changes in sea level (Paull & Paull, 1994) or faulted by subsequent tectonic activity (Paull & Paull, 1982). Rocks in southeastern Idaho and extending to southcentral Utah preserve remarkable early Triassic (Smithian) marine faunas (Schubert & Bottjer, 1995;Fraiser & Bottjer, 2007;Brayard et al 2017), which record the biological recovery following the mass extinction event.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What caused Earth's largest mass extinction event? New evidence from the Permian-Triassic boundary in northeastern Utah

Burger

Estrada

Gustin

2019

Global and Planetary Change

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This pre-print details the geochemistry across a newly discovered extraordinarily wellpreserved stratigraphic section of the Permian-Triassic boundary in Utah. The attached manuscript features a comprehensive geochemical dataset from northeastern Utah, assembled from a unique and remarkable 9-meter section of rock in Sheep Creek Valley. The findings include a large-scale carbon isotopic excursion across the event, indicative of high atmospheric carbon dioxide, as well as a dramatic reduction in the deposition of calcium carbonate due to ocean acidification at the boundary layer. This study further documents an elevated mercuryspike, as well as observed elevated lead, zinc and strontium content. This evidence suggests large amounts of naturally occurring emissions of coal combustion at the Permian-Triassic boundary, likely caused by the large scale volcanic eruptions of the coeval Siberian Traps. The resulting global changes associated with the abrupt enrichment of the atmosphere in carbon dioxide was the major contributor to the mass extinction event. This is the first study to examine barium content across the Permian-Triassic boundary, and it provides evidence that upwelling of methane hydrate in the oceans followed the initial acidification event. Ocean anoxia (absence of oxygen) is suggested by the unusual deposition of pyrite within the shallow marine waters of the once coastal sediments of northeastern Utah. Precession orbital geochemical variation is observed in the stratigraphic section allowing a finer temporal resolution beyond any previously published section. Together, this dataset gives a unique picture of an ancient cataclysm that altered life on Earth. This study is a cautionary tell of what can happen if we do not heed the warnings of the geological past. In Payne and Clapham's 2012 review of the Permian-Triassic boundary they suggested "the end-Permian extinction may serve as an important ancient analog for the twenty-first century…." The results of this study amplify that statement, as evidence gathered in this study suggest that large emissions of burning coal and other hydrocarbons during the Siberian Trap volcanic event was largely responsible for Earth's largest mass extinction 252 million years ago. A greater understanding of this ancient event may be the key in helping researchers forecast changes facing the Earth today.

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“…Along the western margin of Pangea, the Sonoma Foreland Basin of the western USA was the site of Early Triassic marine sedimentation (Collinson et al 1976;Paull and Paull 1994;Dickinson 2013;Caravaca et al 2017). In southwestern Utah, the Lower Triassic sediments exhibit transitional deposits between the marine Thaynes Group and the continental Moenkopi Group (sensu Lucas et al 2007a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Smithian microbial deposits and their lateral marine fossiliferous limestones (Early Triassic, Hurricane Cliffs, Utah, USA)

Olivier

Fara

Vennin

et al. 2018

Facies

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Recurrent microbialite proliferations during the Early Triassic are usually explained by ecological relaxation and abnormal oceanic conditions. Most Early Triassic microbialites are described as single or multiple lithological units without detailed ecological information about lateral and coeval fossiliferous deposits. Exposed rocks along Workman Wash in the Hurricane Cliffs (south-western Utah, USA) provide an opportunity to reconstruct the spatial relationships of late Smithian microbialites with adjacent and contemporaneous fossiliferous sediments. Microbialites deposited in an intertidal to subtidal interior platform, are intercalated between inner tidal flat dolosiltstones and subtidal bioturbated fossiliferous limestones. Facies variations along these fossiliferous deposits and microbialites can be traced laterally over a few hundred of meters. Preserved organisms reflect a moderately diversified assemblage, contemporaneous to the microbialite formation. The presence of such a fauna, including some stenohaline organisms (echinoderms) indicates that the development of these late Smithian microbial deposits occurred in normal marine waters as a simple facies belt subject to relative sea-level changes. Based on this case study, the proliferation of Revised Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript Olivier et al revised.docx Click here to view linked References 2 microbialites cannot be considered as direct evidence for presumed harsh environmental conditions. Keywords Early Triassic. Late Smithian. Microbial deposits. Metazoan fauna. Lingulids .

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Shallow marine sedimentary facies in the earliest Triassic (Griesbachian) Cordilleran miogeocline, U.S.A.

Cited by 11 publications

References 5 publications

A new paleoecological look at the Dinwoody Formation (Lower Triassic, western USA): intrinsic versus extrinsic controls on ecosystem recovery after the end-Permian mass extinction

A new paleoecological look at the Dinwoody Formation (Lower Triassic, western USA): intrinsic versus extrinsic controls on ecosystem recovery after the end-Permian mass extinction

What caused Earth's largest mass extinction event? New evidence from the Permian-Triassic boundary in northeastern Utah

Late Smithian microbial deposits and their lateral marine fossiliferous limestones (Early Triassic, Hurricane Cliffs, Utah, USA)

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