The End Permian David M. Syracuse, I – Presenter November 17 th, 2008 GLY 529 Mass Extinction...
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Transcript of The End Permian David M. Syracuse, I – Presenter November 17 th, 2008 GLY 529 Mass Extinction...
An ExampleWhere are we?
A bah-jillion mya
When are we?
•Something mildly interesting about the not-so-recent past.1
Literature Cited
When was it?
• In the Phanerozoic Eon.
• Start in the Paleozoic Era, end in the Mesozoic Era.
• Start in the Permian Period, end in the Triassic Period.
• One event in the Guadalupian Epoch.
• One event in the Lopingian.
3
The Name
• Named for the Kingdom of Perm, in present-day northern Russia.
How do we Know?• The condont Hindeodus parvus is used as a marker.• It first appears in the Triassic.
4
How do we Know?• A familiar professor at the Permian/Triassic Global Stratotype Section and Point in Meishan, China.
5
The Stage
University of Texas at Austin, Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences
PLATES Animation of paleotectonic reconstructions
Permian Conditions
• Large, cool oceans towards the poles.
• Warmer equatorial water.
• Vast dry areas inland.
• Seasonal fluctuations – large areas of land away from water.
• Reduced continental shelf area.
• Pangæa – not much diversity in environment, so not much diversity in organisms?
• Arid conditions.
• Ripe for a mass extinction already.
Permian Conditions
• Many sessile organisms lived in reefs.
• Large ferns and large insects from Carboniferous.
• Many large tetrapods existed.
• “Reptilomorph” tetrapods gave way to the beginnings of mammals.
• Large conifer forests (gave way to lycopsids)
The Players
The Players
The Tree of Life Project
Insects (odonata vs. neoptera) and Mammalian lineages
• Foraminifera (big losses in Guadalupian).
• Trilobites (extinct in early Triassic).
• Corals, Brachiopods (lost most genera).
• Ammonoids, Nautiloids (lost most genera).
• Huge sponge reefs (gone).
The Insects• Insects from the carboniferous – fixed wings.
• All very large insects (wingspan ≈ 75 cm!) became extinct.
• New forms – beetles and flies with foldable wings.
• What could have changed so significantly?
The Insects• Only mass extinction to significantly affect insects.
• large insects respired by rapid tracheal contractions.
• Atmosphere was not higher in oxygen.
• Heat, aridity, and loss of habitat or breeding grounds may have done them in.
The Insects• About 6,500 speices of extant odonata.
• Hundreds of thousands of extant neoptera.
• Neoptera radiated extensively after the Permian.
The Pre-mammals• Many “reptilomorph” animals show signs of a transition to mammals.
• The extinction of larger reptile-like animals paved the way for mammals.
• Extreme conditions on Pangæa may have favoured small endothermic beasties.
Mammals, etc.
Synapsids (first amniotes – Carboniferous)
Diapsids (archosaurs, etc.)
Therapsids (will give rise to mammals)
Pelycosaurs (big sails, reptilomorph)
Mammals (you. me. marmosets.)
Large gapin fossilRecord!
The Causes I
• The first event was probably an eruption of the Emeishan flood basalts in the Guadalupian Epoch.
• Regression due to doming caused loss of shallow-water habitat.
260 mya
Emeishan flood basalts• Erupted in the Guadalupian.
• Affected warm-water marine invertebrates.
• Probably killed off most forminiferans.
• Regression might be result of doming prior to eruption.
Emeishan flood basalts• Regression then transgression noted at the end of the Guadalupian.
• Due to doming?
• Caused extinction in shallow marine environments.
• Quick recovery.
• Erupted slightly before the Permian-Triassic boundary.
• May have erupted for as long as 1 million years.
12
The Siberian Traps251 mya
Is that it?
• Two major eruptions.
• Loss of habitat from doming.
• Couldn’t cause a Mass Extinction.
• Emissions from the Traps and other eruptions.
• May have significantly changed the atmosphere.
• Mainly CO2, CH4 and SO4.
• Extended warming.
• Reduced Ocean Circulation.
• Anoxia in shallow/deep oceans.
The Causes II
• Hydrogen Sulfide.
• Emitted from bacteria and volcanoes.
• May have been stimulated by eutrophic deep waters.
• Increased weathering delivers more nutrients to oceans.
• Leads to anoxia – sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.
The Causes III
The Causes III
• Lacking oxygen, some bacteria can metabolize sulfur, using it as the FEA.
• This produces hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas.
34 g/mol
Oxygen – 32 g/molNitrogen – 14 g/molWater – 18 g/molCarbon dioxide – 44 g/mol
The Causes III
• The gas binds to enzymes in the mightycondrion to stop the production of ATP.
• Quick death in high concentrations.
• May not have been in high enough concentrations to kill.
• Could have caused local extinctions, and chronic stress to organisms.
The Vultures• Lots of stromatolites after the extinction.
• Indicates unstable, low-diversity ecosystems.
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The Vultures
• Increase in fungal spores towards end of Permian.
• Thus an increase in the need for decomposers.
18
Carbon Isotopes• Different types of plants incorporate different types of carbon (C3 vs. C4).
• Amount of carbon in sediments can indicate productivity.
• Amounts of 13C took a negative excursion at the end of the Permian.
• Both carbonate and organic carbon were reduced.
Land Plants
• Vast conifer forests existed in the Permian.
• Lycopsids replaced the conifers after the extinction.
• Recovery to pre-extinction levels came in the Spathian stage, about 10 million years later
19
The Boundary
• No coal deposits in the first part of the Triassic.
• No chert.
• Black Shales indicate anoxia
• No reefs observed for 7 million years.
Lazarus Taxa
• Most Lazarus Taxa are filter-feeders.
• Could have survived anoxic or dysoxic conditions.
• Evidence of migration of species to refugia.
• Many Elvis taxa as well, e.g. sponges.
Conclusions
• Pangæa formed – reduced coastline.
• Traps eruptions – warming
• Reduced Oceanic circulation.
• Hydrogen Sulfide
• These factors combine to create the mother of all extinctions.
Literature Cited1. http://strata.geology.wisc.edu/jack/
2. http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/staff/dave/roanoke/time_scale.gif
3. Erwin DH, Bowring SA and Yugan J. 2002. End-Permian mass extinctions: A review. Geological Society of America Special Paper 356:363-383.
4. http://www.idm.gov.vn/Nguon_luc/Xuat_ban/2004/B24/b1.htm
5. http://www.cortland.edu/Geology/images/news/0507/Meishan.jpg
6. Erwin DH, Bowring SA and Yugan J. 2002. End-Permian mass extinctions: A review. Geological Society of America Special Paper 356:363-383.
7. http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2004/02/permian-earth.gif
8. http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/260_Permian_2globes.jpg
9. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v407/n6803/images/407458aa.2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v407/n6803/fig_tab/407458a0_F1.html&usg=__tEGdoRxht_ldHxixcIv4wBVTvyE=&h=322&w=600&sz=27&hl=en&start=30&um=1&tbnid=2Y7gdZ9pdmjR-M:&tbnh=72&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmantle%2Bplume%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN
10. Loov CV, Brugman WA, Dilchert DL and Visscher H. 1999. The Delayed Resurgence of Equatorial Forests after the Permian-Triassic Ecologic Crisis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96(24):13857-13862.
11. Wignall PB. 2001. Large Igneous Provinces and Mass Extinctions. Earth-Science Reviews 53:1–33.
Literature Cited12. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.geo.brown.edu/SiberianBasalts/Siberian%2520Images/Siberian-flood-basalts-near.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.geo.brown.edu/SiberianBasaltsWorkshop.htm&usg=__1k45M_vF8kKwgPUFbwhivZ8NZfI=&h=220&w=300&sz=52&hl=en&start=11&sig2=QM6Df1nc9hJ3KD4VdI7fBg&um=1&tbnid=_iDcrQhhPjIV3M:&tbnh=85&tbnw=116&ei=448bSdjGKYqSedKojM8G&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsiberian%2Btraps%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Meganeura.jpg
14. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080704122847.htm
15. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol289/issue5478/images/medium/se2708684001.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.geocities.com/earthhistory/permo.htm&usg=__r5cmC2poMMIA_aoopewh9P0RfA4=&h=440&w=391&sz=45&hl=en&start=34&sig2=dMD0xHfPPfWk6o2nQNCO5w&um=1&tbnid=TcayMUNr2vRnaM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=113&ei=OFkgScLZBYfOefaOkcEG&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstromatolite%2Bfossil%2Bpermian%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
16. http://www.physci.wsc.ma.edu/young/hgeol/geoinfo/timeline/pelycosaurs/pelycosaur.jpg
17. Gorjan P, Kaiho K, Chen ZQ. 2005. A Carbon-Isotope Study of an End-Permian Mass Extinction Horizon Bulla, Northern Italy: A negative 13C Shift Prior to the Marine Extinction. Terra Nova 20(4):253-258.
18. http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/07/images/070423.fungus.jpg
19. http://universe-review.ca/I10-32-Permian.jpg
20. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol289/issue5478/images/medium/se2708684001.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.geocities.com/earthhistory/permo.htm&usg=__r5cmC2poMMIA_aoopewh9P0RfA4=&h=440&w=391&sz=45&hl=en&start=34&sig2=dMD0xHfPPfWk6o2nQNCO5w&um=1&tbnid=TcayMUNr2vRnaM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=113&ei=OFkgScLZBYfOefaOkcEG&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstromatolite%2Bfossil%2Bpermian%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
21. Erwin DH. 1990. The End Permian Mass Extinction. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 21:69-91.
22. Erwin DH. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIFE SCIENCES. www.els.net. Extinction: The End Permian Mass Extinction