Calibrating the End-Permian Mass Extinction

Abstract

The end-Permian mass extinction was the most severe biodiversity crisis in Earth history. To better constrain the timing, and ultimately the causes of this event, we collected a suite of geochronologic, isotopic, and biostratigraphic data on several well-preserved sedimentary sections in South China. High-precision U-Pb dating reveals that the extinction peak occurred just before 252.28 +/- 0.08 million years ago, after a decline of 2 per mil (parts per thousand) in delta(13)C over 90,000 years, and coincided with a delta(13)C excursion of -5 parts per thousand that is estimated to have lasted <= 20,000 years. The extinction interval was less than 200,000 years and synchronous in marine and terrestrial realms; associated charcoal-rich and soot-bearing layers indicate widespread wildfires on land. A massive release of thermogenic carbon dioxide and/or methane may have caused the catastrophic extinction.

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Shen, Shu-zhong, Crowley, James L., Wang, Yue, Bowring, Samuel A., Erwin, Douglas H., Sadler, Peter M., Cao, Chang-qun, Rothman, Daniel H., Henderson, Charles M., Ramezani, Jahandar, Zhang, Hua, Shen, Yanan, Wang, Xiang-Dong, Wang, Wei, Mu, Lin, Li, Wen-Zhong, Tang, Yue-Gang, Liu, Xiao-Lei, Liu, Lu-Jun, Zeng, Yong, Jiang, Yao-Fa, and Jin, Yu-Gan. 2011. "<a href="https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/17625">Calibrating the End-Permian Mass Extinction</a>." <em>Science</em>, 334, (6061) 1367–1372. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1213454">https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1213454</a>.

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