A two-phase end-Triassic mass extinction

Wignall, Paul B.; Atkinson, Jed W.

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103282

Cited by 62 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 124 publications

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“…High-resolution records of the TJME from stratigraphic sections confirm that the event was complex, with multiple pulses of extinction separated by a few hundred thousand years 44 , and mercury anomalies indicating that continued eruptive phases of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) and hostile environmental conditions extended into the Hettangian by a similar degree 45 – 47 , matched by the persistent negative diversification rates in each region throughout the Hettangian. This is therefore unusual given the more muted changes in diversity across the event.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Global diversity dynamics in the fossil record are regionally heterogeneous

2022

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Global diversity patterns in the fossil record comprise a mosaic of regional trends, underpinned by spatially non-random drivers and distorted by variation in sampling intensity through time and across space. Sampling-corrected diversity estimates from spatially-standardised fossil datasets retain their regional biogeographic nuances and avoid these biases, yet diversity-through-time arises from the interplay of origination and extinction, the processes that shape macroevolutionary history. Here we present a subsampling algorithm to eliminate spatial sampling bias, coupled with advanced probabilistic methods for estimating origination and extinction rates and a Bayesian method for estimating sampling-corrected diversity. We then re-examine the Late Permian to Early Jurassic marine fossil record, an interval spanning several global biotic upheavals that shaped the origins of the modern marine biosphere. We find that origination and extinction rates are regionally heterogenous even during events that manifested globally, highlighting the need for spatially explicit views of macroevolutionary processes through geological time.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Global diversity dynamics in the fossil record are regionally heterogeneous

2022

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“…Based on these and other findings, including the HO of the reptile clade Phytosauria in the lowermost Blue Lias Formation (Maisch and Kapitzke, 2010) and a Lilliput assemblage of bivalves at the very base of the paper shales (Fox et al, 2020), recent studies have placed the ETE above the initial CIE in the paper shales, at a separate and slightly younger δ 13 C org anomaly (Fig. 1; Fox et al, 2020;Wignall and Atkinson, 2020). Despite decades of study establishing extinction of fauna characteristic of the end-Triassic (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Two-pronged kill mechanism at the end-Triassic mass extinction

Fox

Whiteside

Olsen

et al. 2022

Geology

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High-resolution biomarker and compound-specific isotope distributions coupled with the degradation of calcareous fossil remnants reveal that intensive euxinia and decalcification (acidification) driven by Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP) activity formed a two-pronged kill mechanism at the end-Triassic mass extinction. In a newly proposed extinction interval for the basal Blue Lias Formation (Bristol Channel Basin, UK), biomarker distributions reveal an episode of persistent photic zone euxinia (PZE) that extended further upward into the surface waters. In the same interval, shelly taxa almost completely disappear. Beginning in the basal paper shales of the Blue Lias Formation, a Lilliput assemblage is preserved consisting of only rare calcitic oysters (Liostrea) and ghost fossils of decalcified aragonitic bivalves. The stressors of PZE and decalcification parsimoniously explain the extinction event and inform possible combined causes of other biotic crises linked to emplacement of large igneous provinces, notably the end-Permian mass extinction, when PZE occurred on a broad and perhaps global scale.

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“…The results of our biogeochemical box model indicate climate instability and environmental variability on a 100-1000 years timeframe, induced by the rapid and pulsed degassing activity of CAMP. This period of extreme climatic and environmental instability coincided in time with the end-Triassic biosphere crisis and likely drove it via stressors, such as extreme warming, ocean acidification and hypoxia (Kiessling and Aberhan, 2007;Deenen et al, 2010;Pálfy and Zajzon, 2012;Kocsis et al, 2014;van de Schootbrugge and Wignall, 2016;He et al, 2020;Wignall and Atkinson, 2020;Hautmann, 2021). This process is reflected by strong extinction selectivity in the marine and terrestrial realms (McRoberts and Newton, 1995;Dunhill and Wills, 2015;Dunhill et al, 2018b;Allen et al, 2019), casting doubt on the hypothesis of a crisis resulted from a gradual increase in extinction rates throughout the Late Triassic (Hallam, 2002;Tanner et al, 2004;Lucas and Tanner, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With an estimated loss of 80% of marine invertebrate species (Hallam and Wignall, 1999), this event represents the single largest loss of modern fauna and the second largest loss of total biodiversity throughout Earth's history (Alroy, 2010), causing temporary but severe changes to global marine ecosystem structure (McGhee Jr. et al, 2004;Dunhill et al, 2018a). Palynological and biostratigraphic evidence from both marine and continental sedimentary records indicates the occurrence of two distinct phases for the end-Triassic biotic crisis, separated by a recovery interval and likely driven by different volcanic phases of CAMP activity (Wignall and Atkinson, 2020;. The initial and most severe phase of the biological crisis occurred synchronously with the main phase of CAMP volcanism .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%