Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 8 September 1995:
Vol. 269. no. 5229, pp. 1413 - 1416
DOI: 10.1126/science.269.5229.1413
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Synchrony and Causal Relations Between Permian-Triassic Boundary Crises and Siberian Flood Volcanism

Paul R. Renne 1, Michael T. Black 1, Zhang Zichao 2, Mark A. Richards 3, and Asish R. Basu 4

1 Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.
2 Yichang Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Post Office Box 502, Yichang 443003, People's Republic of China
3 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
4 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA.

The Permian-Triassic boundary records the most severe mass extinctions in Earth's history. Siberian flood volcanism, the most profuse known such subaerial event, produced 2 million to 3 million cubic kilometers of volcanic ejecta in approximately 1 million years or less. Analysis of 40Ar/39Ar data from two tuffs in southern China yielded a date of 250.0 ± 0.2 million years ago for the Permian-Triassic boundary, which is comparable to the inception of main stage Siberian flood volcanism at 250.0 ± 0.3 million years ago. Volcanogenic sulfate aerosols and the dynamic effects of the Siberian plume likely contributed to environmental extrema that led to the mass extinctions.

Submitted on May 23, 1995
Accepted on July 12, 1995


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Bryozoan paleoecology indicates mid-Phanerozoic extinctions were the product of long-term environmental stress.
C. M. Powers and D. J. Bottjer (2007)
Geology 35, 995-998
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Siberian trap magmatism on the New Siberian Islands: constraints for Arctic Mesozoic plate tectonic reconstructions.
A. B. Kuzmichev and V. L. Pease (2007)
Journal of the Geological Society 164, 959-968
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
END-PERMIAN MASS EXTINCTION OF LAGENIDE FORAMINIFERS IN THE SOUTHERN ALPS (NORTHERN ITALY).
J. R. GROVES, R. RETTORI, J. L. PAYNE, M. D. BOYCE, and D. ALTINER (2007)
Journal of Paleontology 81, 415-434
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Oblique rift geometry of the West Siberian Basin: tectonic setting for the Siberian flood basalts.
M. B. Allen, L. Anderson, R. C. Searle, and M. Buslov (2006)
Journal of the Geological Society 163, 901-904
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Kalkarindji continental flood basalt province: A new Cambrian large igneous province in Australia with possible links to faunal extinctions.
L. M Glass and D. Phillips (2006)
Geology 34, 461-464
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Permian-Triassic boundary section at Quinn River Crossing, northwestern Nevada, and implications for the cause of the Early Triassic chert gap on the western Pangean margin.
E. A. Sperling and J. C. Ingle Jr. (2006)
GSA Bulletin 118, 733-746
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Permian-Triassic boundary in the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica.
J. W. Collinson, W. R. Hammer, R. A. Askin, and D. H. Elliot (2006)
GSA Bulletin 118, 747-763
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Late Permian to Early Triassic transition in central and NE Spain: biotic and sedimentary characteristics.
A. Arche and J. Lopez-Gomez (2006)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 265, 261-280
   Abstract »    PDF »
Climate simulation of the latest Permian: Implications for mass extinction.
J. T. Kiehl and C. A. Shields (2005)
Geology 33, 757-760
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Geochemistry of the end-Permian extinction event in Austria and Italy: No evidence for an extraterrestrial component.
(2004)
Geology 32, 1053-1056
Age and Timing of the Permian Mass Extinctions: U/Pb Dating of Closed-System Zircons.
R. Mundil, K. R. Ludwig, I. Metcalfe, and P. R. Renne (2004)
Science 305, 1760-1763
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Environmental mutagenesis during the end-Permian ecological crisis.
H. Visscher, C. V. Looy, M. E. Collinson, H. Brinkhuis, J. H. A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert, W. M. Kurschner, and M. A. Sephton (2004)
PNAS 101, 12952-12956
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Non-Actualistic Early Triassic Gastropod Fauna:A Case Study of the Lower Triassic SinbadLimestone Member.
(2004)
Palaios 19, 259-275
The Central Asian Orogenic Belt and growth of the continental crust in the Phanerozoic.
B.-M. Jahn (2004)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 226, 73-100
   Abstract »    PDF »
Chondritic Meteorite Fragments Associated with the Permian-Triassic Boundary in Antarctica.
A. R. Basu, M. I. Petaev, R. J. Poreda, S. B. Jacobsen, and L. Becker (2003)
Science 302, 1388-1392
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Vertebrate extinction across Permian-Triassic boundary in Karoo Basin, South Africa.
G. J. Retallack, R. M.H. Smith, and P. D. Ward (2003)
GSA Bulletin 115, 1133-1152
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mid-Triassic integrated U-Pb geochronology and ammonoid biochronology from the Balaton Highland (Hungary).
J. Palfy, J. PAlfy, R. R. Parrish, K. David, and A. VOrOs (2003)
Journal of the Geological Society 160, 271-284
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
High-Precision U-Pb Zircon Geochronology and the Stratigraphic Record.
S. A. Bowring, S. A. Bowring, and M. D. Schmitz (2003)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 53, 305-326
   Full Text »    PDF »
Permian-Triassic sedimentology of Jameson Land, East Greenland: incised submarine channels in an anoxic basin.
P. B. Wignall, P. B. Wignall, and R. J. Twitchett (2002)
Journal of the Geological Society 159, 691-703
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Low oxygen levels in earliest Triassic soils.
(2002)
Geology 30, 919-922
Land-plant diversity and the end-Permian mass extinction.
(2002)
Geology 30, 827-830
40Ar/39Ar Dates from the West Siberian Basin: Siberian Flood Basalt Province Doubled.
M. K. Reichow, A. D. Saunders, R. V. White, M. S. Pringle, A. I. Al'Mukhamedov, A. I. Medvedev, and N. P. Kirda (2002)
Science 296, 1846-1849
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Examination of hypotheses for the Permo-Triassic boundary extinction by carbon cycle modeling.
R. A. Berner (2002)
PNAS 99, 4172-4177
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
End-Permian catastrophe by a bolide impact: Evidence of a gigantic release of sulfur from the mantle.
(2001)
Geology 29, 815-818
Impact Event at the Permian-Triassic Boundary: Evidence from Extraterrestrial Noble Gases in Fullerenes.
L. Becker, R. J. Poreda, A. G. Hunt, T. E. Bunch, and M. Rampino (2001)
Science 291, 1530-1533
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Altered River Morphology in South Africa Related to the Permian-Triassic Extinction.
P. D. Ward, D. R. Montgomery, and R. Smith (2000)
Science 289, 1740-1743
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Base of the Kiaman: Its definition and global stratigraphic significance.
N.D. Opdyke, J. Roberts, J. Claoue-Long, E. Irving, and P.J. Jones (2000)
GSA Bulletin 112, 1315-1341
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
{delta}13C depth profiles from paleosols across the Permian-Triassic boundary: Evidence for methane release.
E. S. Krull and G. J. Retallack (2000)
GSA Bulletin 112, 1459-1472
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Synchrony between Early Jurassic extinction, oceanic anoxic event, and the Karoo-Ferrar flood basalt volcanism.
(2000)
Geology 28, 747-750
Pattern of Marine Mass Extinction Near the Permian-Triassic Boundary in South China.
Y. G. Jin, Y. Wang, W. Wang, Q. H. Shang, C. Q. Cao, and D. H. Erwin (2000)
Science 289, 432-436
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Timing of mammal-like reptile extinctions across the Permian-Triassic boundary in South Africa.
K. G. MacLeod, R. M. H. Smith, P. L. Koch, and P. D. Ward (2000)
Geology 28, 227-230
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The tempo of mass extinction and recovery: The end-Permian example.
S. A. Bowring, D. H. Erwin, and Y. Isozaki (1999)
PNAS 96, 8827-8828
   Full Text »    PDF »
Oceanic plateau formation: a cause of mass extinction and black shale deposition around the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary?.
A. C. KERR (1998)
Journal of the Geological Society 155, 619-626
   Abstract »    PDF »
Examination of hypotheses for the Permo-Triassic boundary extinction by carbon cycle modeling.
R. A. Berner (2002)
PNAS 99, 4172-4177
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)