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.

Science 7 June 2002:
Vol. 296. no. 5574, pp. 1846 - 1849
DOI: 10.1126/science.1071671
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

40Ar/39Ar Dates from the West Siberian Basin: Siberian Flood Basalt Province Doubled

Marc K. Reichow,1 Andrew D. Saunders,1* Rosalind V. White,1 Malcolm S. Pringle,2 Alexander I. Al'Mukhamedov,3 Alexander I. Medvedev,3 Nikolay P. Kirda4

Widespread basaltic volcanism occurred in the region of the West Siberian Basin in central Russia during Permo-Triassic times. New 40Ar/39Ar age determinations on plagioclase grains from deep boreholes in the basin reveal that the basalts were erupted 249.4 ± 0.5 million years ago. This is synchronous with the bulk of the Siberian Traps, erupted further east on the Siberian Platform. The age and geochemical data confirm that the West Siberian Basin basalts are part of the Siberian Traps and at least double the confirmed area of the volcanic province as a whole. The larger area of volcanism strengthens the link between the volcanism and the end-Permian mass extinction.

1 Department of Geology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
2 Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, UK.
3 Institute of Geochemistry, Favorsky Street, Post Office Box 4019, Irkutsk 664033, Russia.
4 Institute of Geology Oil and Gas, Koptyug Avenue 3, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ads{at}le.ac.uk

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Magmatic anhydrite-sulfide assemblages in the plumbing system of the Siberian Traps.
C. Li, E. M. Ripley, A. J. Naldrett, A. K. Schmitt, and C. H. Moore (2009)
Geology 37, 259-262
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
CHANGE AND STABILITY IN PERMIAN BRACHIOPOD COMMUNITIES FROM WESTERN TEXAS.
T. D. OLSZEWSKI and D. H. ERWIN (2009)
Palaios 24, 27-40
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The stability of the stratospheric ozone layer during the end-Permian eruption of the Siberian Traps.
D. J Beerling, M. Harfoot, B. Lomax, and J. A Pyle (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc A 365, 1843-1866
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evaluation of different models for the origin of the Siberian Traps.
A. V. Ivanov (2007)
Geological Society of America Special Papers 430, 669-691
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Plume-related regional prevolcanic uplift in the Deccan Traps: Absence of evidence, evidence of absence.
H.C. Sheth (2007)
Geological Society of America Special Papers 430, 785-813
   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 »
Permian-Triassic boundary in the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica.
J. W. Collinson, W. R. Hammer, R. A. Askin, and D. H. Elliot (2006)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 118, 747-763
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Carbon isotopic evidence for terminal-Permian methane outbursts and their role in extinctions of animals, plants, coral reefs, and peat swamps.
G. J. Retallack and E. S. Krull (2006)
Geological Society of America Special Papers 399, 249-268
   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 »
Karoo large igneous province: Brevity, origin, and relation to mass extinction questioned by new 40Ar/39Ar age data.
F. Jourdan, G. Feraud, H. Bertrand, A. B. Kampunzu, G. Tshoso, M. K. Watkeys, and B. Le Gall (2005)
Geology 33, 745-748
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Bedout: A Possible End-Permian Impact Crater Offshore of Northwestern Australia.
L. Becker, R. J. Poreda, A. R. Basu, K. O. Pope, T. M. Harrison, C. Nicholson, and R. Iasky (2004)
Science 304, 1469-1476
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Warakurna large igneous province: A new Mesoproterozoic large igneous province in west-central Australia.
M. T.D. Wingate, F. Pirajno, and P. A. Morris (2004)
Geology 32, 105-108
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Permian-Triassic boundary interval as a model for forcing marine ecosystem collapse by long-term atmospheric oxygen drop.
O. Weidlich, W. Kiessling, and E. Flugel (2003)
Geology 31, 961-964
   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)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 115, 1133-1152
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

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