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Science 21 November 2003:
Vol. 302. no. 5649, pp. 1388 - 1392
DOI: 10.1126/science.1090852
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Reports

Chondritic Meteorite Fragments Associated with the Permian-Triassic Boundary in Antarctica

Asish R. Basu,1* Michail I. Petaev,2,3 Robert J. Poreda,1 Stein B. Jacobsen,2 Luann Becker4

Multiple chondritic meteorite fragments have been found in two sedimentary rock samples from an end-Permian bed at Graphite Peak in Antarctica. The Ni/Fe, Co/Ni, and P/Fe ratios in metal grains; the Fe/Mg and Mn/Fe ratios in olivine and pyroxene; and the chemistry of Fe-, Ni-, P-, and S-bearing oxide in the meteorite fragments are typical of CM-type chondritic meteorites. In one sample, the meteoritic fragments are accompanied by more abundant discrete metal grains, which are also found in an end-Permian bed at Meishan, southern China. We discuss the implications of this finding for a suggested global impact event at the Permian-Triassic boundary.

1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA.
2 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
3 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
4 Institute of Crustal Studies, Department of Geology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: abasu{at}earth.rochester.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Diversity and Distribution of Triassic Bryozoans in the Aftermath of the End-Permian Mass Extinction.
C. M. Powers and J. F. Pachut (2008)
Journal of Paleontology 82, 362-371
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Late Permian limestones and the Permain-Triassic boundary:new biostratigraphic, palaeobiogeographical and geochemical data in Caucasus and eastern Europe.
J. M. Thery, D. Vachard, and E. Dransart (2007)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 275, 255-274
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Permian-Triassic boundary in the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica.
J. W. Collinson, W. R. Hammer, R. A. Askin, and D. H. Elliot (2006)
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Earliest Triassic Claystone Breccias and Soil-Erosion Crisis.
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Abrupt and Gradual Extinction Among Late Permian Land Vertebrates in the Karoo Basin, South Africa.
P. D. Ward, J. Botha, R. Buick, M. O. De Kock, D. H. Erwin, G. H. Garrison, J. L. Kirschvink, and R. Smith (2005)
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Geochemistry of the end-Permian extinction event in Austria and Italy: No evidence for an extraterrestrial component.
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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)
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Large Perturbations of the Carbon Cycle During Recovery from the End-Permian Extinction.
J. L. Payne, D. J. Lehrmann, J. Wei, M. J. Orchard, D. P. Schrag, and A. H. Knoll (2004)
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Bedout: A Possible End-Permian Impact Crater Offshore of Northwestern Australia.
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