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Climatic and biotic upheavals following the end-Permian mass extinction

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 57–60 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction is frequently described as delayed1,2,3, with complex ecological communities typically not found in the fossil record until the Middle Triassic epoch. However, the taxonomic diversity of a number of marine groups, ranging from ammonoids to benthic foraminifera, peaked rapidly in the Early Triassic4,5,6,7,8,9,10. These variations in biodiversity occur amidst pronounced excursions in the carbon isotope record, which are compatible with episodes of massive CO2 outgassing from the Siberian Large Igneous Province4,11,12,13. Here we present a high-resolution Early Triassic temperature record based on the oxygen isotope composition of pristine apatite from fossil conodonts. Our reconstruction shows that the beginning of the Smithian substage of the Early Triassic was marked by a cooler climate, followed by an interval of warmth lasting until the Spathian substage boundary. Cooler conditions resumed in the Spathian. We find the greatest increases in taxonomic diversity during the cooler phases of the early Smithian and early Spathian. In contrast, a period of extreme warmth in the middle and late Smithian was associated with floral ecological change and high faunal taxonomic turnover in the ocean. We suggest that climate upheaval and carbon-cycle perturbations due to volcanic outgassing were important drivers of Early Triassic biotic recovery.

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Figure 1: Location of the study site today and during the Early Triassic.
Figure 2: Evolution of environmental proxies and taxonomic diversity during the Early Triassic.

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Acknowledgements

We thank K. De Baets (School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, UK) and L. Kocsis (Institute of Mineralogy and Geochemistry, University of Lausanne, Switzerland) for advise on the analyses and discussions. We are much obliged to G. Roohi, K. ur-Rehman and A. Yaseen (Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Islamabad) for logistics and help in the field. M. Hebeisen is thanked for laboratory assistance, J. Neenan for correcting the English and B. Scheffold for drawings (all Palaeontological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Switzerland). We appreciate valuable comments from H. Weissert (Department of Earth Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich) and A. Brayard (Biogéosciences, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France) that helped to improve the manuscript. Past and present support of the Swiss National Science Foundation (projects 135446 to H.B. and 120311/135075 to W.B.) is deeply acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Palaeontological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland

    Carlo Romano, Nicolas Goudemand, David Ware, Elke Schneebeli-Hermann, Peter A. Hochuli, Thomas Brühwiler, Winand Brinkmann & Hugo Bucher

  2. Institute of Mineralogy and Geochemistry, University of Lausanne, Anthropole, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

    Torsten W. Vennemann

  3. Palaeoecology, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Elke Schneebeli-Hermann

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, Sonneggstrasse 5, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland

    Peter A. Hochuli & Hugo Bucher

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  1. Carlo Romano
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Contributions

Fieldwork in the Salt Range was carried out by D.W., E.S-H., H.B., P.A.H. and T.B. Preparation of samples was performed by C.R. and N.G. and phosphate samples were measured by T.W.V. Ammonoids were identified by D.W., H.B. and T.B.; conodont element determinations were carried out by N.G.; fish teeth identification was performed by C.R. The manuscript was mainly written by C.R., H.B. and N.G., with valuable contributions from all other authors.

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Correspondence to Carlo Romano, Nicolas Goudemand or Hugo Bucher.

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Romano, C., Goudemand, N., Vennemann, T. et al. Climatic and biotic upheavals following the end-Permian mass extinction. Nature Geosci 6, 57–60 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1667

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