Elke Schneebeli-Hermann

Climatic and biotic upheavals following the end-Permian mass extinction

The recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction was slow and prolonged. A temperature reconstruction shows that further biotic crises during the recovery were associated with extreme warmth. 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.

Evidence for atmospheric carbon injection during the end-Permian extinction

The end-Permian mass extinction is marked by pronounced terrestrial ecosystem turnover and a severe loss of marine invertebrate biodiversity. This extinction event is accompanied by a prominent negative carbon-isotope excursion indicating massive changes in the global carbon cycle across the Permian-Triassic boundary. In this study, we present organic carbon-isotope data from land plant cuticles, fossil wood fragments, and bulk organic matter recovered from the Amb section in the Salt Range, Pakistan. We apply δ 13 C data from cuticles as a proxy record for the carbon-isotope composition of atmospheric CO 2 across the Permian-Triassic boundary. The data show an ∼5.5‰ negative excursion in terrestrial organic matter, reflecting the change in carbon-isotope composition of atmospheric CO 2 . Our data demonstrate that these atmospheric changes coincide with biotic (mass extinction) and abiotic (carbonate carbon-isotope perturbation) changes in the marine realm, hence affecting the entire ocean-atmosphere system.

Severest crisis overlooked—Worst disruption of terrestrial environments postdates the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

Generally Early Triassic floras are believed to be depauperate, suffering from protracted recovery following the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Here we present palynological data of an expanded East Greenland section documenting recovered floras in the basal Triassic (Griesbachian) and a subsequent fundamental floral turnover, postdating the Permian–Triassic boundary extinction by about 500 kyrs. This event is marked by a swap in dominating floral elements, changing from gymnosperm pollen-dominated associations in the Griesbachian to lycopsid spore-dominated assemblages in the Dienerian. This turnover coincides with an extreme δ13Corg negative shift revealing a severe environmental crisis, probably induced by volcanic outbursts of the Siberian Traps, accompanied by a climatic turnover, changing from cool and dry in the Griesbachian to hot and humid in the Dienerian. Estimates of sedimentation rates suggest that this environmental alteration took place within some 1000 years. Similar, coeval changes documented on the North Indian Margin (Pakistan) and the Bowen Basin (Australia) indicate the global extent of this crisis. Our results evidence the first profound disruption of the recovery of terrestrial environments about 500kyrs after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. It was followed by another crisis, about 1myrs later thus, the Early Triassic can be characterised as a time of successive environmental crises.

Palynostratigraphy at the Permian—Triassic Boundary of the Amb Section, Salt Range, Pakistan

Palynostratigraphy across the Permian—Triassic of the Salt Range and Surghar Range area remains poorly known because of the predominance of unsuitable facies and preservation (Nammal, Chhidru, Chitta-Landu and Narmia). Dolomite and limestone in the basal Mianwali Formation prevented the establishment of a palynostratigraphic scheme for the basal Early Triassic (Hermann et al. 2012). Based on the study of a new Permian—Triassic section in the Amb valley where siltstone layers are intercalated in the basal Mianwali Formation (Kathwai Member), we describe a new record of palynological assemblages from the uppermost Permian Chhidru Formation and the lowermost part of the Early Triassic Mianwali Formation. The latest Permian Chhidru 2 sporomorph association occurs in the uppermost part of the Chhidru Formation, the so-called ‘white sandstone unit’. It is marked by the dominance of bisaccate pollen grains (mainly Protohaploxypinus spp.) and cavate trilete spores (mainly Kraeuselisporites spp.). Here, the previously described lowermost Triassic palynozone PTr 1 is subdivided into two subzones. PTr 1a assemblages are described from the Griesbachian Kathwai Member. They are characterized by continued high bisaccate pollen grain abundances and the presence of the lycopod genera Lundbladispora spp. and Densoisporites spp. In these assemblages, typical ‘Permian taxa’ and typical ‘Triassic taxa’ are mixed. The composition of the middle Dienerian PTr 1b assemblages corresponds to the previously described PTr 1 assemblage from Nammal and Chitta-Landu. Lundbladispora spp. and Densoisporites spp. account for ca. 80% of the total assemblage in PTr 1b. Although the Griesbachian assemblages record a decrease in diversity, the middle Dienerian assemblages represent the poorest assemblages of the studied Permian—Triassic interval. Reduviasporonites occurs only sporadically throughout the Amb succession.

Palynology of Triassic–Jurassic boundary sections in northern Switzerland

A first palynostratigraphic scheme of Upper Triassic deposits in northern Switzerland was established based on spore-pollen associations and dinoflagellate cyst records from the upper part of the Upper Triassic Klettgau Formation and the lower part of the Lower Jurassic Staffelegg Formation. Drill cores from the Adlerberg region (Basel Tabular Jura) and from Weiach (northern part of Canton Zurich) as well as from an outcrop at the Chilchzimmersattel (Basel Folded Jura) were studied and five informal palynological associations are distinguished. These palynological associations correlate with palynological association of the Central European Epicontinental Basin and the Tethyan realm and provide a stratigraphic framework for the uppermost Triassic sediments in northern Switzerland. Throughout the uppermost Triassic to Jurassic palynological succession a remarkable prominence of Classopollis spp. is observed. Besides Classopollis spp. the three Rhaetian palynological associations A to C from the Upper Triassic Belchen Member include typical Rhaetian spore-pollen and dinoflagellate taxa (e.g., Rhaetipollis germanicus, Geopollis zwolinskae, Rhaetogonyaulax rhaetica, and Dapcodinium priscum). Association B differs from association A in a higher relative abundance of the sporomorph taxa Perinopollenites spp. and the consistent occurrence of Granuloperculatipollis rudis and Ricciisporites tuberculatus. Spore diversity is highest in the late Rhaetian palynological association C and includes Polypodiisporites polymicroforatus. A Rhaetian age for the Belchen Member is confirmed by palynological associations A–C, but there is no record of the latest Rhaetian and the earliest Jurassic. In contrast to the Rhaetian palynological associations the Early Jurassic associations W and D include Pinuspollenites spp., Trachysporites fuscus (in association W), and Ischyosporites variegatus. In the view of the end-Triassic mass extinction and contemporaneous environmental changes the described palynofloral succession represents the pre-extinction phase (associations A and B) including a distinct transgression, the extinction phase (association C) associated with a regression, and the post-extinction phase (association W).

Evidence for atmospheric pollution across the Permian-Triassic transition

Evidence for a cause-and-effect relationship between the emplacement of the Siberian Traps large igneous province and the Permian-Triassic marine mass extinction has been growing over the past decades. However, how the Siberian Traps volcanism affected the terrestrial vegetation is still a matter of controversy. Here, we demonstrate that a substantial part of plants’ life cycle, namely their reproductive organs, was adversely affected by environmental conditions. Effects include malformed spores and pollen grains, unseparated tetrads, and darkened walls of spores and pollen (sporoderm) from Permian-Triassic sediments from the Finnmark Platform offshore Norway. The co-occurrence of these morphological changes with the main carbon isotope excursion and the marine mass extinction may suggest that they were caused by atmospheric pollution linked to Siberian Traps emissions.

Environmental changes and carbon cycle perturbations at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary in northern Switzerland

The Triassic–Jurassic boundary is characterized by strong perturbations of the global carbon cycle, triggered by massive volcanic eruptions related to the onset of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. These perturbations are recorded by negative carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) which have been reported worldwide. In this study, Triassic–Jurassic boundary sections from the southern margin of the Central European Basin (CEB) located in northern Switzerland are analyzed for organic carbon and nitrogen isotopes in combination with particulate organic matter (POM) analyses. We reconstruct the evolution of the depositional environment from Late Triassic to Early Jurassic in northern Switzerland and show that observed negative shifts in δ13C of the total organic carbon (δ13CTOC) in the sediment are only subordinately influenced by varying organic matter (OM) composition and primarily reflect global changes in the carbon cycle. Based on palynology and the stratigraphic positions of isotopic shifts, the δ13CTOC record of the studied sections is correlated with the GSSP section at Kuhjoch (Tethyan realm) in Austria and with the St. Audrie’s Bay section (CEB realm) in southwest England. We also show that in contrast to POM analyses the applicability of organic carbon/total nitrogen (OC/TN) atomic ratios and stable isotopes of total nitrogen (δ15NTN) for detecting changes in source of OM is limited in marginal depositional environments with frequent changes in lithology and OM contents.

Vegetation response to exceptional global warmth during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2

The Cenomanian–Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE2; ~94.5 million years ago) represents an episode of global-scale marine anoxia and biotic turnover, which corresponds to one of the warmest time intervals in the Phanerozoic. Despite its global significance, information on continental ecosystem response to this greenhouse episode is lacking. Here we present a terrestrial palynological record combined with marine-derived temperature data (TEX86) across an expanded OAE2 section from the Southern Provençal Basin, France. Despite high TEX86-derived temperature estimates reaching up to 38 °C, the continental hinterland did support a diverse vegetation, adapted to persist under elevated temperatures. A transient phase of climatic instability and cooling during OAE2 known as Plenus Cold Event (PCE) is marked by the proliferation of open, savanna-type vegetation rich in angiosperms at the expanse of conifer-dominated forest ecosystems. A rise in early representatives of Normapolles-type pollen during the PCE marks the initial radiation of this important angiosperm group.The Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 represents one of the warmest episodes in the last 250 million years. Here, the authors present spore-pollen data and temperature estimates (TEX86) across an expanded stratigraphic section illustrating the dynamic response of vegetation during this exceptionally warm interval.