Pattern of vertebrate extinctions across an event bed at the Permian-Triassic boundary in the Karoo Basin of South Africa

The extinction of vertebrates around the time of the Permian-Triassic boundary has long been regarded as a gradual event occurring over millions of years. Our new field investigations of fluvial strata in the central and southern Karoo Basin of South Africa have revealed the presence of an event bed...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 2001-12, Vol.29 (12), p.1147-1150
Main Authors: Smith, Roger M. H, Ward, Peter D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
Bethulie South Africa
biodiversity
biostratigraphy
Cape Province region
channels
Chordata
clastic rocks
Dicynodontia
event stratigraphy
Extinction
fluvial environment
Geological time
Karoo Basin
Lootsberg Pass
Lower Triassic
Lystrosaurus
mass extinctions
Mesozoic
mudstone
paleoecology
paleoenvironment
paleogeography
Paleozoic
Permian
Permian-Triassic boundary
range
red beds
Reptilia
sedimentary rocks
South Africa
Southern Africa
stratigraphic boundary
Stratigraphy
Synapsida
terrestrial environment
Tetrapoda
Therapsida
Triassic
Upper Permian
Vertebrata
Vertebrates
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Summary:The extinction of vertebrates around the time of the Permian-Triassic boundary has long been regarded as a gradual event occurring over millions of years. Our new field investigations of fluvial strata in the central and southern Karoo Basin of South Africa have revealed the presence of an event bed coinciding with a mass extinction of terrestrial fauna and flora. The bed is in a sedimentary sequence that is marked by a reddening of flood-plain mud rocks and a change from high- to low-sinuosity river channel systems. Here we show that the pattern of vertebrate taxa disappearing below this boundary and the subsequent appearance of new taxa above the boundary are consistent with a relatively sudden, possibly catastrophic event, perhaps of 50 000 yr duration or less.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<1147:POVEAA>2.0.CO;2