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Protocols of a mass extinction

“The idea is to investigate the largest mass extinction in Earth's history at sites that have been known for a long time but are underrepresented in research,” says project manager Dieter Korn of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.

Ten years ago, Korn and colleagues planned and applied for a research project for studying sites in Iran. The project turned out to be a pilot for more to follow.

Volcanism, climate change, mass extinction

At the Permian-Triassic boundary about 250 million years ago, probably 80 to 90 percent of all species on Earth became extinct. Various fossil sites from this period, e.g. in China, have already been investigated extensively; other much less well-investigates places are located in Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan. A 100 to 300 metres deep shelf sea covered this area at the time of the Permian-Triassic transition. Since their discovery about 50 years ago, the sites in Iran have received comparatively little attention.

Since 2010, Korn has visited the study area almost every year. On site, his research team records geological sections, takes samples and searches for fossils. Some sites were already known as outcrops where petrified sediments are easily accessible; others were discovered by the team.

“We are focusing on isotope geochemistry and various aspects of palaeontology,” says Korn. Conodonts are one important group of animals. The numerous marine species are classified as chordates. In order to extract fossils of the tooth-like hard mouthparts of these animals, rock samples are dissolved with formic acid. In addition, the team is studying fossils of ostracod crustaceans, brachiopods and molluscs such as ammonoids, nautiloids and bivalves.

The extinction event at the Permian-Triassic boundary is associated with massive volcanism, which caused the release of large amounts of greenhouse gases and caused global warming. Geochemical analyses of the rock samples provide information on past temperature changes. Using the climate data and fossils, the researchers around Korn document the temporal sequence in which species, genera and even entire families of organisms disappeared. The reconstruction of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction event could lead to conclusions about the impacts of man-made climate change today.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) funds the project. The investigations are to be continued in future projects.

Project-title

The Permian-Triassic boundary and the Early Triassic in Transcaucasian and Central Iranian pelagic sections

The Permian-Triassic boundary in the Baghuk Mountains (Central Iran) follow-up project

Duration

01.01.2010 - 31.12.2016

01.09.2013 - 31.12.2018 (follow-up project)

Partners

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG