Collaborative Research: Terrestrial Late Permian to Early Triassic Earth Systems in NE Pangea: Insights into the Tempo, Effects, and Causes of the End-Permian Mass Extinction

摘要解释该项目更广泛意义的非技术性描述在整个地球历史上，重大物种灭绝曾在不同时期发生过。其中最广为人知的是白垩纪末期恐龙的灭绝，但人们认为最大的大规模灭绝发生在二叠纪末期，大约2.52亿年前。海洋领域的灭绝是全球性的，发生在相对较短的时间间隔内。然而，地球环境中的事件只有很少的记录。这个项目将研究在这些灭绝期间在湖泊、河流和古代土壤中形成的暴露良好的沉积岩序列。这项研究将能够准确地记录陆地上发生的事件的顺序，全面分析事件发生之前、期间和之后发生的环境变化，并调查陆地动植物对这些变化的反应。结果将确定大陆上的物种灭绝是否与海洋中的物种灭绝同时发生，以及可能导致如此大规模变化的条件存在。鉴于目前对物种灭绝速度的担忧，了解过去发生的过程将有助于确定动植物重大变化背后的原因。该项目将开发博物馆展品和推广项目，向教育和普通观众提供信息。该项目的技术描述对地球历史关键时期的全面、多学科调查提供了对重大生物危机之前、期间和之后流行条件的最佳洞察。二叠纪-三叠纪大灭绝被用作生物和物理系统如何应对重大气候变化的模型，包括那些可归因于温室气体增加的变化。目前，二叠纪-三叠纪大灭绝被解释为海洋和陆地生态系统的灾难性崩溃，两者都经历了生态群落的长期重组和稳定的生态系统动态的恢复。中国的博格达山包含一个完整的陆相地层，横跨河流和湖泊沉积与广泛的古土壤记录相间的关键区间，由此可以得出成壤趋势和地球化学模式。包括主要动植物种群在内的古生物记录保存完好。试点项目的数据显示，该剖面的岩石中保存了原始磁化作用，由此可以得出坚固的磁极地层学。还有许多火山沉积物，其中包含跨越关键区间的原生火山锆石。这些将被用来获得高精度的年龄，以建立仔细的年代学。总而言之，这些数据可以评估二叠纪-三叠纪过渡期间发生的环境和生态系统变化。研究成果将被整合到每个参与的学术机构的课程中，并将为高中科学教师提供暑期推广计划。将为菲尔德博物馆获奖的YouTube频道“The Brain Scoop”制作五个教育视频。将与加州科学院的可视化工作室一起，为非正式教育推广开发分析和模型结果的数据可视化。

ABSTRACTA non-technical description explaining the broader significance of the projectMajor mass extinctions have occurred at various times throughout Earth history. The most well-known of these happened with the demise of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period, but it is believed that the largest mass extinction happened at the end of the Permian Period, approximately 252 million years ago. The extinction in the marine realm was global and occurred over a relatively short time interval. However, events in the terrestrial environment are only sparsely documented. This project will examine well-exposed sedimentary rock successions that formed in lakes, rivers, and ancient soils during the time of these extinctions. This research will enable a precise documentation of the sequence of events on land, a comprehensive analysis of the environmental changes that took place before, during and after the event, and an investigation of how terrestrial animals and plants responded to these changes. The results will determine if extinctions on the continents occurred at the same time as those in the ocean and what conditions existed that may have caused such large-scale changes. Given current concern about rates of extinction, knowledge of the processes that occurred in the past will help identify the reasons behind major changes in flora and fauna. The project will develop museum exhibits and outreach programs to inform both educational and general audiences.A technical description of the projectA comprehensive, multidisciplinary investigation of critical intervals of Earth history offers the best insights into the conditions that prevailed before, during, and after major biotic crises. The Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction is used as a model of how biological and physical systems responded to major climate changes, including those attributable to increasing greenhouse gases. Currently, the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction is interpreted as a coupled catastrophic collapse of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, both of which experienced protracted restructuring of ecological communities and recovery of stable ecosystem dynamics. The Bogda Mountains in China contain a fully continental stratigraphy spanning the critical interval wherein fluvial and lacustrine deposits alternate with an extensive paleosol record, from which pedogenic trends and geochemical models can be derived. A paleontological record including major plant and animal groups is well-preserved. Pilot-project data show the preservation of a primary magnetization in rocks in the section, from which a robust magnetic polarity stratigraphy can be derived. There are also numerous volcanic deposits that contain primary volcanic zircons spanning the critical interval. These will be used to obtain high precision ages to establish a careful chronology. Together, these data allow evaluation of environmental and ecosystem changes that took place during the Permian-Triassic transition. Research results will be integrated into curricula at each participating academic institution, and summer outreach programs will be offered to high-school science teachers. Five educational videos will be developed for the Field Museum's award winning "The Brain Scoop" YouTube channel. Data visualizations of analytical and model results will be developed for informal education outreach in conjunction with the Visualization Studio at the California Academy of Sciences.