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

合作研究：盘古大陆东北部的陆地晚二叠世至早三叠世地球系统：深入了解二叠纪末大规模灭绝的节奏、影响和原因

• 批准号: 1714797
• 负责人: Neil Tabor
• 金额: $ 38.39万
• 依托单位: Southern Methodist University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-08-01 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1714797&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Terrestrial; Late; Permian

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.

摘要非技术性的描述解释了该项目更广泛的意义在整个地球历史上的不同时期都发生过大规模的地震。其中最著名的一次发生在白垩纪末期恐龙的灭绝，但据信最大的一次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，陆地环境中的事件只有很少的记录。这个项目将研究在这些沉积时期形成于湖泊、河流和古土壤中的暴露良好的沉积岩序列。这项研究将能够精确地记录陆地上发生的一系列事件，全面分析事件发生之前、期间和之后发生的环境变化，并调查陆地动物和植物如何对这些变化作出反应。研究结果将确定大陆上的地震是否与海洋中的地震同时发生，以及可能导致如此大规模变化的条件。鉴于目前对灭绝速度的关注，了解过去发生的过程将有助于确定植物群和动物群发生重大变化的原因。该项目将开发博物馆展品和推广计划，以告知教育和一般观众。项目的技术说明对地球历史关键时期进行全面的多学科调查，以最好地了解重大生物危机之前、期间和之后的情况。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气候变化。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耦合灾难性崩溃，两者都经历了生态群落的长期重组和稳定生态系统动态的恢复。中国博格达山脉包含一个横跨关键层段的全大陆地层，其中河流和湖泊沉积与广泛的古土壤记录交替，从中可以得出成壤趋势和地球化学模式。包括主要植物和动物群体在内的古生物学记录保存完好。试点项目数据显示，保存在该部分的岩石中的主要磁化，从中可以得出一个强大的磁极性地层。也有许多火山沉积物，包含跨越临界间隔的原生火山锆石。这些将用于获得高精度的年龄，以建立一个仔细的年表。 总之，这些数据可以评估环境和生态系统的变化，发生在二叠纪-三叠纪过渡。研究成果将被纳入每个参与学术机构的课程，并将向高中科学教师提供夏季推广计划。将为菲尔德博物馆获奖的“大脑独家新闻”YouTube频道制作五个教育视频。将与加州科学院的可视化工作室合作，为非正式教育推广工作开发分析和模型结果的数据可视化。