Conodont Biostratigraphy and Chronocorrelation of the Late Paleozoic to Triassic World: A Time of Climate and Biodiversity Change

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Demonstrating the time equivalence of events, or chronocorrelation, involves all available means including biostratigraphy, numerical dating, paleomagnetism and geochemical trends. Chronocorrelation of the Late Paleozoic and Triassic (355-200 Ma) world has immediate relevance to changes we are witnessing today on Earth, including climate change and dramatic changes in biodiversity. The research is like completing a jig-saw puzzle called the Permian World, but there is no picture on the cover; some pieces are available and others are deformed. To solve the puzzle the investigations must be global, and will primarily involve conodont biostratigraphic studies in numerous basins. Conodonts were small eel-like animals whose only hard parts included microscopic teeth; evolutionary changes in the shape of these teeth represent the primary basis for biostratigraphy. The specific scientific approaches include 1) the collection and analysis of detailed samples from numerous rock sections in order to establish a biostratigraphic framework, to assist correlation of various physical and biologic events during the Late Paleozoic and Triassic; and 2) collaboration with other researchers in the areas of inorganic and organic geochemistry (e.g. Sr- and C-isotopes), geochronology, sedimentology, paleoclimate modeling, and other paleontology in order to facilitate the necessary high resolution framework. For example, Sr-isotope work represents an innovative approach to correlating between biogeographic provinces. The significance of this research is that many of the changes we are experiencing or anticipating today are foreshadowed by events that occurred during the Late Paleozoic and Triassic. The Pennsylvanian and Early Permian were witness to glacial and interglacial events resulting in rapid sea-level changes (cyclothems), an issue particularly relevant to the consequences of current global warming debate. The Triassic began after Earth's greatest extinction as a desolate world nearly barren of life, but life recovered in a series of pulses. Many of the geologic histories developed by this research are also relevant to study of both conventional and unconventional oil and gas reservoirs in Western and Arctic Canada.