Permian: The Mass Extinction

1. Permian: The Mass Extinction By: Carrie Hager

2. Table of Contents: • The Carboniferous Period • The Rate of Tectonics • The Environmental Conditions • The Permian Period • The Formation of Pangea • Structures formed by Pangea • Environmental Conditions • Sea levels – Rising and Lowering (Comparing Carboniferous vs. Permian) • Permian Plants and Animals (Existing) • The Mass Extinction • Plants and Animals affected • The Theories behind the Mass extinction

3. Carboniferous Period • Era: Late Paleozoic • 350 to 290 Million Years Ago • Collision of Laurussia - Europe and North America into Gondwana - Africa & South America

4. Carboniferous Period Cont. • Separated into two epochs: Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) and the Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous) • Mississippian is distinguished by the Limestone • Pennsylvanian is distinguished by the coal-bearing layers

5. Rate of Tectonics • The collision of Laurasia and Gondwana formed the Ural Mountains. • When Laurasia and Gondwana later collide together to form the super continent pangea, the Appalachian belt and the Hercynian Mountains in Europe were formed.

7. Environmental Conditions - Carboniferous • Famous for Coal Swamps • Transgression – Plant material didn’t decay when the sea covered the land. This caused pressure and heat to build up over millions of years, eventually transforming the plant material into coal.

8. The Permian Period • Last Period of The Paleozoic Era • 290 to 248 Million years ago • Famous for the Largest Mass Extinction to date • The Supercontinent of Pangea formed

9. The Permian Period Cont. • Pictured left: • The Early and Late divisions of the Permian period.

10. The Formation of Pangea • Crustal plates moved the land together to form Pangea. • Pangea continued to move northward while forming mountains along the way. • Pangea surrounded one sea named, Tethys Sea • The Rest of the plant was covered by one ocean named, Panthalassa • Pangea stretched from the North pole to the South pole

12. Impacted Structures: Formed by Pangea • The Ural Mountains were formed during the Carboniferous period, but when Pangea formed the Ural Mountains were pushed together to form a larger chain of mountains

13. Carboniferous Period Permian Period Glaciation decreased because of a climate shift, therefore, causing the seas to no longer transgress and regress as much as they had during the carboniferous period. Shallow seas covered 35% of the continents during the middle Permian and 15% at the end • The Upper Carboniferous period alternated between a terrestrialand marine environment. • This environment took place as glaciations caused the seas to transgress and regress.

14. Environmental Conditions - Permian • Due to Pangea being so large, the middle of the continent did not benefit from the ocean waters. Therefore, creating a Dessert environment. This environment changed between extremely hot and cold temperatures. In some places their had never been one drop of rain because of the distance of the ocean.

15. Permian: Plants • Pictured (Left): The Ginkgo plant. This plant had seeds and was part of the gymnosperms classification. This type of plant still exists today. • Conifers – Trees, consisting of seeds inside of cones. (Exists today)

16. Permian: Animals • Pictured (Right): Archosuars • Pelycosaurs, Dimetrodon, and Therapsids were types of mammals that could survive in the dessert conditions of the Permian period.

18. The Mass Extinction: Facts • The Mass Extinction was the largest extinction recorded in history to date. • In the seas, 90 to 95% of species went extinct. On land, the damage was less severe but caused 70 to 80% to perish.

19. Animals and Plants affected by the Mass Extinction • Pictured Right: The Dimetrodon • Marine Species: Trilobites, rugose and tabulate corals, and blastoids. • Reduced species: Ammonoids, Sharks, and Bony Fish. • Land Species: • Dimetrodon, Archosuars, and Pelycosaurs. • Just to name a few.

20. Theories of Mass Extinction • Volcanic Activity: Large eruptions can cause a temperature drop around the globe. • Meteors/Comets: Meteor or Comet hit the plant, causing a change in temperature (ex. glaciation) and sea levels. • Formation of Pangea: Ruled out by many because it took place in middle and early Permian.

21. Conclusion • The Permian Mass Extinction brought the Paleozoic Era to a end. • Therefore, moving to the Mesozoic Era

22. Review of Content • The Carboniferous Period • The Rate of Tectonics • The Environmental Conditions • The Permian Period • The Formation of Pangea • Structures formed by Pangea • Environmental Conditions • Sea levels – Rising and Lowering (Comparing Carboniferous vs. Permian) • Permian Plants and Animals (Existing) • The Mass Extinction • Plants and Animals affected • The Theories behind the Mass extinction • Concluding to my… Cited References

23. Cited References Annenberg Media, 2009, Unit 12 Biodiversity – Animations & Images. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.learner.org/courses/biology/units/biodiv/images.html Forney, Gerald, 1975, The University of Chicago Press, Permo-Triassic Sea-Level Change. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.jstor.org/pss/30061082?cookieSet=1 National Geographic Society, 2010, Mass Extinctions/Permian Extinction/Carboniferous. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/mass-extinction.html S. Rieboldt, 2002, Geological Society of America (GSA), Carboniferous. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/carboniferous/carboniferous.html S. Rieboldt, 2002, Geological Society of America (GSA), Permian. January 21, 2010 retrieved from http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/permian/permian.html Scotese, Christopher, 2003, At the end of the Permian was Greatest Extinction of All Time. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.scotese.com/newpage5.htm