The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the TriassicPeriod of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 251.902 Ma and 247.2 Ma (million years ago). Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassicseries, which is a unit in chronostratigraphy.
The Early Triassic is the oldest epoch of the MesozoicEra. It is preceded by the Lopingian epoch (late Permian, PaleozoicEra) and followed by the Middle Triassic epoch. The Early Triassic is divided into the Induan and Olenekianages. The Induan is subdivided into the Griesbachian and Dienerian subages and the Olenekian is subdivided into the Smithian and Spathian subages.[7]
The Lower Triassic series is coeval with the Scythian stage, which is today not included in the official timescales but can be found in older literature. In Europe, most of the Lower Triassic is composed of Buntsandstein, a lithostratigraphic unit of continental red beds.
The Permian-Triassic extinction event spawned the Triassic period. The massive extinctions that ended the Permian period and Paleozoic era caused extreme hardships for the surviving species.
The Early Triassic epoch saw the recovery of life after the biggest mass extinction event of the past, which took millions of years due to the severity of the event and the harsh Early Triassic climate.[8] Many types of corals, brachiopods, molluscs, echinoderms, and other invertebrates had disappeared. The Permian vegetation dominated by Glossopteris in the southern hemisphere ceased to exist.[9] Other groups, such as Actinopterygii, appear to have been less affected by this extinction event[10] and body size was not a selective factor during the extinction event.[11][12] Different patterns of recovery are evident on land and in the sea. Early Triassic faunas lacked biodiversity and were relatively homogeneous due to the effects of the extinction. The ecological recovery on land took 30 million years.[13]
The climate during the Early Triassic epoch (especially in the interior of the supercontinent Pangaea) was generally arid, rainless and dry and deserts were widespread; however the poles possessed a temperate climate. The pole-to-equator temperature gradient was temporally flat during the Early Triassic and may have allowed tropical species to extend their distribution poleward. This is evidenced by the global distribution of ammonoids.[14] The mostly hot climate of the Early Triassic may have been caused by late volcanic eruptions of the Siberian Traps, which had probably triggered the Permian-Triassic extinction event and accelerated the rate of global warming into the Triassic. Studies suggest that Early Triassic climate was volatile, with relatively rapid and large temperature changes.[15][16][17]
The flora was gymnosperm dominated at the onset of the Triassic, but changed rapidly and became lycopod dominated (e.g. Pleuromeia) during the Griesbachian-Dienerian ecological crisis. This change coincided with the extinction of the Permian Glossopteris flora.[9] In the Spathian subage, the flora changed back to gymnosperm and pteridophyte dominated.[21] These shifts reflect global changes in precipitation and temperature.[9]
Aquatic Biota
In the oceans, the most common Early Triassic hard-shelled marine invertebrates were bivalves, gastropods, ammonites, echinoids, and a few articulate brachiopods. First oysters appeared in the Early Triassic. They grew on the shells of living ammonoids.[22]Microbial reefs were common, possibly due to lack of competition with metazoanreef builders as a result of the extinction.[23] However, transient metazoan reefs reoccurred during the Olenekian wherever permitted by environmental conditions.[24]Ammonoids show blooms followed by extinctions during the Early Triassic.[25]
Aquatic vertebrates diversified after the extinction.
The flora was also affected significantly. It changed from lycopod dominated (e.g. Pleuromeia) during the Dienerian and Smithian subages to gymnosperm and pteridophyte dominated in the Spathian.[29][30] These vegetation changes are due to global changes in temperature and precipitation. Conifers (gymnosperms) were the dominant plants during most of the Mesozoic. Until recently the existence of this extinction event about 249.4 Ma ago[31] was not recognised.[32]
The Smithian-Spathian boundary extinction was linked to late eruptions of the Siberian Traps, which resulted in climate change.[15]Oxygen isotope studies on conodonts have revealed that temperatures rose in the first 2 million years of the Triassic, ultimately reaching sea surface temperatures of up to 40 °C (104 °F) in the tropics during the Smithian.[33] The extinction itself occurred during a subsequent drop in global temperatures in the latest Smithian; however, temperature alone cannot account for the Smithian-Spathian boundary extinction, because several factors were at play.[17][34]
In the ocean, many large and mobile species moved away from the tropics, but large fish remained,[35] and amongst the immobile species such as molluscs, only the ones that could cope with the heat survived; half the bivalves disappeared.[36] On land, the tropics were nearly devoid of life.[16] Many big, active animals only returned to the tropics, and plants recolonised on land when temperatures returned to normal.
There is evidence that life had recovered rapidly, at least locally. This is indicated by sites that show exceptionally high biodiversity (e.g. the earliest Spathian Paris Biota),[37] which suggest that food webs were complex and comprised several trophic levels.
^Widmann, Philipp; Bucher, Hugo; Leu, Marc; et al. (2020). "Dynamics of the Largest Carbon Isotope Excursion During the Early Triassic Biotic Recovery". Frontiers in Earth Science. 8 (196): 1–16. doi:10.3389/feart.2020.00196.
^McElwain, J. C.; Punyasena, S. W. (2007). "Mass extinction events and the plant fossil record". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 22 (10): 548–557. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2007.09.003. PMID17919771.
^Ogg, James G.; Ogg, Gabi M.; Gradstein, Felix M. (2016). "Triassic". A Concise Geologic Time Scale: 2016. Elsevier. pp. 133–149. ISBN978-0-444-63771-0.
^Tozer, Edward T. (1965). Lower Triassic stages and ammonoid zones of arctic Canada. Geological Survey of Canada. OCLC606894884.
^Chen, Zhong-Qiang; Benton, Michael J. (27 May 2012). "The timing and pattern of biotic recovery following the end-Permian mass extinction". Nature Geoscience. 5 (6): 375–383. Bibcode:2012NatGe...5..375C. doi:10.1038/ngeo1475.
^Galfetti, Thomas; Hochuli, Peter A.; Brayard, Arnaud; Bucher, Hugo; Weissert, Helmut; Vigran, Jorunn Os (2007). "Smithian-Spathian boundary event: Evidence for global climatic change in the wake of the end-Permian biotic crisis". Geology. 35 (4): 291. Bibcode:2007Geo....35..291G. doi:10.1130/G23117A.1.
^Schneebeli-Hermann, Elke; Kürschner, Wolfram M.; Kerp, Hans; Bomfleur, Benjamin; Hochuli, Peter A.; Bucher, Hugo; Ware, David; Roohi, Ghazala (April 2015). "Vegetation history across the Permian–Triassic boundary in Pakistan (Amb section, Salt Range)". Gondwana Research. 27 (3): 911–924. Bibcode:2015GondR..27..911S. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2013.11.007.
^Goudemand, Nicolas; Romano, Carlo; Leu, Marc; Bucher, Hugo; Trotter, Julie A.; Williams, Ian S. (August 2019). "Dynamic interplay between climate and marine biodiversity upheavals during the early Triassic Smithian -Spathian biotic crisis". Earth-Science Reviews. 195: 169–178. Bibcode:2019ESRv..195..169G. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.01.013.
Martinetto, Edoardo; Tschopp, Emanuel; Gastaldo, Robert, eds. (2020). Nature through Time: Virtual field trips through the Nature of the past. Springer International Publishing. ISBN978-3-030-35057-4.