title: Synchrony and causal relations between permian-triassic boundary crises and siberian flood volcanism.
abstract: The Permian-Triassic boundary records the most severe mass extinctions in Earth's history. Siberian flood volcanism, the most profuse known such subaerial event, produced 2 million to 3 million cubic kilometers of volcanic ejecta in approximately 1 million years or less. Analysis of (40)Ar/(39)Ar data from two tuffs in southern China yielded a date of 250.0 +/- 0.2 million years ago for the Permian-Triassic boundary, which is comparable to the inception of main stage Siberian flood volcanism at 250.0 +/- 0.3 million years ago. Volcanogenic sulfate aerosols and the dynamic effects of the Siberian plume likely contributed to environmental extrema that led to the mass extinctions.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Renne
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zichao
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Basu