Presidential Address 2007: The end-Permian mass extinction — events on land in Russia

The mass extinction of life in the sea and on land 251 million years ago, at the Permian—Triassic boundary, was undoubtedly the largest mass extinction of all time. Sedimentological and geochemical evidence show that global temperatures rose, that there was extensive oceanic anoxia, and that there was massive erosion of sediment, especially soils, from the land. These phenomena might have been a consequence of the massive eruptions of the Siberian Traps, which produced carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas — as well as acid rain, which killed plants and led to stripping of soils. Field work in Russia over the past decade has shown evidence for massive erosion at the boundary, and for the nature of ecosystem collapse and slow recovery after the event.