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End-Triassic extinction--Opening the door for dinosaurs

Theories on the Triassic-Jurassic extinction, Bristol University. Excellent, short summaries and comparisons of theories for the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction, including fluctuating sea levels, bolide impact, volcanic eruptions, and the possibility that there wasn't a mass extinction. The section "Why Do We Think There Was an Extinction?" summarizes the evidence for a mass extinction.

Extinction Files, BBC. Short explanation of mass extinctions, their cause and effect, and a discussion of the Late Triassic extinction.

Wikipedia. Short article discussion various explanations for the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, and the lack of conclusive evidence for each.

University of Oxford. Short, technical abstract by Hesselbo and others, from their paper in Geology (2002, v. 30, p. 251-254), which provides data for disruption of carbon cycle by massive vulcanism as a cause for the Triassic-Jurassic extinction. Extensive magma eruptions are also interpreted as the cause of the mass extinction according to a press release summarizing research at University of California, Berkeley and in an online version of a technical article by McElwain, J.C., and others (1999, Fossil plants and global warming at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary: Science, v. 285, p. 1386-1390).

Geophysical Research Abstracts. Short, technical abstract by R. Perry and others, University of Washington, concerning discovery of fullerenes (buckeyballs) at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary that may indicate a bolide impact similar to the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction.

Geological Society of America. Short, technical abstract by S.G. Lucas, new Mexico Museum of Natural History, which disputes idea that there was a mass extinction at the end of the Triassic, and attributes suddenness of species changes to correlation errors. Lucas argues for several, protracted, smaller extinctions.

Lecture 12--Mass extinction at the beginning of the age of dinosaurs, Columbia University. Part of an online lecture series for Dinosaurs and the History of Life. Scroll toward the end of this site for brief discussions of several Triassic extinction theories.

Press release on Triassic-Jurassic extinction, The Watch. Summary of research that shows the sudden extinction of microscopic fossils at the end of the Triassic, which indicates a sudden and catastrophic extinction. This would argue against any theory that called for gradual changes.

New evidence links mass extinctions with massive eruptions, University of California, Berkeley. Summary of research suggesting flood basalts from the breakup of Pangea were responsible for the extinction.

Eruptions cleared path for dinosaurs, Science News online. Summary of evidence for flood basalts and volcanic eruptions from the breakup of Pangea being responsible for the extinction.

Asteroid impact tied to rise of the dinosaurs, Space.com, Space Holdings. Summary of research that suggests an impact caused the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. This Web site has summarized other articles favoring an astronomical cause for the extinction including, Did Triassic asteroid impact spare the dinosaurs? and Mass extinction and the rise of dinosaurs tied to cosmic collision.

The mass extinction at the end of the Triassic, Universität Würzburg. Links to technical papers concerning data and different interpretations of the Triassic-Jurassic extinction.

 

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