The end-Permian mass extinction: death by fire and suffocation

The catastrophe at the end of the Permian was the worst crisis ever faced by life. Plant and animal communities on land and in the sea were equally affected.

This talk will evaluate some of the associated oceanic changes, particularly the spread of whole-ocean anoxia and show how this is related to the marine losses. This reveals a diachronous crisis with the timing of both the extinctions and the recovery showing latitudinal variations. Some of the latest ideas for how life on land died will also be reviewed, including the role of thermogenic gases and the Siberian Trap eruptions.