EXTINCTION EVENTS

Extinction - disappearance of a particular organism

Major causes include:
• predation;
• loss of habitat;
• environmental pollution; and
• systematic extermination.
Background extinction:
• lower, average rate of extinction observed over the entire history of life
• result from poor adaptations, environmental change, and/or competition

EXTINCTION EVENTS
Mass extinction:
• sudden decrease in a large number of species/classes spanning a large number of
phyla
• result from extraordinary, sudden, temporary changes in environment
Note: many phyla were not present early in Earth’s history so that an early mass
extinction event would only have a dramatic effect on the organisms existing at that time

EXTINCTION EVENTS
Effects of mass extinctions:
• both marine and terrestrial species tend to be effected but impact more intense on
marine organisms
• terrestrial plants tend to be more resistant than terrestrial animals
• tropical forms apparently very susceptible
• some organisms (e.g. trilobites, ammonoids) survived more than one extinction
event
• effects on microorganisms very difficult to quantify

EXTINCTION EVENTS
Causes of mass extinctions – grouped into 2 major classes:
Terrestrial causes
• volcanism
• climate change
• environmental change
Extraterrestrial causes
• bolide impacts
• cosmic rays

Archean mass extinction?

Extinction event is estimated to have occurred at ~2.6 Ga but very difficult to quantify
because of the very sparse Archean fossil record.
Earliest life (3.6 - 3.7 Ga):
• anaerobic
• released oxygen (i.e. began to change atmosphere)
 • early oxygen consumed in oxidation of iron

Iron exists in two valence states:

- ferrous (Fe2+), soluble in water
- ferric (Fe3+), insoluble in water

Oxidation (oxygen is electron acceptor)

Fe2+ Fe3+
Produced Banded Iron Formations (BIFs) – alternating layers of iron oxides and silica

Archean mass extinction?

Oxygen was initially taken up by oxidation of soluble ferrous iron in the oceans to
produce insoluble ferric iron as banded iron formations (BIFs). As soluble iron in oceans
started to get used up by precipitation in BIFs:
O2 began to build up in atmosphere and oceans
CO2 dropped

Oxygen was toxic to the earlier anaerobic bacteria leading to the first mass extinction

Snowball Earth?
Hypothesis:
• during Neoproterozoic (750 – 550 Ma) the Earth underwent a series of freezing
(snowball) cycles
• at peak of snowball cycle, cold was intense with sea ice up to ~1.4 km thick near
equator
• aftermath of the cycle would have been characterised by ‘ultragreenhouse’ effects;
high CO2 in the atmosphere and high atmospheric temperatures (50°C) on low
latitude continents
The peak of the snowball cycle would have imposed a substantial stress on, and a
resultant major reduction in, the life forms extant at that time.

Cambrian Extinction
An extinction at the end of the Early Cambrian affected trilobites and archaeocyathids
The extinction may have been caused by cooling and depletion of oxygen in marine
waters

Extinction Events
Fossil record indicates >5 major mass extinctions occurred in the last 500 my

Extinction Events
Three of these 5 major mass extinctions occurred during the Palaeozoic era:
• at end of Ordovician period;
• during Late Devonian period; and
• at end of Permian period (the most severe)
 Ordovician extinction
The Ordovician period was marked by the radiation of numerous marine organisms
particularly trilobites, corals, molluscs and echinoderms

Ordovician extinction
• usually cited as the second most-devastating extinction event
• ~85% of species became extinct at Ordovician-Silurian boundary (~444 Ma)

Ordovician extinction
• many marine reef-building organisms became extinct
• event characterised by disappearance of one third of all brachiopod and bryozoan
families, as well as families of trilobites, conodonts, echinoderms, and graptolites

Ordovician extinction
Cause of Ordovician extinction – glaciation and sea-level lowering; two possible causes
usually cited
Gondwana passed over the north pole at the end of the Ordovician to cause:
• global cooling
• widespread land-based glaciation
• lowering of sea level
• reduction in ecospace on continental shelves

Ordovician extinction
Cause of Ordovician extinction – glaciation and sea-level lowering
Gamma-ray bursts (GRB) may also have contributed. A GRB (associated with
supernova event) within our own galaxy could do considerable damage to the Earth's
biosphere.
Most gamma rays are degraded when they ionize the atmosphere, so the instantaneous
biotic effects of GRB will be moderate and confined to the facing side of the Earth
Long-term effects of GRB would spread around the Earth and include ozone layer
depletion, global cooling, acid rain, and radionuclide production; the GRB may have
“triggered” the glaciation and sea-level lowering associated with the extinction event

Devonian Extinction Event

Devonian extinction
The Devonian period saw the emergence of bony fish, sharks, ammonoids, and insects.
During this period the Earth’s oceans were characterised by the abundance of reef-
building organisms

Devonian extinction
• occurred ~374 Ma - the Frasnian-Famennian boundary
• ~85% of species became extinct
• event primarily affected the Earth’s oceans; apparently little impact on terrestrial flora
• organisms most impacted by this extinction event included corals, brachiopods,
trilobites and jawless fish
 Devonian extinction
Cause:
?Glaciation
Warm water marine species were the most severely affected in this extinction event.
Another glaciation event on Gondwana (northern Brazil) could have resulted in global
cooling and widespread lowering of sea-level that triggered the Late Devonian crisis.
?Meteorite Impact
Meteorite impacts at the Frasnian-Famennian boundary may have been a possible agent
for the Devonian mass extinction but supporting data are inconclusive.

Permian Extinction Event

Permian extinction
During the Permian period the dominant flora was composed of gymnosperms (which
includes conifers). Life in the seas was characterised by brachiopods, gastropods,
crinoids, bony fish and sharks. Trilobites were present but were not common

Permian extinction
• occurred ~251 Ma
• ~60% of all animal families & 90-95% of species became extinct
• probably the most devastating extinction event that affected both terrestrial and
marine organisms
• main marine and terrestrial victims included trilobites, rugose and tabulate corals
and placoderms
• other groups that were substantially reduced inclded bryozoans, brachiopods,
ammonoids, sharks, bony fish, crinoids, ostracodes and echinoderms

Permian extinction
Permian extinction
Brachiopods Bryozoans

Permian extinction
Echinoderms
Corals

Permian extinction
Cause:
Glaciation on Gondwana may have initiated a mass extinction by widespread global
cooling and worldwide lowering of sea level. Severe climatic fluctuations may have
contributed.
A reduction of shallow continental shelves due to the formation of the super-continent
Pangea would result in ecological competition for space. But this occurred earlier in the
Permian.
Large volcanic eruptions in Siberia. These eruptions ejected ash and sulphates into the
atmosphere that may have lowered global temperatures
 Permian extinction
Permian extinction
Permian extinction
Permian extinction

Permian extinction
Cause:
Impact – 251 Ma, 125 km diameter Bedout crater (WA) was caused by a 10 km asteroid.
Contains impact breccia and shocked quartz

Permian extinction

Permian extinction
Main effect of this mass extinction:
• increased number and variety of reptiles, both on land and in the ocean.
• made way for the “age of the dinosaurs,” because it helped to wipe out competing
species.

Triassic extinction
A number of new organisms made their appearance on Earth during the Triassic; e.g.
dinosaurs, pterosaurs (flying reptiles) and mammals. The first birds appeared late in the
Triassic.
Established groups of organisms which underwent diversification included the marine
reptiles, bivalves and brachiopods

Triassic extinction
• occurred ~200 Ma
• ~76% of species became extinct
• Labyrinthodont amphibians, conodonts and all marine reptiles (except ichthyosaurs)
were eliminated
• mammal-like reptiles, thecodonts, brachiopods, gastropods and molluscs were
severely affected
• large Ir anomaly (av. 141 ppt; max. 285 ppt)
• large spore “spike” (?ferns colonised devastated landscape)
• maximum dinosaurian diversity <100,000 yrs above boundary
(?impact caused “rise of dinosaurs”)
Causes for this extinction event are currently uncertain but may include global climatic
cooling, extra-terrestrial impact or comet showers.

Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) extinction

K-T one of >5 major extinction events

Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) extinction

• occurred at ~65 Ma
• ~20% of families of land-based plants and animals became extinct
• ~50% of families of marine-based plants and animals became extinct
 • ~ 85% of all species became extinct
• all dinosaurs became extinct
• reptiles (including snakes, crocodiles and lizards), most mammals and amphibians
largely unaffected by this event

Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) extinction

Possible causes:
•volcanism or glaciation;
•bolide impact
EVIDENCE for bolide impact:
• shocked quartz
• shattercones
• microspherules
• fullerenes
• soot and ash

Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) extinction

K-T boundary
• 1980 - Luis (father, physicist) and Walter (son, geologist) Alvarez
• 2 cm thick clay at K-T boundary in Italy
• high concentration of Ir
• generated by asteroid (10-14 km) impact on Earth

Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) extinction

Post-impact foraminifera from the Tertiary Period.
Only tiny, less ornate foraminifera survived; a few new species evolved.
Tektites--glassy material condensed from the hot vapor cloud produced by the impact--
rained down and accumulated in a distinctive layer within the core (SEM image).
Pre-impact foraminifera from the Cretaceous Period.
Large, ornate foraminifera flourished.

Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) extinction

Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) extinction
K-T boundary
Y 1989 – geophysicists (Glen Penfield & Antonio Carmargo) discovered a crater
(~180 km diameter) in Gulf of Mexico

Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) extinction

K-T boundary
• crater had low gravity readings; indicative of low density rocks (?breccia pile)
seismic gravity

Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) extinction

K-T boundary
• crater had high magnetic readings; indicating iron-rich
 • Ar-Ar dating of melt rocks indicates age of 65 Ma
(i.e. K-T boundary)
• 4 m thick tsunami deposits in Texas of appropriate age (?related to impact)
magnetics

Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-T) extinction

Schematic cross-section through Chicxulub crater

Holocene Mass Extinction?

Humans have evolved into a significant agent of extinction during the Holocene.
Deforestation, agriculture, pollution, overhunting and other human activities result in
numerous species being threatened or lost.
This may represent the latest mass extinction or merely reflect natural changes in
background levels of species

Mass Extinctions
Possible periodicity in the mass extinctions??
•Are bolide impacts involved in most mass extinctions???
•If so, bolide impacts are an important factor in evolution!