Relationship between Pangea Integration and Mass Extinction

Scientists have been plagued for centuries by the relationship between Pangea integration and mass extinction that happened nearly 250 million years ago.

Yet scientists Professor YIN Hongfu and Dr. SONG Haijun from State Key Laboratory of Geobiology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) believe that such environmental deterioration may be to blame for the extinction.

The study notes the following regarding integration of Pangea, via a press release: "The Pangea was integrated at about the beginning of Permian, and reached its acme during Late Permian to Early Triassic. Formation of the Pangea means that the scattered continents of the world gathered into one integrated continent with an area of nearly 200 million km2. Average thickness of such a giant continental lithosphere should be remarkably greater than that of each scattered continent. Equilibrium principle implies that the thicker the lithosphere, the higher its portion over the equilibrium level, hence the average altitude of the Pangea should be much higher than the separated modern continents. Correspondingly, all oceans gathered to form the Panthalassa, which should be much deeper than modern oceans. The acme of Pangea and Panthalassa was thus a period of high continent and deep ocean, which should inevitably induce great regression and influence the earth's surface system, especially climate.

"The Tunguss Trap of Siberia, the Emeishan Basalt erupted during the Pangea integration. Such global-scale volcanism should be evoked by mantle plume and related with integration of the Pangea. Volcanic activities would result in a series of extinction effects, including emission of large volume of CO2, CH4, NO2 and cyanides which would have caused green house effects, pollution by poisonous gases, damage of the ozone layer in the stratosphere, and enhancement the ultra-violet radiation."

Increases of CO2 and other green house gases have helped contribute to problems with global warming, including oxygen depletion and carbon cycle anomaly. Physical and chemical anomalies in the ocean and great regression have also caused marine extinction that's due to unadaptable environments that may have caused selective death and hypercapnia

Increase of CO2 concentration and other green house gases would have led to global warming, oxygen depletion and carbon cycle anomaly; physical and chemical anomalies in ocean (acidification, euxinia, low sulfate concentration, isotopic anomaly of organic nitrogen) and great regression would have caused marine extinction due to unadaptable environments, selective death and hypercapnia; continental aridity, disappearance of monsoon system and wild fire would have devastated the land vegetation, esp. the tropical rain forest.

Such changes have resulted in the accumulation of multiple problems for the planet. However, scientists note that most of these processes are at a hypothetic stage and need more scientific examinations before any complete conclusions can be drawn.

More information regarding the study can be found via SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences.