1. |
- Fielding, Christopher, et al.
(author)
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Age and pattern of the southern high-latitude continental end-Permian extinction constrained by multiproxy analysis
- 2019
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In: Nature Communications. - London : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 10:385, s. 1-12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Past studies of the end-Permian extinction (EPE), the largest biotic crisis of the Phanerozoic, have not resolved the timing of events in southern high-latitudes. Here we use palynology coupled with high-precision CA-ID-TIMS dating of euhedral zircons from continental sequences of the Sydney Basin, Australia, to show that the collapse of the austral Permian Glossopteris flora occurred prior to 252.3 Ma (~370 kyrs before the main marine extinction). Weathering proxies indicate that floristic changes occurred during a brief climate perturbation in a regional alluvial landscape that otherwise experienced insubstantial change in fluvial style, insignificant reorganization of the depositional surface, and no abrupt aridification. Palaeoclimate modelling suggests a moderate shift to warmer summer temperatures and amplified seasonality in temperature across the EPE, and warmer and wetter conditions for all seasons into the Early Triassic. The terrestrial EPE and a succeeding peak in Ni concentration in the Sydney Basin correlate, respectively, to the onset of the primary extrusive and intrusive phases of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province.
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2. |
- Fielding, Christopher R., et al.
(author)
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Environmental change in the late Permian of Queensland, NE Australia: The warmup to the end-Permian Extinction
- 2022
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In: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0031-0182 .- 1872-616X. ; 594, s. 110936-110936
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The upper part of the upper Permian succession in the Bowen Basin of Queensland, NE Australia, was investigated to ascertain the timeline and character of environmental changes in this high southern palaeolatitudinal setting leading up to the End-Permian Extinction (EPE). The study focused on (in ascending order) the Peawaddy Formation, Black Alley Shale, and Bandanna Formation, and laterally correlative units. In the western Bowen Basin, the base of the Peawaddy Formation (257 Ma) records the onset of thrust loading and volcanic activity associated with the Hunter-Bowen contractional orogeny. The Peawaddy Formation comprises a series of coarsening-upward, terrigenous clastic intervals interpreted as the product of repeated progradation of deltas into shallow, open marine environments. The overlying Black Alley Shale also comprises multiple deltaic coarsening-upward cycles, which accumulated in stressed, restricted marine environments. The uppermost Bandanna Formation and equivalents formed in extensive coastal plain to estuarine environments. All three formations accumulated under the influence of explosive volcanic activity from the emerging continental volcanicarc to the east of the foreland basin. Volcanism peaked during deposition of the Black Alley Shale around the Wuchiapingian–Changhsingian transition. Abundant dispersed gravel and glendonites (calcite pseudomorphs after ikaite) indicate that the Peawaddy Formation formed under the influence of cold conditions and possible glacial ice (P4 Glaciation; Wuchiapingian Stage). Direct evidence of cold conditions ends at the top of the Peawaddy Formation (254.5 Ma); however, Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) data suggest that surface conditions remained cold through the accumulation of the Black Alley Shale, and the lower Bandanna until c. 253 Ma, before gradually rising through the upper Bandanna Formation. The end of P4 glaciation is also characterized by a major spike in the abundance of marine acritarchs (Micrhystridium evansii Acme Zone), reflecting the development of a regional restricted basin of elevated nutrient concentrations but reduced salinity. In contrast to this short interval of stressed marine conditions, the fossil floras indicate remarkably consistent terrestrial ecosystems throughout the late Lopingian until the EPE. The terrestrial EPE is recorded by adistinctive, laminated mudrock bed (‘Marker Mudstone’) that records a palynological ‘dead zone’ above the uppermost coal seam or equivalent root-penetrated horizon followed by spikes in non-marine algal abundance. Overall, the time interval 257–252 Ma represented by the studied succession does not record a simple monotonic change in palaeoenvironmental conditions, but rather a series of intermittent stepwise changes towards warmer, and more environmentally stressed conditions leading up to the EPE in eastern Australia.
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3. |
- Fielding, Christopher, et al.
(author)
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Sedimentology of the continental end-Permian extinction eventin the Sydney Basin, eastern Australia
- 2021
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In: Sedimentology. - : International Association of Sedimentologists. - 0037-0746 .- 1365-3091. ; 68, s. 30-62
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Upper Permian to Lower Triassic coastal plain successions of the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia have been investigated in outcrop and continuous drillcores. The purpose of the investigation is to provide an assessment of palaeoenvironmental change at high southern palaeolatitudes in a continental margin context for the late Permian (Lopingian), across the end‐Permian Extinction interval, and into the Early Triassic. These basins were affected by explosive volcanic eruptions during the late Permian and, to a much lesser extent, during the Early Triassic, allowing high‐resolution age determination on the numerous tuff horizons. Palaeobotanical and radiogenic isotope data indicate that the end‐Permian Extinction occurs at the top of the uppermost coal bed, and the Permo‐Triassic boundary either within an immediately overlying mudrock succession or within a succeeding channel sandstone body, depending on locality due to lateral variation. Late Permian depositional environments were initially (during the Wuchiapingian) shallow marine and deltaic, but coastal plain fluvial environments with extensive coal‐forming mires became progressively established during the early late Permian, reflected in numerous preserved coal seams. The fluvial style of coastal plain channel deposits varies geographically. However, apart from the loss of peat‐forming mires, no significant long‐term change in depositional style (grain size, sediment‐body architecture, or sediment dispersal direction) was noted across the end‐Permian Extinction (pinpointed by turnover of the palaeoflora). There is no evidence for immediate aridification across the boundary despite a loss of coal from these successions. Rather, the end‐Permian Extinction marks the base of a long‐term, progressive trend towards better‐drained alluvial conditions into the Early Triassic. Indeed, the floral turnover was immediately followed by a flooding event in basinal depocentres, following which fluvial systems similar to those active prior to the end‐Permian Extinction were re‐established. The age of the floral extinction is constrained to 252.54 ± 0.08 to 252.10 ± 0.06 Ma by a suite of new Chemical Abrasion Isotope Dilution Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry U‐Pb ages on zircon grains. Another new age indicates that the return to fluvial sedimentation similar to that before the end‐Permian Extinction occurred in the basal Triassic (prior to 251.51 ± 0.14 Ma). The character of the surface separating coal‐bearing pre‐end‐Permian Extinction from coal‐barren post‐end‐Permian Extinction strata varies across the basins. In basin‐central locations, the contact varies from disconformable, where a fluvial channel body has cut down to the level of the top coal, to conformable where the top coal is overlain by mudrocks and interbedded sandstone–siltstone facies. In basin‐marginal locations, however, the contact is a pronounced erosional disconformity with coarse‐grained alluvial facies overlying older Permian rocks. There is no evidence that the contact is everywhere a disconformity or unconformity.
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4. |
- Jones, Robert P., et al.
(author)
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Patterns of Recurrence After Resection of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma : A Secondary Analysis of the ESPAC-4 Randomized Adjuvant Chemotherapy Trial
- 2019
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In: JAMA Surgery. - : AMER MEDICAL ASSOC. - 2168-6254 .- 2168-6262. ; 154:11, s. 1038-1048
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Importance: The patterns of disease recurrence after resection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with adjuvant chemotherapy remain unclear.Objective: To define patterns of recurrence after adjuvant chemotherapy and the association with survival.Design, Setting, and Participants: Prospectively collected data from the phase 3 European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer 4 adjuvant clinical trial, an international multicenter study. The study included 730 patients who had resection and adjuvant chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Data were analyzed between July 2017 and May 2019.Interventions: Randomization to adjuvant gemcitabine or gemcitabine plus capecitabine.Main Outcomes and Measures: Overall survival, recurrence, and sites of recurrence.Results: Of the 730 patients, median age was 65 years (range 37-81 years), 414 were men (57%), and 316 were women (43%). The median follow-up time from randomization was 43.2 months (95% CI, 39.7-45.5 months), with overall survival from time of surgery of 27.9 months (95% CI, 24.8-29.9 months) with gemcitabine and 30.2 months (95% CI, 25.8-33.5 months) with the combination (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.68-0.98; P=.03). The 5-year survival estimates were 17.1% (95% CI, 11.6%-23.5%) and 28.0% (22.0%-34.3%), respectively. Recurrence occurred in 479 patients (65.6%); another 78 patients (10.7%) died without recurrence. Local recurrence occurred at a median of 11.63 months (95% CI, 10.05-12.19 months), significantly different from those with distant recurrence with a median of 9.49 months (95% CI, 8.44-10.71 months) (HR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.01-1.45; P=.04). Following recurrence, the median survival was 9.36 months (95% CI, 8.08-10.48 months) for local recurrence and 8.94 months (95% CI, 7.82-11.17 months) with distant recurrence (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.73-1.09; P=.27). The median overall survival of patients with distant-only recurrence (23.03 months; 95% CI, 19.55-25.85 months) or local with distant recurrence (23.82 months; 95% CI, 17.48-28.32 months) was not significantly different from those with only local recurrence (24.83 months; 95% CI, 22.96-27.63 months) (P=.85 and P=.35, respectively). Gemcitabine plus capecitabine had a 21% reduction of death following recurrence compared with monotherapy (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.64-0.98; P=.03).Conclusions and Relevance: There were no significant differences between the time to recurrence and subsequent and overall survival between local and distant recurrence. Pancreatic cancer behaves as a systemic disease requiring effective systemic therapy after resection.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00058201, EudraCT 2007-004299-38, and ISRCTN 96397434. This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial investigates patterns of recurrence after adjuvant chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer and the association with survival.
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5. |
- Mays, Chris, 1983-, et al.
(author)
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Refined Permian-Triassic floristic timeline reveals early collapse and delayed recovery of south polar terrestrial ecosystems
- 2020
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In: Geological Society of America Bulletin. - Boulder : Geological Society of America. - 0016-7606 .- 1943-2674. ; 132, s. 1489-1513
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The collapse of late Permian (Lopingian) Gondwanan floras, characterized by the extinction of glossopterid gymnosperms, heralded the end of one of the most enduring and extensive biomes in Earth’s history. The Sydney Basin, Australia, hosts a near continuous, age-constrained succession of high southern paleolatitude (∼65–75°S) terrestrial strata spanning the end-Permian extinction (EPE) interval. Sedimentological, stable carbon isotopic, palynological, and macrofloral data were collected from two cored coal-exploration wells and correlated. Six palynostratigraphic zones, supported by ordination analyses, were identified within the uppermost Permian to Lower Triassic succession, corresponding to discrete vegetation stages before, during, and after the EPE interval. Collapse of the glossopterid biome marked the onset of the terrestrial EPE and may have significantly predated the marine mass extinctions and conodont-defined Permian–Triassic Boundary. Apart from extinction of the dominant Permian plant taxa, the EPE was characterized by a reduction in primary productivity, and the immediate aftermath was marked by high abundances of opportunistic fungi, algae, and ferns. This transition is coeval with the onset of a gradual global decrease in δ13Corg and the primary extrusive phase of Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province magmatism. The dominant gymnosperm groups of the Gondwanan Mesozoic (peltasperms, conifers, and corystosperms) all appeared soon after the collapse but remained rare throughout the immediate post-EPE succession. Faltering recovery was due to a succession of rapid and severe climatic stressors until at least the late Early Triassic. Immediately prior to the Smithian–Spathian boundary (ca. 249 Ma), indices of increased weathering, thick redbeds, and abundant pleuromeian lycophytes likely signify marked climate change and intensification of the Gondwanan monsoon climate system. This is the first record of the Smithian–Spathian floral overturn event in high southern latitudes.
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6. |
- McLoughlin, Stephen, 1964-, et al.
(author)
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Age and paleoenvironmental significance of the Frazer Beach Member—A new lithostratigraphic unit overlying the end-Permian extinction horizon in the Sydney Basin, Australia
- 2021
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In: Frontiers in Earth Science. - Beijing : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-6463. ; 8, s. 1-31
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The newly defined Frazer Beach Member of the Moon Island Beach Formation is identified widely across the Sydney Basin in both outcrop and exploration wells. This thin unit was deposited immediately after extinction of the Glossopteris flora (defining the terrestrial end-Permian extinction event). The unit rests conformably on the uppermost Permian coal seam in most places. A distinctive granule-microbreccia bed is locally represented at the base of the member. The unit otherwise consists of dark gray to black siltstone, shale, mudstone and, locally, thin lenses of fine-grained sandstone and tuff. The member represents the topmost unit of the Newcastle Coal Measures and is overlain gradationally by the Dooralong Shale or with a scoured (disconformable) contact by coarse-grained sandstones to conglomerates of the Coal Cliff Sandstone, Munmorah Conglomerate and laterally equivalent units. The member is characterized by a palynological “dead zone” represented by a high proportion of degraded wood fragments, charcoal, amorphous organic matter and fungal spores. Abundant freshwater algal remains and the initial stages of a terrestrial vascular plant recovery flora are represented by low-diversity spore-pollen suites in the upper part of the unit in some areas. These assemblages are referable to the Playfordiaspora crenulata Palynozone interpreted as latest Permian in age on the basis of high precision Chemical Abrasion Isotope Dilution Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (CA-IDTIMS) dating of thin volcanic ash beds within and stratigraphically bracketing the unit. Plant macrofossils recovered from the upper Frazer Beach Member and immediately succeeding strata are dominated by Lepidopteris (Peltaspermaceae) and Voltziopsis (Voltziales) with subsidiary pleuromeian lycopsids, sphenophytes, and ferns. Sparse vertebrate and invertebrate ichnofossils are also represented in the Frazer Beach Member or in beds immediately overlying this unit. The Frazer Beach Member is correlative, in part, with a thin interval of organic-rich mudrocks, commonly known as the “marker mudstone” capping the Permian succession further to the north in the Bowen, Galilee and Cooper basins. The broad geographic distribution of this generally <5-m-thick mudrock unit highlights the development in eastern Gondwana of extensive, short-lived, shallow lacustrine systems with impoverished biotas in alluvial plain settings in the immediate aftermath of the end-Permian biotic crisis.
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7. |
- Troll, Valentin R., et al.
(author)
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A large explosive silicic eruption in the British Palaeogene Igneous Province
- 2019
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Large-volume pyroclastic eruptions are not known from the basalt-dominated British Palaeogene Igneous Province (BPIP), although silicic magmatism is documented from intra-caldera successions in central volcanoes and from small-volume ash-layers in the associated lava fields. Exceptions are the Sgùrr of Eigg (58.7 Ma) and Òigh-sgeir pitchstones in the Inner Hebrides (>30 km apart), which have been conjectured to represent remnants of a single large silicic event. Currently available major element data from these outcrops differ, however, creating a need to test if the two pitchstones are really related. We employ a systematic array of methods ranging from mineralogy to isotope geochemistry and find that samples from the two outcrops display identical mineral textures and compositions, major- and trace elements, and Sr-Nd-Pb-O isotope ratios, supporting that the two outcrops represent a single, formerly extensive, pyroclastic deposit. Available isotope constraints suggest a vent in the Hebridean Terrane and available radiometric ages point to Skye, ~40 km to the North. A reconstructed eruption volume of ≥5km3 DRE is derived, suggesting a VEI 5 event or larger. We therefore argue, contrary to long-held perception, that large-volume silicic volcanism and its associated climatic effects were likely integral to the BPIP during the opening of the North Atlantic.
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8. |
- Troll, Valentin R., et al.
(author)
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Petrogenesis of the Loch Bà ring-dyke and Centre 3 granites, Isle of Mull, Scotland
- 2021
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In: Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0010-7999 .- 1432-0967. ; 176:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Loch Bà ring-dyke and the associated Centre 3 granites represent the main events of the final phase of activity at the Palaeogene Mull igneous complex. The Loch Bà ring-dyke is one of the best exposed ring-intrusions in the world and records intense interaction between rhyolitic and basaltic magma. To reconstruct the evolutionary history of the Centre 3 magmas, we present new major- and trace-element, and new Sr isotope data as well as the first Nd and Pb isotope data for the felsic and mafic components of the Loch Bà intrusion and associated Centre 3 granites. We also report new Sr, Nd and Pb isotope data for the various crustal compositions from the region, including Moine and Dalradian metasedimentary rocks, Lewisian gneiss, and Iona Group metasediments. Isotope data for the Loch Bà rhyolite (87Sr/86Sri = 0.716) imply a considerable contribution of local Moine-type metasedimentary crust (87Sr/86Sr = 0.717–0.736), whereas Loch Bà mafic inclusions (87Sr/86Sri = 0.704–0.707) are closer to established mantle values, implying that felsic melts of dominantly crustal origin mixed with newly arriving basalt. The Centre 3 microgranites (87Sr/86Sri = 0.709–0.716), are less intensely affected by crustal assimilation relative to the Loch Bá rhyolite. Pb-isotope data confirm incorporation of Moine metasediments within the Centre 3 granites. Remarkably, the combined Sr–Nd–Pb data indicate that Centre 3 magmas record no detectable interaction with underlying deep Lewisian gneiss basement, in contrast to Centre 1 and 2 lithologies. This implies that Centre 3 magmas ascended through previously depleted or insulated feeding channels into upper-crustal reservoirs where they resided within and interacted with fertile Moine-type upper crust prior to eruption or final emplacement.
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9. |
- Vajda, Vivi, et al.
(author)
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End-Permian (252 Mya) deforestation, wildfires and flooding—Anancient biotic crisis with lessons for the present
- 2020
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In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0012-821X .- 1385-013X. ; 529
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Current large-scale deforestation poses a threat to ecosystems globally, and imposes substantial and prolonged changes on the hydrological and carbon cycles. The tropical forests of the Amazon and Indonesia are currently undergoing deforestation with catastrophic ecological consequences but widespread deforestation events have occurred several times in Earth’s history and these provide lessons for the future. The end-Permian mass-extinction event (EPE; ∼252Ma) provides a global, deep-time analogue for modern deforestation and diversity loss. We undertook centimeter-resolution palynological, sedimentological, carbon stable-isotope and paleobotanical investigations of strata spanning the end-Permian event at the Frazer Beach and Snapper Point localities, in the Sydney Basin, Australia. We show that the typical Permian temperate, coal-forming, forest communities disappeared abruptly, followed by the accumulation of a 1-m-thick mudstone poor in organic matter that, in effect, represents a ‘dead zone’ hosting degraded wood fragments, charcoal and fungal spores. This signals a catastrophic scenario of vegetation die-off and extinction in southern high-latitude terrestrial settings. Lake systems, expressed by laterally extensive but generally less than a few-metres-thick laminated siltstones, generally lacking bioturbation, hosting assemblages of algal cysts and freshwater acritarchs, developed soon after the vegetation die-off. The first traces of vascular plant recovery occur ∼1.6m above the extinction horizon. Based on analogies with modern deforestation, we propose that the global fungal and acritarch events of the Permo-Triassic transition resulted directly from inundation of basinal areas following water-table rise as a response to the abrupt disappearance of complex vegetation from the landscape. The δ13Corg values reveal a significant excursion toward low isotopic values, down to −31ppt (a shift of ∼4deg), across the end-Permian event. The magnitude of the shift at that time records a combination of changes in the global carbon cycle that were enhanced by the local increase in microbial activity, possibly also involving cyanobacterial proliferation. We envisage that elevated levels of organic and mineral nutrients delivered from inundated dead forests, enhanced weathering and erosion of extra-basinal areas, together with local contributions of volcanic ash, led to eutrophication and increased salinity of basinal lacustrine–lagoonal environments. We propose that the change in acritarch communities recorded globally in nearshore marine settings across the end-Permian event is to a great extent a consequence of the influx of freshwater algae and nutrients from the continents. Although this event coincides with the Siberian trap volcanic activity, we note that felsic–intermediate volcanism was extensively developed along the convergent Panthalassan margin of Pangea at that time and might also have contributed to environmental perturbations at the close of the Permian.
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