Permian Black Shales and Mass Extinctions: The ‘Great Dying’

A crisis 252 million years ago

Feature Image: Black Shale (Modified) — By James St. John — Black shale (Sunbury Shale, Lower Mississippian; Tener Mountain roadcut, southern Ohio, USA) 5, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84649232

The earth was in crisis 252 million years ago. The Permian period was ending, and the Triassic was beginning. About 96 percent of all marine species on the planet went extinct during this transition. The late Permian extinction is also known as the “Great Dying.” Clues to the causes of this catastrophe lie in…