TRIASSIC PERIOD

Andrea Portillo, Emily Gonzales, Gladys Miselem, Linda Santos

 INTRODUCTION

-The triassic period extends from about 250 mya (millions years ago).

-The Triassic began in the wake of the triassic extinction event, which left the
Earth's biosphere impoverished; it would take well into the middle of the period
for life to recover its former diversity. Therapsids and archosaurs were the chief
terrestrial vertebrates during this time .
OBJECTIVES
ANIMALS
 PLANTS
• The widespread Glossopteris (leaves were tongue-shaped) flora disappeared towards the
end of the Permian to be replaced by a transitional flora at the beginning of the Triassic.
During this time the horsetails and lycopods became less abundant and the seed ferns
rose in their place. The seed fern Dicroidium dominated lowland areas in the southern
continents, from early to late Triassic times. The Northern Hemisphere was dominated by
conifers and ferns (non of which were seed ferns), which by the end of the Triassic period
had taken over from the Seed ferns in the Southern Hemisphere.
CLIMATE
 HOW THE PERIOD FINISHED?

• The Triassic climate was generally hot and dry, so that typical deposits are red bed sandstones and
evaporites. There is no evidence of glaciation at or near either pole; in fact, the polar regions were
apparently moist and temperate, a climate suitable for forests and vertebrates, including reptiles.
Pangaea's large size limited the moderating effect of the global ocean; its continental climate was
highly seasonal, with very hot summers and cold winters.[13] The strong contrast between the Pangea
supercontinent and the global ocean triggered intense cross-equatorial monsoons.[13]

• Although the Triassic may have mostly been a dry period, at least at tropical and subtropical latitudes in
the Tethys and surrounding lands, evidence exists that it was punctuated by several episodes of
increased rainfall.[14] Sediments and fossils suggestive of a more humid climate are known from the
Anisian to Ladinian of the Tethysian domain, and from the Carnian and Rhaetian of a larger area that
includes also the Boreal domain (e.g., Svalbard Islands), the North American continent, the South
China block and Argentina.

• The best studied of such episodes of humid climate, and probably the most intense and widespread,
was the Carnian Pluvial Event.
 MASS EXTINCTION
It happened around 201 million years ago, in perhaps as little as 10,000 years.

22% of all marine families, 53% of all genera, an estimated 76-84% of all species went extinct. Most mammal-like reptiles and large amphibians disappeared, as well as many dinosaur groups.

In the sea, the largest entire group to die out was the strange eel-like conodonts. Reef ecosystems were decimated again. Ammonites, brachiopods and bivalves were also badly affected, with the latter losing over 90% of its species.

Earth's northern hemisphere 220 million years ago (top) and 200 million years ago (bottom)

Comparison of part of Earth's northern hemisphere 220 (top) and 200 (bottom) million years ago showing the rift forming between North America and Europe. © Ron Blakey, Colorado Plateau Geosystems, Inc

Causes

This extinction is probably the least understood of the big five, because of the lack of accessible sediments for scientists to study. Most of the evidence suggests falling sea levels were probably responsible for the longer-term extinction patterns.

As the warm shallow seas decreased, reefs died and other marine organisms faced increased competition in less space. On land the lack of water would have led to more extreme temperatures and seasons.

When deep water spread back over the continents it was low in oxygen, resulting in further marine extinctions.

While the ultimate cause of this sea fall and rise isn’t certain, it appears to be associated with the start of a volcanic rift forming between the Americas and Africa and Europe. This would eventually produce the Atlantic Ocean.

At the end of the Triassic, very large eruptions occurred along the rift zone (known as the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province) for about 500,000 years. The environmental changes these caused put further stress on life on Earth.
 BILBIOGRAFY
o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triassic#Climate
o http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/dinosaurs-other-extinct-creatures/mass-
extinctions/end-triassic-mass-extinction/index.html
o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triassic
o http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/palaeofiles/triassic/ecoloftri.htm