Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Geologic Evidence of Permian Climate

  • Chapter
The Permian of Northern Pangea

Abstract

The Permian Period represents both a transition and a beginning in global paleoclimate. Continental glaciation, which peaked in the Late Carboniferous, declined and ceased during the Permian, and climate typical of the Pangean (Permian through Middle Jurassic; Parrish 1992) megamonsoon (Kutzbach and Gallimore 1989) began. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a global paleoclimatic context for this Volume, by summarizing current information about the development of global climate during the Permian Period.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Assereto R, Bosellini A, Fantini Sestini N, Sweet WC (1973) The Permian-Triassic boundary in the southern Alps (Italy). In: Logan A, Hills LV (eds) The Permian and Triassic Systems and their Mutual Boundary. Can Soc Petrol Geol Mem 2: 176–199

    Google Scholar 

  • Barron EJ, Washington WM (1982) Cretaceous climate: a comparison of atmospheric simulations with the geologic record. Palaeogeogr, Palaeoclimatol, Palaeoecol 40: 103–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barron EJ, Washington WM (1984) The role of geographic variables in explaining paleoclimates: results from Cretaceous climate model sensitivity studies. J Geophys Res 89: 1267–1279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berner RA (1987) Models for carbon and sulfur cycles and atmospheric oxygen: application to Paleozoic geologic history. Am J Sci 287: 177–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berner RA (1989) Biogeochemical cycles of carbon and sulfur and their effect on atmospheric oxygen. Global Planet Change 1: 97–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berner RA (1990) Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels over Phanerozoic time. Science 249: 1382–1386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brakel AT, Totterdell JM (1990) Permian palaeogeography of Australia. Bur Mineral Res Rec, 1990/60, Palaeogeography 19: 50 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Brass GW, Saltzman E, Sloan JL, II, Southan JR, Hay WW, Holser WT, Peterson WH (1982) Ocean circulation, plate tectonics, and climate. In: Berger WH, Crowell JC (eds) Climate in Earth History. US Natl Res Counc, Washington DC, pp 83–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Briden JC, Irving E (1964) Paleolatitude spectra of sedimentary paleoclimatic indicators. In: Nairn AEM (ed) Problems in Paleoclimatology. John Wiley, London, pp 199–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Claypool GE, Holser WT, Kaplan IR, Sakai H, Zak I (1980) The age curves of sulfur and oxygen isotopes in marine sulphate and their mutual interpretation. Chem Geol 28: 199–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cope MJ, Chaloner WG (1980) Fossil charcoal as evidence of past atmospheric composition. Nature (London) 283: 647–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crowley TJ, Hyde WT, Short DA (1989) Seasonal cycle variations on the supercontinent of Pangaea: implications for Early Permian vertebrate extinctions. Geology 17: 457–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daugherty LH (1941) The Upper Triassic flora of Arizona. Carnegie Inst Washington Publ 526: 42 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickins JM (1977) Permian Gondwana climate. Chayan Geol 3: 11–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickins JM (1978) Climate of the Permian in Australia: the invertebrate faunas. Palaeogeogr, Palaeoclimatol, Palaeoecol 23: 33–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickins JM (1979) Late Paleozoic climate with special reference to invertebrate faunas. N’ieme Congr Int Stratigr Geol Carbonifere, vol 5, Washington Champaign-Urbana, pp 392–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickins JM (1983) Permian to Triassic changes in life. Palaeontols 5: 297–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickins JM (1985a) Paleobiofacies and palaeobiogeography of Gondwanaland from Permian to Triassic. In: Nakazawa K, Dickins JM (eds) The Tethys - Her Paleogeography and Palaeobiogeography from Paleozoic to Mesozoic. Tokai Univ Press, Tokyo, pp 83–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickins JM (1985b) Late Paleozoic glaciation. J Aust Geol Geophys 9: 163–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubiel RF, Parrish JT, Parrish JM, Good SC (1991) The Pangaean megamonsoon - evidence from the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, Colorado Plateau. Palaios 6: 347–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubiel RF, Smoot JP (1993) Sedimentary criteria for interpreting paleoclimate from red beds - a tool for Pangea reconstructions (Abstr). Pangea-Carboniferous to Jurassic, Program and Abstracts. Can Soc Petrol Geol, 62 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Epshteyn OG (1981) Late Permian ice-marine deposits of the Atkan Formation in the Kolyma river headwaters region, U.S.S.R. In: Hambrey MJ, Harland WB (eds) Earth’s Pre-Pleistocene Glacial Record. Univ Press, Cambridge, 270–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Erwin DH (1993) The Great Paleozoic Crisis - Life and Death in the Permian. Columbia Univ Press, New York, 327 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Glennie KW (1972) Permian Rotliegendes of Northwest Europe interpreted in light of modern desert sedimentation studies. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Bull 56: 1048–1071

    Google Scholar 

  • Glennie KW (1983) Early Permian (Rotliegendes) palaeowinds of the North Sea. Sediment Geol 34: 245–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon WA (1975) Distribution by latitude of Phanerozoic evaporite deposits. J Geol 83: 671–684

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hay WW, Behensky JF Jr, Barron EJ, Sloan JL II (1982) Late Triassic-Liassic paleoclimatology of the proto-central North Atlantic rift system. Palaeogeogr, Palaeoclimatol, Palaeoecol 40: 13–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herring JR (1985) Charcoal fluxes into sediments of the North Pacific Ocean: the Cenozoic record of burning. In: Sundquist ET, Broecker WS (eds) The Carbon Cycle and Atmospheric CO2: Natural Variations Archaen to Present. Am Geophy Un Geophy Monogr Washington DC 32: 419–442

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Holser WT (1984) Gradual and abrupt shifts in ocean chemistry during Phanerozoic time. In: Holland HD, Trendall AF (eds) Patterns of Change in Earth Evolution. Dahlem Konferenzen 1984. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 123–143

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Holser WT, Magaritz M (1987) Events near the Permian-Triassic boundary. Modern Geol 11: 2–155-180

    Google Scholar 

  • Holser WT, Magaritz M, Clark DL (1986) Carbon-isotope stratigraphic correlations in the Late Permian. Am J Sci 286: 390–402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreville R, Bambach RK (1979) Influence of geography, climate, and ocean circulation on the pattern of generic diversity of brachiopods in the Permian (abstract). Geol Soc Am Abstr Program 11: 447

    Google Scholar 

  • Keith ML (1982) Violent volcanism, stagnant oceans and some inferences regarding petroleum, strata-bound ores and mass extinctions. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 46: 2621–1637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kremp GOW (1980) The positions and climatic changes of Pangaea and five Southeast Asian plates during Permian and Triassic times. Paleo Data Banks 7: 1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutzbach JE, Gallimore RG (1989) Pangean climates: Megamonsoons of the megacontinent. J Geophys Res 94: 3341–3357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manabe S, Wetherald RT (1980) On the distribution of climate change resulting from an increase in CO2 content of the atmosphere. J Atmosph Sci 37: 99–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McElhinny MW, Embleton BJJ, Ma XH, Zhang ZK (1981) Fragmentation of Asia in the Permian. Nature (London) 293: 212–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nairn AEM, Smithwick ME (1976) Permian paleogeography and climatology. In: Falke H (ed) The Continental Permian in Central, West, and South Europe. Reidel, Boston, pp 283–312

    Google Scholar 

  • Nie Shangyou, Rowley DB, Ziegler AM (1990) Constraints on the location of the Asian microcontinents in Palaeo-Tethys during the Late Palaeozoic. In: McKerrow WS, Scotese CR (eds) Palaeozoic Palaeogeography and Biogeography. Geol Soc Lond Mem 12: 397–409

    Google Scholar 

  • Parrish JM, Parrish JT, Ziegler AM (1986) Permian-Triassic paleogeography and paleoclimatology and implications for therapsid distributions. In: Hotton NH III, MacLean PD, Roth JJ, Roth EC (eds) The Ecology and Biology of Mammal-like Reptiles. Smithsonian Press, Washington DC, pp 109–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Parrish JT (1982) Upwelling and petroleum source beds, with reference to the Paleozoic. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Bull 66: 750–774

    Google Scholar 

  • Parrish JT (1985) Latitudinal distribution of land and shelf and absorbed solar radiation during the Phanerozoic. US Geol Surv Open-File Rep 85–31: 21 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Parrish JT (1992) Jurassic climate and oceanography of the Circum-Pacific region. In: Westermann GEG (ed) The Jurassic of the Circum-Pacific. Univ Press, Oxford, pp 345–379

    Google Scholar 

  • Parrish JT (1993) Climate of the supercontinent Pangea. J Geol 101: 215–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parrish JT, Curtis RL (1982) Atmospheric circulation, upwelling, and organic-rich rocks in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Palaeogeogr, Palaeoclimatol, Palaeoecol 40: 31–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parrish JT, Peterson F (1988) Wind directions predicted from global circulation models and wind directions determined from eolian sandstones of the western United States - a comparison. Sediment Geol 56: 261–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parrish JT, Ziegler AM, Scotese CR (1982) Rainfall patterns and the distribution of coals and evaporites in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Palaeogeogr, Palaeoclimatol, Palaeoecol 40: 67–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patzkowsky ME, Smith LH, Markwick PJ, Engberts CJ, Gyllenhaal ED (1991) Application of the Fujita-Ziegler paleoclimate model: Early Permian and Late Cretaceous examples. Palaeogeogr, Palaeoclimatol, Palaeoecol 86: 67–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson F (1988) Pennsylvanian to Jurassic eolian transportation systems in the western United States. Sediment Geol 56: 207–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips TL, Peppers RA, DiMichele WA (1985) Stratigraphic and interregional changes in Pennsylvanian coal-swamp vegetation: environmental inferences. Int J Coal Geol 5: 43–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Railsback LB, Anderson TF (1987) Control of Triassic seawater chemistry and temperature on the evolution of postPaleozoic aragonite-secreting faunas. Geology 15: 1002–1005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raup DM (1979) Size of the Permo-Triassic bottleneck and its evolutionary implications. Science 206: 217–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson PL (1973) Palaeoclimatology and continental drift. In: Tarling DH, Runcorn SK (eds) Implications of Continental Drift to the Earth Sciences, vol 1. Academic Press, New York London, pp 449–476

    Google Scholar 

  • Rocha-Campos AC (1973) Upper Paleozoic and Lower Mesozoic paleogeography, and paleoclimatological and tectonic events in South America. In Logan A, Hills LV (eds) The Permian and Triassic Systems and their Mutual Boundary. Can Soc Petrol Geol Mem 2: 398–424

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross MI (1992) Paleogeographic information system/Mac™, Version 1.3. Earth in Motion Technologies

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowley DB, Raymond A, Parrish JT, Lottes AL, Scotese CR, Ziegler AM (1985) Carboniferous paleogeographic, phytogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions. Int J Coal Geol 5: 7–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruddiman WF, Kutzbach JE (1991) Plateau uplift and climatic change. Sci Am 264 (3): 66–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Runnegar B (1979) Ecology of Eurydesma and the Eurydesmafauna, Permian of eastern Australia. Alcheringa 3: 241–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandberg PA (1973) An oscillating trend in Phanerozoic nonskeletal carbonate mineralogy. Nature (London) 305: 19–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schermerhorn LJG (1974) Late Precambrian mixtites: Glacial and/or nonglacial? Am J Sci 274: 673–824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scotese CR, Bambach RK, Barton C, Van der Voo R and Ziegler AM (1979) Paleozoic base maps. J Geol 87: 217–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scotese CR, McKerrow WS (1990) Revised world maps and introduction. In: McKerrow WS, Scotese CR (eds) Palaeozoic Palaeogeography and Biogeography. Geol Soc Lond Mem 12: 1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Simms MJ, Ruffell AH (1989) Synchroneity of climatic change and extinctions in the Late Triassic. Geology 17: 265–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simms MJ, Ruffell AH (1990) Climatic and biotic change in the Late Triassic. J Geol Soc London 147: 321–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith DM, Griffin JJ, Goldberg ED (1973) Elemental carbon in marine sediments. A baseline for burning. Nature (London) 241: 268–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokolova EI, Lipatova VV, Starozhilova NN, Schleifer AG (1973) Upper Permian and Triassic deposits of the Caspian (Prikaspiyskaya) Depression. In: Logan A, Hills LV (eds). The Permian and Triassic Systems and their Mutual Boundary. Can Soc Petrol Geol Mem 2: 158–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Stehli FG (1970) A test of the Earth’s magnetic field during Permian time. J Geophys Res 75: 3325–3342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thackeray IF, vanderMerwe NJ, Thorp-Lee JA, Sillen A, Lanham JL, Smith R, Keyser A, Monteiro PMS (1990) Changes in carbon isotope ratios in the late Permian recorded in the therapsid tooth apatite. Nature (London) 347: 751–753

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ustritsky VI (1973) Permian climate. In: Logan A, Hills LV (eds) The Permian and Triassic Systems and their Mutual Boundary. Can Soc Petrol Geol Mem 2: 733–744

    Google Scholar 

  • Veevers JJ, Powell, CMCA (1987) Late Paleozoic glacial episodes in Gondwanaland reflected in transgressive-regressive depositional sequences in Euramerica. Geol Soc Am Bull 98: 475–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waugh B (1973) The distribution and formation of Permian-Triassic red beds. In: Logan A, Hills LV (eds). The Permian and Triassic Systems and their Mutual Boundary. Can Soc Petrol Geol Mem 2: 678–693

    Google Scholar 

  • Witzke BJ (1990) Palaeoclimatic constraints for Palaeozoic palaeolatitudes of Laurentia and Euramerica. In: McKerrow WS, Scotese CR (eds) Palaeozoic Palaeogeography and Biogeography. Geol Soc Lond Mem 12: 57–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler AM (1990) Phytogeographic patterns and continental configurations during the Permian period. In: McKerrow WS, Scotese CR (eds) Palaeozoic Palaeogeography and Biogeography. Geol Soc Lond Mem 12: 363–377

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler AM, Bambach RK, Parrish JT, Barrett SF, Gierlowski EH, Parker WC, Raymond A, Sepkoski JJ Jr (1981) Palaeozoic biogeography and climatology. In: Niklas KJ (ed) Paleobotany paleoecology, and evolution, vol 2. Praeger, New York, 231–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler AM, Scotese CR, McKerrow WS, Johnson ME, Bambach RK (1979) Paleozoic paleogeography. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 7: 473–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler PA (1982) Geologic atlas of Western and Central Europe. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 131 pp

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721, USA

    J. T. Parrish

Authors
  1. J. T. Parrish
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, 75275, USA

    Peter A. Scholle  & Dana S. Ulmer-Scholle  & 

  2. Panstwowy Institute of Geology, ul. Rakowiecka 4, 00975, Warsaw, Poland

    Tadeusz M. Peryt

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1995 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Parrish, J.T. (1995). Geologic Evidence of Permian Climate. In: Scholle, P.A., Peryt, T.M., Ulmer-Scholle, D.S. (eds) The Permian of Northern Pangea. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78593-1_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78593-1_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-78595-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-78593-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation