Triassic–Jurassic extinction event

The earliest research on the TJME was conducted in the mid-20th century, when events in earth history were widely assumed to have been gradual, a paradigm known as uniformitarianism, while comparatively rapid cataclysms as causes of extinction events were dismissed as catastrophism, which had been associated with biblical creationism. Consequently, most researchers believed gradual environmental changes were the best explanation of the extinction; prominent vertebrate palaeontologist Edwin H. Colbert suggested gradual changes in the seasonality of rainfall and eustatic sea level rise that decreased the available land area above sea level were the culprit. In the 1980s, Jack Sepkoski identified the Triassic-Jurassic boundary drop in biodiversity as one of the "Big 5" mass extinction events.{{Cite journal |last=Sepkoski |first=J. John |year=1984 |title=A kinetic model of Phanerozoic taxonomic diversity. III. Post-Paleozoic families and mass extinctions |journal=Paleobiology |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=246–267 |bibcode=1984Pbio...10..246S |doi=10.1017/s0094837300008186 |issn=0094-8373 |s2cid=85595559}} After the discovery that the Cretaceous-Palaeogene extinction event was caused by an impact event, the TJME had also been suggested to have been caused by such an impact in the 1980s and 1990s.{{Cite journal |last1=Olsen |first1=Paul E. |last2=Shubin |first2=Neil H. |last3=Anders |first3=M. H. |date=28 August 1987 |title=New early Jurassic tetrapod assemblages constrain Triassic–Jurassic tetrapod extinction event |url=https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~polsen/nbcp/olsen.et.al.87.pdf |journal=Science |language=en |volume=237 |issue=4818 |pages=1025–1029 |bibcode=1987Sci...237.1025O |doi=10.1126/science.3616622 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=3616622}}{{Cite journal |last1=Spray |first1=John G. |last2=Kelley |first2=Simon P. |last3=Rowley |first3=David B. |date=12 March 1998 |title=Evidence for a late Triassic multiple impact event on Earth |url=https://geosci.uchicago.edu/~rowley/Rowley/Publications_files/Nature%201998%20Spray.pdf |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=392 |issue=6672 |pages=171–173 |bibcode=1998Natur.392..171S |doi=10.1038/32397 |issn=1476-4687 |s2cid=4413688}} The theory that the TJME was caused by massive volcanism in the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) first emerged in the 1990s after similar research examining the Permian-Triassic extinction event found it to have been caused by volcanic activity and the emplacement of the CAMP was found to have occurred around the time of the Triassic-Jurassic transition.{{Cite journal |last1=Marzoli |first1=Andrea |last2=Renne |first2=Paul R. |last3=Piccirillo |first3=Enzo M. |last4=Ernesto |first4=Marcia |last5=Bellieni |first5=Giuliano |last6=Min |first6=Angelo De |date=23 April 1999 |title=Extensive 200-Million-Year-Old Continental Flood Basalts of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.284.5414.616 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=284 |issue=5414 |pages=616–618 |doi=10.1126/science.284.5414.616 |pmid=10213679 |issn=0036-8075 |access-date=31 October 2024|url-access=subscription }} Despite some early objections, this paradigm remains the scientific consensus in the present day.

The Triassic-Jurassic extinction completed the transition from the Palaeozoic evolutionary fauna to the Modern evolutionary fauna that continues to dominate the oceans in the present,{{cite journal |last1=Schoepfer |first1=Shane D. |last2=Algeo |first2=Thomas J. |last3=Van de Schootbrugge |first3=Bas |last4=Whiteside |first4=Jessica H. |date=September 2022 |title=The Triassic–Jurassic transition – A review of environmental change at the dawn of modern life |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825222001830 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=232 |page=104099 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104099 |bibcode=2022ESRv..23204099S |hdl=1874/425545 |s2cid=250256142 |access-date=1 February 2023|hdl-access=free }} a change that began in the aftermath of the end-Guadalupian extinction{{cite journal |last1=De la Horra |first1=R. |last2=Galán-Abellán |first2=A. B. |last3=López-Gómez |first3=José |last4=Sheldon |first4=Nathan D. |last5=Barrenechea |first5=J. F. |last6=Luque |first6=F. J. |last7=Arche |first7=A. |last8=Benito |first8=M. I. |date=August–September 2012 |title=Paleoecological and paleoenvironmental changes during the continental Middle–Late Permian transition at the SE Iberian Ranges, Spain |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921818112001221 |journal=Global and Planetary Change |volume=94–95 |pages=46–61 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.06.008 |bibcode=2012GPC....94...46D |access-date=15 December 2022|hdl=10261/59010 |hdl-access=free }} and continued following the Permian-Triassic extinction event (PTME).{{cite journal | last1 = Brayard | first1 = Arnaud | last2 = Krumenacker | first2 = L. J. | last3 = Botting | first3 = Joseph P. | last4 = Jenks | first4 = James F. | last5 = Bylund | first5 = Kevin G. | last6 = Fara | first6 = Emmanuel | last7 = Vennin | first7 = Emmanuelle | last8 = Olivier | first8 = Nicolas | last9 = Goudemand | first9 = Nicolas | last10 = Saucède | first10 = Thomas | last11 = Charbonnier | first11 = Sylvain | last12 = Romano | first12 = Carlo | last13 = Doguzhaeva | first13 = Larisa | last14 = Thuy | first14 = Ben | last15 = Hautmann | first15 = Michael | last16 = Stephen | first16 = Daniel A. | last17 = Thomazo | first17 = Christophe | last18 = Escarguel | first18 = Gilles | title = Unexpected Early Triassic marine ecosystem and the rise of the Modern evolutionary fauna | journal = Science Advances | volume = 13 | issue = 2 | pages = e1602159 | date = 15 February 2017 | doi = 10.1126/sciadv.1602159 | pmid = 28246643 | pmc = 5310825 | bibcode = 2017SciA....3E2159B }} Between 23% and 34.1% of marine genera went extinct.{{cite book |last1=Ryder |first1=Graham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAup0TOL09gC&pg=PA19 |title=The Cretaceous-Tertiary Event and Other Catastrophes in Earth History |last2=Fastovsky |first2=David E. |last3=Gartner |first3=Stefan |publisher=Geological Society of America |year=1996 |isbn=9780813723075 |page=19}} Plankton diversity dropped suddenly,{{cite journal |last1=Ward |first1=Peter Douglas |last2=Haggart |first2=J.W. |last3=Carter |first3=E.S. |last4=Wilbur |first4=D. |last5=Tipper |first5=H.W. |last6=Evans |first6=T. |date=11 May 2001 |title=Sudden Productivity Collapse Associated with the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary Mass Extinction |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1058574 |journal=Science |volume=292 |issue=5519 |pages=1148–1151 |bibcode=2001Sci...292.1148W |doi=10.1126/science.1058574 |pmid=11349146 |s2cid=36667702 |access-date=23 November 2022|url-access=subscription }} but it was relatively mildly impacted at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, although extinction rates among radiolarians rose significantly.{{cite journal |last1=Kocsis |first1=Ádám T. |last2=Kiessling |first2=Wolfgang |last3=Pálfy |first3=József |date=8 April 2016 |title=Radiolarian biodiversity dynamics through the Triassic and Jurassic: implications for proximate causes of the end-Triassic mass extinction |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/abs/radiolarian-biodiversity-dynamics-through-the-triassic-and-jurassic-implications-for-proximate-causes-of-the-endtriassic-mass-extinction/0986175366656DEE63909EF57FCFA87B |journal=Paleobiology |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=625–639 |doi=10.1666/14007 |s2cid=129600881 |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} Early Hettangian radiolarian communities became depauperate as a result of the TJME and consisted mainly of spumellarians and entactiniids.{{Cite journal |last=Longridge |first=Louise M. |last2=Carter |first2=Elizabeth S. |last3=Smith |first3=Paul L. |last4=Tipper |first4=Howard W. |date=9 February 2007 |title=Early Hettangian ammonites and radiolarians from the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia and their bearing on the definition of the Triassic–Jurassic boundary |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016699512000526?via%3Dihub |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=244 |issue=1-4 |pages=142–169 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.027 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} Benthic foraminifera suffered relatively minor losses of diversity.{{Cite journal |last=Pálfy |first=József |last2=Demény |first2=Attila |last3=Haas |first3=János |last4=Carter |first4=Elizabeth S. |last5=Görög |first5=Ágnes |last6=Halász |first6=Dóra |last7=Oravecz-Scheffer |first7=Anna |last8=Hetényi |first8=Magdolna |last9=Márton |first9=Emő |last10=Orchard |first10=Michael J. |last11=Ozsvárt |first11=Péter |last12=Vető |first12=István |last13=Zajzon |first13=Norbert |date=9 February 2007 |title=Triassic–Jurassic boundary events inferred from integrated stratigraphy of the Csővár section, Hungary |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018206004391 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=244 |issue=1-4 |pages=11–33 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.021 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} Some opportunistic foraminifera such as Triasina hantkeni increased in abundance as they thrived in oxygen-depleted waters.{{Cite journal |last=Ciarapica |first=Gloria |date=9 February 2007 |title=Regional and global changes around the Triassic–Jurassic boundary reflected in the late Norian–Hettangian history of the Apennine basins |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018206004408 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=244 |issue=1-4 |pages=34–51 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.022 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} Ammonites were affected substantially by the Triassic-Jurassic extinction and were nearly wiped out.{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Paul L. |last2=Longridge |first2=Louise M. |last3=Grey |first3=Melissa |last4=Zhang |first4=Jin |last5=Liang |first5=Bo |date=4 January 2014 |title=From near extinction to recovery: Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic ammonoid shell geometry |url=https://www.idunn.no/doi/10.1111/let.12058 |journal=Lethaia |language=en |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=337–351 |doi=10.1111/let.12058 |issn=0024-1164 |access-date=28 October 2024|hdl=2429/45186 |hdl-access=free }} Ceratitidans, the most prominent group of ammonites in the Triassic, became extinct at the end of the Rhaetian after having their diversity reduced significantly in the Norian, while other ammonite groups such as the Ammonitina, Lytoceratina, and Phylloceratina diversified from the Early Jurassic onward.{{cite journal |vauthors=Tanner LH, Lucas SG, Chapman MG |date=2004 |title=Assessing the record and causes of Late Triassic extinctions |url=http://nmnaturalhistory.org/pdf_files/TJB.pdf |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=65 |issue=1–2 |pages=103–139 |bibcode=2004ESRv...65..103T |doi=10.1016/S0012-8252(03)00082-5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025225841/http://nmnaturalhistory.org/pdf_files/TJB.pdf |archive-date=October 25, 2007 |access-date=2007-10-22}} Bivalves suffered heavy losses, although the extinction was highly selective, with some bivalve clades escaping substantial diversity losses.{{Cite journal |last1=Ros |first1=Sonia |last2=Echevarría |first2=Javier |date=25 July 2011 |title=Bivalves and evolutionary resilience: old skills and new strategies to recover from the P/T and T/J extinction events |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08912963.2011.578744 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=411–429 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2011.578744 |hdl=11336/79657 |issn=0891-2963 |access-date=28 October 2024 |via=Taylor and Francis Online|hdl-access=free }} The Lilliput effect, a term coined to describe a phenomenon wherein organisms shrink in size following a mass extinction, affected megalodontid bivalves,{{cite journal |last1=Todaro |first1=Simona |last2=Rigo |first2=Manuel |last3=Randazzo |first3=Vincenzo |last4=Di Stefano |first4=Pietro |date=June 2018 |title=The end-Triassic mass extinction: A new correlation between extinction events and δ13C fluctuations from a Triassic-Jurassic peritidal succession in western Sicily |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0037073818300484 |journal=Sedimentary Geology |volume=368 |pages=105–113 |doi=10.1016/j.sedgeo.2018.03.008 |bibcode=2018SedG..368..105T |s2cid=134941587 |access-date=27 August 2023|url-access=subscription }} whereas file shell bivalves experienced the Brobdingnag effect, the reverse of the Lilliput effect.{{cite journal |last1=Atkinson |first1=Jed W. |last2=Wignall |first2=Paul B. |last3=Morton |first3=Jacob D. |last4=Aze |first4=Tracy |date=9 January 2019 |title=Body size changes in bivalves of the family Limidae in the aftermath of the end-Triassic mass extinction: the Brobdingnag effect |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pala.12415 |journal=Palaeontology |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=561–582 |doi=10.1111/pala.12415 |bibcode=2019Palgy..62..561A |s2cid=134070316 |access-date=14 January 2023}} There is some evidence of a bivalve cosmopolitanism event during the mass extinction.{{cite journal |last1=Yan |first1=Jia |last2=Song |first2=Haijun |last3=Dai |first3=Xu |date=1 February 2023 |title=Increased bivalve cosmopolitanism during the mid-Phanerozoic mass extinctions |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018222005338 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=611 |page=111362 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111362 |bibcode=2023PPP...61111362Y |access-date=20 February 2023|url-access=subscription }} Additionally, following the TJME, mobile bivalve taxa outnumbered stationary bivalve taxa.{{Cite journal |last1=Abdelhady |first1=Ahmed A. |last2=Ali |first2=Ahmed |last3=Ahmed |first3=Mohamed S. |last4=Elewa |first4=Ashraf M. T. |date=8 September 2023 |title=Triassic/Jurassic bivalve biodiversity dynamics: biotic versus abiotic factors |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12517-023-11657-x |journal=Arabian Journal of Geosciences |language=en |volume=16 |issue=10 |doi=10.1007/s12517-023-11657-x |issn=1866-7511 |access-date=11 September 2024 |via=Springer Link|url-access=subscription }} Gastropod diversity was barely affected at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, although gastropods gradually suffered numerous losses over the late Norian and Rhaetian, during the leadup to the TJME.{{cite journal |last1=Hallam |first1=Anthony |date=2 January 2007 |title=How catastrophic was the end-Triassic mass extinction? |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1502-3931.2002.tb00075.x |journal=Lethaia |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=147–157 |doi=10.1111/j.1502-3931.2002.tb00075.x |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} Brachiopods declined in diversity at the end of the Triassic before rediversifying in the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian;{{cite journal |last1=Baeza-Carratalá |first1=José Francisco |last2=Dulai |first2=Alfréd |last3=Sandoval |first3=José |date=October 2018 |title=First evidence of brachiopod diversification after the end-Triassic extinction from the pre-Pliensbachian Internal Subbetic platform (South-Iberian Paleomargin) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016699518300445 |journal=Geobios |volume=51 |issue=5 |pages=367–384 |doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2018.08.010 |bibcode=2018Geobi..51..367B |hdl=10045/81989 |s2cid=134589701 |access-date=22 May 2023|hdl-access=free }} the dielasmatoid, athyridoid, and spondylospiroid brachiopods experienced particularly severe declines.{{Cite journal |last=Tomašových |first=Adam |last2=Siblík |first2=Miloš |date=9 February 2007 |title=Evaluating compositional turnover of brachiopod communities during the end-Triassic mass extinction (Northern Calcareous Alps): Removal of dominant groups, recovery and community reassembly |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018206004482 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=244 |issue=1-4 |pages=170–200 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.028 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} Bryozoans, particularly taxa that lived in offshore settings, had already been in decline since the Norian and suffered further losses in the TJME.{{Cite journal |last1=Powers |first1=Catherine M. |last2=Bottjer |first2=David J. |date=1 November 2007 |title=Bryozoan paleoecology indicates mid-Phanerozoic extinctions were the product of long-term environmental stress |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geology/article/35/11/995-998/129752 |journal=Geology |language=en |volume=35 |issue=11 |pages=995 |doi=10.1130/G23858A.1 |bibcode=2007Geo....35..995P |issn=0091-7613 |access-date=30 December 2023|url-access=subscription }} Ostracods also suffered significant losses,{{Cite journal |last=Wignall |first=Paul Barry |last2=Atkinson |first2=Jed W. |date=September 2020 |title=A two-phase end-Triassic mass extinction |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825220303287 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |language=en |volume=208 |pages=103282 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103282 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} although opportunistic ostracod forms thrived in the eutrophic conditions of the TJME.{{Cite journal |last=Michalík |first=Jozef |last2=Lintnerová |first2=Otília |last3=Gaździcki |first3=Andrzej |last4=Soták |first4=Ján |date=9 February 2007 |title=Record of environmental changes in the Triassic–Jurassic boundary interval in the Zliechov Basin, Western Carpathians |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018206004421 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=244 |issue=1-4 |pages=71–88 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.024 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} Conulariids seemingly completely died out at the end of the Triassic. Around 96% of coral genera died out, with integrated corals being especially devastated.{{cite journal |last1=Stanley Jr. |first1=George D. |last2=Shepherd |first2=Hannah M. E. |last3=Robinson |first3=Autumn J. |date=14 August 2018 |title=Paleoecological Response of Corals to the End-Triassic Mass Extinction: An Integrational Analysis |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12583-018-0793-5 |journal=Journal of Earth Science |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=879–885 |doi=10.1007/s12583-018-0793-5 |bibcode=2018JEaSc..29..879S |s2cid=133705370 |access-date=7 June 2023|url-access=subscription }} Corals practically disappeared from the Tethys Ocean at the end of the Triassic except for its northernmost reaches,{{cite journal |last1=Lathuilière |first1=Bernard |last2=Marchal |first2=Denis |date=12 January 2009 |title=Extinction, survival and recovery of corals from the Triassic to Middle Jurassic time |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-3121.2008.00856.x |journal=Terra Nova |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=57–66 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-3121.2008.00856.x |bibcode=2009TeNov..21...57L |s2cid=128758050 |access-date=7 June 2023|url-access=subscription }} resulting in an early Hettangian "coral gap".{{cite journal |last1=Martindale |first1=Rowan C. |last2=Berelson |first2=William M. |last3=Corsetti |first3=Frank A. |last4=Bottjer |first4=David J. |last5=West |first5=A. Joshua |date=15 September 2012 |title=Constraining carbonate chemistry at a potential ocean acidification event (the Triassic–Jurassic boundary) using the presence of corals and coral reefs in the fossil record |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018212003756 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=350–352 |pages=114–123 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.06.020 |bibcode=2012PPP...350..114M |access-date=7 June 2023|url-access=subscription }} There is good evidence for a collapse in the reef community, which was likely driven by ocean acidification resulting from {{CO2}} supplied to the atmosphere by the CAMP eruptions.{{Cite journal |last1=Hönisch |first1=Bärbel |author-link=Bärbel Hönisch |last2=Ridgwell |first2=Andy |last3=Schmidt |first3=Daniela N. |last4=Thomas |first4=Ellen |author4-link=Ellen Thomas (scientist) |last5=Gibbs |first5=Samantha J. |last6=Sluijs |first6=Appy |last7=Zeebe |first7=Richard |last8=Kump |first8=Lee |last9=Martindale |first9=Rowan C. |last10=Greene |first10=Sarah E. |last11=Kiessling |first11=Wolfgang |date=2012-03-02 |title=The Geological Record of Ocean Acidification |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1208277 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=335 |issue=6072 |pages=1058–1063 |bibcode=2012Sci...335.1058H |doi=10.1126/science.1208277 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=22383840 |hdl=1874/385704 |s2cid=6361097 |access-date=19 March 2023|hdl-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last1=Greene |first1=Sarah E. |last2=Martindale |first2=Rowan C. |last3=Ritterbush |first3=Kathleen A. |last4=Bottjer |first4=David J. |last5=Corsetti |first5=Frank A. |last6=Berelson |first6=William M. |date=2012-06-01 |title=Recognising ocean acidification in deep time: An evaluation of the evidence for acidification across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825212000463 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |language=en |volume=113 |issue=1 |pages=72–93|doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.03.009 |bibcode=2012ESRv..113...72G|issn=0012-8252|url-access=subscription }}

Most evidence points to a relatively fast recovery from the mass extinction. Benthic ecosystems recovered far more rapidly after the TJME than they did after the PTME.{{Cite journal |last1=Barras |first1=Colin G. |last2=Twitchett |first2=Richard J. |date=9 February 2007 |title=Response of the marine infauna to Triassic–Jurassic environmental change: Ichnological data from southern England |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018206004500 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |series=Triassic-Jurassic Boundary events: problems, progress, possibilities |volume=244 |issue=1 |pages=223–241 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.040 |bibcode=2007PPP...244..223B |issn=0031-0182 |access-date=10 November 2023|url-access=subscription }} British Early Jurassic benthic marine environments display a relatively rapid recovery that began almost immediately after the end of the mass extinction despite numerous relapses into anoxic conditions during the earliest Jurassic.{{cite journal |last1=Atkinson |first1=J. W. |last2=Wignall |first2=Paul B. |date=15 August 2019 |title=How quick was marine recovery after the end-Triassic mass extinction and what role did anoxia play? |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018219302330 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=528 |pages=99–119 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.05.011 |bibcode=2019PPP...528...99A |s2cid=164911938 |access-date=20 December 2022}} In the Neuquén Basin, recovery began in the late early Hettangian and lasted until a new biodiversity equilibrium in the late Hettangian.{{cite journal |last1=Damborenea |first1=Susana E. |last2=Echevarría |first2=Javier |last3=Ros-Franch |first3=Sonia |date=1 December 2017 |title=Biotic recovery after the end-Triassic extinction event: Evidence from marine bivalves of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018217306946 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=487 |pages=93–104 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.08.025 |bibcode=2017PPP...487...93D |access-date=28 May 2023|hdl=11336/49626 |hdl-access=free }} Also despite recurrent anoxic episodes, large bivalves began to reappear shortly after the extinction event.{{Cite journal |last1=Opazo |first1=L. Felipe |last2=Twitchett |first2=Richard J. |date=August 2022 |title=Bivalve body-size distribution through the Late Triassic mass extinction event |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/abs/bivalve-bodysize-distribution-through-the-late-triassic-mass-extinction-event/D395EA5BCADCD7CC2EB903ADD14CC95A |journal=Paleobiology |language=en |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=420–445 |doi=10.1017/pab.2021.38 |issn=0094-8373 |access-date=28 October 2024 |via=Cambridge Core|url-access=subscription }} Siliceous sponges dominated the immediate aftermath interval thanks to the enormous influx of silica into the oceans,{{Cite journal |last=Yager |first=Joyce A. |last2=West |first2=A. Joshua |last3=Trower |first3=Elizabeth J. |last4=Fischer |first4=Woodward W. |last5=Ritterbush |first5=Kathleen |last6=Rosas |first6=Silvia |last7=Bottjer |first7=David J. |last8=Celestian |first8=Aaron J. |last9=Berelson |first9=William M. |last10=Corsetti |first10=Frank A. |date=9 January 2025 |title=Evidence for Low Dissolved Silica in mid-Mesozoic Oceans |url=https://ajsonline.org/article/122691-evidence-for-low-dissolved-silica-in-mid-mesozoic-oceans |journal=American Journal of Science |language=en |volume=325 |doi=10.2475/001c.122691 |issn=1945-452X |access-date=18 February 2025 |via=AJS Online|url-access=subscription }} a consequence of the aerial extent of the CAMP basalts that were exposed to surficial weathering processes.{{cite journal |last1=Ritterbrush |first1=Kathleen A. |last2=Bottjer |first2=David J. |last3=Corseti |first3=Frank A. |last4=Rosas |first4=Silvia |date=1 December 2014 |title=New evidence on the role of siliceous sponges in ecology and sedimentary facies development in Eastern Panthalassa following the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction|url=https://bioone.org/journals/palaios/volume-29/issue-12/palo.2013.121/NEW-EVIDENCE-ON-THE-ROLE-OF-SILICEOUS-SPONGES-IN-ECOLOGY/10.2110/palo.2013.121.short |journal=PALAIOS |volume=29 |issue=12 |pages=652–668 |doi=10.2110/palo.2013.121 |bibcode=2014Palai..29..652R |s2cid=140546770 |access-date=2 April 2023|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last1=Ritterbush |first1=Kathleen A. |last2=Rosas |first2=Silvia |last3=Corsetti |first3=Frank A. |last4=Bottjer |first4=David J. |last5=West |first5=A. Joshua |date=15 February 2015 |title=Andean sponges reveal long-term benthic ecosystem shifts following the end-Triassic mass extinction |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018214005951 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=420 |pages=193–209 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.12.002 |bibcode=2015PPP...420..193R |issn=0031-0182 |access-date=10 November 2023|url-access=subscription }} In some regions, recovery was slow; in the northern Tethys, carbonate platforms in the TJME's aftermath became dominated by microbial carbonate producers and r-selected calcitic taxa such as Thaumatoporella parvovesiculifera, while dasycladacean algae did not reappear until the Sinemurian stage.{{Cite journal |last=Montanaro |first=Andrea |last2=Falzoni |first2=Francesca |last3=Iannace |first3=Alessandro |last4=Parente |first4=Mariano |date=1 September 2024 |title=Patterns of extinction and recovery across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary interval in three resilient Southern Tethyan carbonate platforms |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018224003249 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=649 |pages=112335 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112335 |access-date=18 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|doi-access=free }}

File:Euconodonta.gif

Fish did not suffer a mass extinction at the end of the Triassic. The Late Triassic in general did experience a gradual drop in actinopterygiian diversity after an evolutionary explosion in the Middle Triassic. Though this may have been due to falling sea levels or the Carnian Pluvial Event, it may instead be a result of sampling bias considering that Middle Triassic fish have been more extensively studied than Late Triassic fish.{{Cite journal|last1=Romano|first1=Carlo|last2=Koot|first2=Martha B.|last3=Kogan|first3=Ilja|last4=Brayard|first4=Arnaud|last5=Minikh|first5=Alla V.|last6=Brinkmann|first6=Winand|last7=Bucher|first7=Hugo|last8=Kriwet|first8=Jürgen|date=27 November 2014|title=Permian–Triassic Osteichthyes (bony fishes): diversity dynamics and body size evolution|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268810424|journal=Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society|volume=91|issue=1|pages=106–147|doi=10.1111/brv.12161|issn=1469-185X|pmid=25431138|s2cid=5332637}} Despite the apparent drop in diversity, neopterygiians (which include most modern bony fish) suffered less than more "primitive" actinopterygiians, indicating a biological turnover where modern groups of fish started to supplant earlier groups. Pycnodontiform fish were insignificantly affected.{{Cite journal |last1=Stumpf |first1=Sebastian |last2=Ansorge |first2=Jörg |last3=Pfaff |first3=Cathrin |last4=Kriwet |first4=Jürgen |date=4 July 2017 |title=Early Jurassic diversification of pycnodontiform fishes (Actinopterygii, Neopterygii) after the end-Triassic extinction event: evidence from a new genus and species, Grimmenodon aureum |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=e1344679 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2017.1344679 |issn=0272-4634 |pmc=5646184 |pmid=29170576 }} Conodonts, which were prominent index fossils throughout the Paleozoic and Triassic, finally became extinct at the T-J boundary following declining diversity.

Like fish, marine reptiles experienced a substantial drop in diversity between the Middle Triassic and the Jurassic. However, their extinction rate at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary was not elevated. The highest extinction rates experienced by Mesozoic marine reptiles actually occurred at the end of the Ladinian stage, which corresponds to the end of the Middle Triassic. The only marine reptile families which became extinct at or slightly before the Triassic–Jurassic boundary were the placochelyids (the last family of placodonts), making plesiosaurs the only surviving sauropterygians,{{cite journal | pmc=6873879 | date=2019 | last1=Fleischle | first1=C. V. | last2=Sander | first2=P. M. | last3=Wintrich | first3=T. | last4=Caspar | first4=K. R. | title=Hematological convergence between Mesozoic marine reptiles (Sauropterygia) and extant aquatic amniotes elucidates diving adaptations in plesiosaurs | journal=PeerJ | volume=7 | pages=e8022 | doi=10.7717/peerj.8022 | doi-access=free | pmid=31763069 }} and giant ichthyosaurs such as shastasaurids.{{Cite journal|last=Bardet|first=Nathalie|date=1994-07-01|title=Extinction events among Mesozoic marine reptiles|journal=Historical Biology|volume=7|issue=4|pages=313–324|doi=10.1080/10292389409380462|bibcode=1994HBio....7..313B |issn=0891-2963|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/15138/files/PAL_E2412.pdf }} Some authors have argued that the end of the Triassic acted as a genetic "bottleneck" for ichthyosaurs, which never regained the level of anatomical diversity and disparity which they possessed during the Triassic,{{Cite journal|last1=Thorne|first1=Philippa M.|last2=Ruta|first2=Marcello|last3=Benton|first3=Michael J.|date=17 May 2011|title=Resetting the evolution of marine reptiles at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|language=en|volume=108|issue=20|pages=8339–8344|doi=10.1073/pnas.1018959108|issn=0027-8424|pmid=21536898|pmc=3100925|bibcode=2011PNAS..108.8339T|doi-access=free}} although analysis of ichthyosaurian and eosauropterygian disparity across the Triassic-Jurassic transition has shown no evidence for such a bottleneck.{{Cite journal |last=Laboury |first=Antoine |last2=Stubbs |first2=Thomas L. |last3=Wolniewicz |first3=Andrzej S. |last4=Liu |first4=Jun |last5=Scheyer |first5=Torsten M. |last6=Jones |first6=Marc E H |last7=Fischer |first7=Valentin |date=22 December 2024 |editor-last=Parins-Fukuchi |editor-first=Tomomi |editor2-last=Morlon |editor2-first=Hélène |title=Contrasting macroevolutionary patterns in pelagic tetrapods across the Triassic–Jurassic transition |url=https://academic.oup.com/evolut/article/79/1/38/7758686 |journal=Evolution |language=en |volume=79 |issue=1 |pages=38–50 |doi=10.1093/evolut/qpae138 |issn=0014-3820 |access-date=18 February 2025 |via=Oxford Academic|url-access=subscription }} The high diversity of rhomaelosaurids immediately after the TJME points to a gradual extinction of marine reptiles rather than an abrupt one.{{Cite journal |last1=Benson |first1=Roger B. J. |last2=Evans |first2=Mark |last3=Druckenmiller |first3=Patrick S. |date=16 March 2012 |editor-last=Lalueza-Fox |editor-first=Carles |title=High Diversity, Low Disparity and Small Body Size in Plesiosaurs (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=e31838 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0031838 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=3306369 |pmid=22438869 }}

File:Mastodonsaurus giganteus.JPG (such as this Mastodonsaurus) were among the major amphibian groups which became extinct at the T–J boundary, though many may have died out earlier.]]

Terrestrial fauna was affected by the TJME much more severely than marine fauna.{{Cite journal |last1=Cribb |first1=Alison T. |last2=Formoso |first2=Kiersten K. |last3=Woolley |first3=C. Henrik |last4=Beech |first4=James |last5=Brophy |first5=Shannon |last6=Byrne |first6=Paul |last7=Cassady |first7=Victoria C. |last8=Godbold |first8=Amanda L. |last9=Larina |first9=Ekaterina |last10=Maxeiner |first10=Philip-peter |last11=Wu |first11=Yun-Hsin |last12=Corsetti |first12=Frank A. |last13=Bottjer |first13=David J. |date=6 December 2023 |title=Contrasting terrestrial and marine ecospace dynamics after the end-Triassic mass extinction event |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=290 |issue=2012 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2023.2232 |issn=0962-8452 |pmc=10697803 |pmid=38052241 }} One of the earliest pieces of evidence for a Late Triassic extinction was a major turnover in terrestrial tetrapods such as amphibians, reptiles, and synapsids. Edwin H. Colbert drew parallels between the system of extinction and adaptation between the Triassic–Jurassic and Cretaceous–Paleogene boundaries. He recognized how dinosaurs, lepidosaurs (lizards and their relatives), and crocodyliforms (crocodilians and their relatives) filled the niches of more ancient groups of amphibians and reptiles which were extinct by the start of the Jurassic.{{Cite journal |last=Colbert |first=Edwin H. |date=15 September 1958 |title=Tetrapod Extinctions at the End of the Triassic Period |url=https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/44/9/973.full.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=44 |issue=9 |pages=973–977 |bibcode=1958PNAS...44..973C |doi=10.1073/pnas.44.9.973 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=528676 |pmid=16590299 |doi-access=free}} Olsen (1987) estimated that 42% of all terrestrial tetrapods became extinct at the end of the Triassic, based on his studies of faunal changes in the Newark Supergroup of eastern North America. In contrast to the end-Cretaceous extinction, the TJME substantially affected freshwater ecosystems, and it further differed from the former in that body size did not affect extinction risk.{{cite book |last1=Buffetaut |first1=Eric |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/b135965 |title=Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events |publisher=Springer |year=2006 |isbn=978-3-540-25736-3 |editor-last1=Cockell |editor-first1=Charles |series=Impact Studies |location=Berlin |pages=245–256 |chapter=Continental Vertebrate Extinctions at the Triassic-Jurassic and Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundaries: a Comparison |doi=10.1007/3-540-25736-5_11 |editor-last2=Gilmour |editor-first2=Iain |editor-last3=Koeberl |editor-first3=Charles |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/3-540-25736-5_11}} More modern studies have debated whether the turnover in Triassic tetrapods was abrupt at the end of the Triassic, or instead more gradual.

During the Triassic, amphibians were mainly represented by large, crocodile-like members of the order Temnospondyli. Although the earliest lissamphibians (modern amphibians like frogs and salamanders) did appear during the Triassic, they would become more common in the Jurassic while the temnospondyls diminished in diversity past the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. Although the decline of temnospondyls did send shockwaves through freshwater ecosystems, it was probably not as abrupt as some authors have suggested. Brachyopoids, for example, survived until the Cretaceous according to new discoveries in the 1990s. Several temnospondyl groups did become extinct near the end of the Triassic despite earlier abundance, but it is uncertain how close their extinctions were to the end of the Triassic. The last known metoposaurids ("Apachesaurus") were from the Redonda Formation, which may have been early Rhaetian or late Norian. Gerrothorax, the last known plagiosaurid, has been found in rocks which are probably (but not certainly) Rhaetian, while a capitosaur humerus was found in Rhaetian-age deposits in 2018. Therefore, plagiosaurids and capitosaurs were likely victims of an extinction at the very end of the Triassic, while most other temnospondyls were already extinct.{{Cite journal|last1=Konietzko-Meier|first1=Dorota|last2=Werner|first2=Jennifer D.|last3=Wintrich|first3=Tanja|last4=Martin Sander|first4=P.|date=31 October 2018|title=A large temnospondyl humerus from the Rhaetian (Late Triassic) of Bonenburg (Westphalia, Germany) and its implications for temnospondyl extinction|journal=Journal of Iberian Geology|volume=45|issue=2|pages=287–300|doi=10.1007/s41513-018-0092-0|s2cid=134049099|issn=1886-7995}}

File:Machaeroprosopus IMG 0720.jpgs (such as this Redondasaurus) went from abundant to extinct by the end of the Rhaetian.]]

Terrestrial reptile faunas were dominated by archosauromorphs during the Triassic, particularly phytosaurs and members of Pseudosuchia (the reptile lineage which leads to modern crocodilians). In the Early Jurassic and onwards, dinosaurs and pterosaurs became the most common land reptiles, while small reptiles were mostly represented by lepidosauromorphs (such as lizards and tuatara relatives). Among pseudosuchians, only small crocodylomorphs did not become extinct by the end of the Triassic, with both dominant herbivorous subgroups (such as aetosaurs) and carnivorous ones (rauisuchids) having died out. Phytosaurs, drepanosaurs, trilophosaurids, tanystropheids, and procolophonids, which were other common reptiles in the Late Triassic, had also become extinct by the start of the Jurassic. However, pinpointing the extinction of these different land reptile groups is difficult, as the last stage of the Triassic, the Rhaetian, and the first stage of the Jurassic, the Hettangian, each have few records of large land animals; some paleontologists have considered only phytosaurs and procolophonids to have become extinct at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary, with other groups having become extinct earlier. However, it is likely that many other groups survived up until the boundary according to British fissure deposits from the Rhaetian. Aetosaurs, kuehneosaurids, drepanosaurs, thecodontosaurids, "saltoposuchids" (like Terrestrisuchus), trilophosaurids, and various non-crocodylomorph pseudosuchians are all examples of Rhaetian reptiles which may have become extinct at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary.{{Cite journal|last1=Whiteside|first1=D. I.|last2=Marshall|first2=J. E. A.|date=1 January 2008|title=The age, fauna and palaeoenvironment of the Late Triassic fissure deposits of Tytherington, South Gloucestershire, UK|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242099762|journal=Geological Magazine|language=en|volume=145|issue=1|pages=105–147|doi=10.1017/S0016756807003925|bibcode=2008GeoM..145..105W|s2cid=129614690|issn=0016-7568}}{{Cite journal |last1=Patrick |first1=Erin L. |last2=Whiteside |first2=David I. |last3=Benton |first3=Michael J. |year=2019 |title=A new crurotarsan archosaur from the Late Triassic of South Wales |url=https://cpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.bristol.ac.uk/dist/6/525/files/2019/08/2019Edgar.pdf |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=e1645147 |bibcode=2019JVPal..39E5147P |doi=10.1080/02724634.2019.1645147 |s2cid=202848499 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830221411/https://cpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.bristol.ac.uk/dist/6/525/files/2019/08/2019Edgar.pdf |archive-date=30 August 2019}}{{Cite journal |last1=Tolchard |first1=Frederick |last2=Nesbitt |first2=Sterling J. |last3=Desojo |first3=Julia B. |last4=Viglietti |first4=Pia |last5=Butler |first5=Richard J. |author-link5=Richard J. Butler |last6=Choiniere |first6=Jonah N. |date=2019-12-01 |title='Rauisuchian' material from the lower Elliot Formation of South Africa and Lesotho: Implications for Late Triassic biogeography and biostratigraphy |url=http://pure-oai.bham.ac.uk/ws/files/74379812/Tolchard_et_al._in_press.pdf |journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences |volume=160 |pages=103610 |bibcode=2019JAfES.16003610T |doi=10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103610 |issn=1464-343X |s2cid=202902771}}

In the TJME's aftermath, dinosaurs experienced a major radiation, filling some of the niches vacated by the victims of the extinction.{{cite journal |last1=Benton |first1=Michael James |year=1991 |title=What really happened in the late Triassic? |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10292389109380406 |journal=Historical Biology |volume=5 |issue=2–4 |pages=263–278 |bibcode=1991HBio....5..263B |doi=10.1080/10292389109380406 |access-date=15 December 2022|url-access=subscription }} Crocodylomorphs likewise underwent a very rapid and major adaptive radiation.{{cite journal |last1=Toljagić |first1=Olja |last2=Butler |first2=Richard J. |date=23 June 2013 |title=Triassic–Jurassic mass extinction as trigger for the Mesozoic radiation of crocodylomorphs |journal=Biology Letters |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=1–4 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2013.0095 |pmc=3645043 |pmid=23536443}} Surviving non-mammalian synapsid clades similarly played a role in the post-TJME adaptive radiation during the Early Jurassic.

Herbivorous insects were minimally affected by the TJME; evidence from the Sichuan Basin shows they were overall able to quickly adapt to the floristic turnover by exploiting newly abundant plants.{{Cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Yuanyuan |last2=Wang |first2=Yongdong |last3=Li |first3=Liqin |last4=Lu |first4=Ning |last5=Zhu |first5=Yanbin |last6=Huang |first6=Zhuanli |last7=McLoughlin |first7=Stephen |date=9 January 2024 |title=Plant-insect interactions across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary in the Sichuan Basin, South China |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=11 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2023.1338865 |doi-access=free |issn=2296-701X }} Odonates suffered highly selective losses, and their morphospace was heavily restructured as a result.{{Cite journal |last1=Deregnaucourt |first1=Isabelle |last2=Bardin |first2=Jérémie |last3=Villier |first3=Loïc |last4=Julliard |first4=Romain |last5=Béthoux |first5=Olivier |date=18 August 2023 |title=Disparification and extinction trade-offs shaped the evolution of Permian to Jurassic Odonata |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372525075 |journal=iScience |language=en |volume=26 |issue=8 |pages=107420 |doi=10.1016/j.isci.2023.107420 |pmc=10424082 |pmid=37583549 |access-date=31 October 2024 |via=ResearchGate}}

The extinction event marks a floral turnover as well, with estimates of the percentage of Rhaetian pre-extinction plants being lost ranging from 17% to 73%.{{cite journal |last1=Lindström |first1=Sofie |date=1 September 2015 |title=Palynofloral patterns of terrestrial ecosystem change during the end-Triassic event – a review |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geolmag/article-abstract/153/2/223/251206/Palynofloral-patterns-of-terrestrial-ecosystem?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Geological Magazine |volume=153 |issue=2 |pages=223–251 |doi=10.1017/S0016756815000552 |s2cid=131410887 |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} Though spore turnovers are observed across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, the abruptness of this transition and the relative abundances of given spore types both before and after the boundary are highly variable from one region to another, pointing to a global ecological restructuring rather than a mass extinction of plants.{{cite journal |last1=Barbacka |first1=Maria |last2=Pacyna |first2=Grzegorz |last3=Kocsis |first3=Ádam T. |last4=Jarzynka |first4=Agata |last5=Ziaja |first5=Jadwiga |last6=Bodor |first6=Emese |date=15 August 2017 |title=Changes in terrestrial floras at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary in Europe |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018216304977 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=480 |pages=80–93 |bibcode=2017PPP...480...80B |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.05.024 |access-date=12 December 2022}} Overall, plants suffered minor diversity losses on a global scale as a result of the extinction, but species turnover rates were high and substantial changes occurred in terms of relative abundance and growth distribution among taxa.{{Cite journal |last1=McElwain |first1=Jennifer C. |last2=Popa |first2=Mihai E. |last3=Hesselbo |first3=Stephen P. |last4=Haworth |first4=Matthew |last5=Surlyk |first5=Finn |date=December 2007 |title=Macroecological responses of terrestrial vegetation to climatic and atmospheric change across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary in East Greenland |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/06026.1 |journal=Paleobiology |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=547–573 |doi=10.1666/06026.1 |bibcode=2007Pbio...33..547M |s2cid=129330139 |issn=0094-8373|url-access=subscription }} Evidence from Central Europe suggests that rather than a sharp, very rapid decline followed by an adaptive radiation, a more gradual turnover in both fossil plants and spores with several intermediate stages is observed over the course of the extinction event.{{cite journal |last1=Gravendyck |first1=Julia |last2=Schobben |first2=Martin |last3=Bachelier |first3=Julien B. |last4=Kürschner |first4=Wolfram Michael |date=November 2020 |title=Macroecological patterns of the terrestrial vegetation history during the end-Triassic biotic crisis in the central European Basin: A palynological study of the Bonenburg section (NW-Germany) and its supra-regional implications |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921818120301776 |journal=Global and Planetary Change |volume=194 |page=103286 |bibcode=2020GPC...19403286G |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2020.103286 |hdl=1874/409017 |s2cid=225521004 |access-date=12 December 2022|hdl-access=free }} Extinction of plant species can in part be explained by the suspected increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result of CAMP volcanic activity, which would have created photoinhibition and decreased transpiration levels among species with low photosynthetic plasticity, such as the broad leaved Ginkgoales which declined to near extinction across the Tr–J boundary.{{Cite journal |last1=Yiotis |first1=C. |last2=Evans-Fitz.Gerald |first2=C. |last3=McElwain |first3=J. C. |date=2017-03-11 |title=Differences in the photosynthetic plasticity of ferns and Ginkgo grown in experimentally controlled low [O2]:[CO2] atmospheres may explain their contrasting ecological fate across the Triassic–Jurassic mass extinction boundary |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcx018 |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=119 |issue=8 |pages=1385–1395 |doi=10.1093/aob/mcx018 |pmid=28334286 |pmc=5604595 |issn=0305-7364}}

Ferns and other species with dissected leaves displayed greater adaptability to atmosphere conditions of the extinction event,{{Cite journal |last1=Bos |first1=Remco |last2=Lindström |first2=Sofie |last3=van Konijnenburg-van Cittert |first3=Han |last4=Hilgen |first4=Frederik |last5=Hollaar |first5=Teuntje P. |last6=Aalpoel |first6=Hendrik |last7=van der Weijst |first7=Carolien |last8=Sanei |first8=Hamed |last9=Rudra |first9=Arka |last10=Sluijs |first10=Appy |last11=van de Schootbrugge |first11=Bas |date=1 September 2023 |title=Triassic-Jurassic vegetation response to carbon cycle perturbations and climate change |journal=Global and Planetary Change |volume=228 |pages=104211 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104211 |bibcode=2023GPC...22804211B |issn=0921-8181 |doi-access=free }} and in some instances were able to proliferate across the boundary and into the Jurassic. The species Lepidopteris ottonis evolved a reliance on asexual reproduction amidst the environmental chaos of the TJME.{{Cite journal |last=Vajda |first=Vivi |last2=McLoughlin |first2=Stephen |last3=Slater |first3=Sam M. |last4=Gustafsson |first4=Ola |last5=Rasmusson |first5=Allan G. |date=1 October 2023 |title=The ‘seed-fern’ Lepidopteris mass-produced the abnormal pollen Ricciisporites during the end-Triassic biotic crisis |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018223003413 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=627 |pages=111723 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111723 |access-date=18 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}} In the Jiyuan Basin of North China, Classopolis content increased drastically in concordance with warming, drying, wildfire activity, enrichments in isotopically light carbon, and an overall reduction in floral diversity.{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Peixin |last2=Lu |first2=Jing |last3=Yang |first3=Minfang |last4=Bond |first4=David P. G. |last5=Greene |first5=Sarah E. |last6=Liu |first6=Le |last7=Zhang |first7=Yuanfu |last8=Wang |first8=Ye |last9=Wang |first9=Ziwei |last10=Li |first10=Shan |last11=Shao |first11=Longyi |last12=Hilton |first12=Jason |date=28 March 2022 |title=Volcanically-Induced Environmental and Floral Changes Across the Triassic-Jurassic (T-J) Transition |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=10 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2022.853404 |issn=2296-701X |doi-access=free }} In the Sichuan Basin, relatively cool mixed forests in the late Rhaetian were replaced by hot, arid fernlands during the Triassic–Jurassic transition, which in turn later gave way to a cheirolepid-dominated flora in the Hettangian and Sinemurian.{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Liqin |last2=Wang |first2=Yongdong |last3=Kürschner |first3=Wolfram M. |last4=Ruhl |first4=Micha |last5=Vajda |first5=Vivi |date=15 October 2020 |title=Palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate changes across the Triassic–Jurassic transition in the Sichuan Basin, China |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018220303369 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=556 |page=109891 |bibcode=2020PPP...55609891L |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109891 |s2cid=225600810 |access-date=22 May 2023}} The abundance of ferns in China that were resistant to high levels of aridity increased significantly across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary, though ferns better adapted for moist, humid environments declined, indicating that plants experienced major environmental stress, albeit not an outright mass extinction.{{cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Ning |last2=Xu |first2=Yuanyuan |last3=Li |first3=Liqin |last4=Lu |first4=Ning |last5=An |first5=Pengcheng |last6=Popa |first6=Mihai Emilian |last7=Kürschner |first7=Wolfram Michael |last8=Zhang |first8=Xingliang |last9=Wang |first9=Yongdong |date=October 2021 |title=Pattern of vegetation turnover during the end-Triassic mass extinction: Trends of fern communities from South China with global context |journal=Global and Planetary Change |volume=205 |page=103585 |bibcode=2021GPC...20503585Z |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103585 |doi-access=free}} In some regions, however, major floral extinctions did occur, with some researchers challenging the hypothesis of there being no significant floral mass extinction on this basis. In the Newark Supergroup of the United States East Coast, about 60% of the diverse monosaccate and bisaccate pollen assemblages disappear at the Tr–J boundary, indicating a major extinction of plant genera. Early Jurassic pollen assemblages are dominated by Corollina, a new genus that took advantage of the empty niches left by the extinction.{{Citation |last1=Fowell |first1=S. J. |title=Geologically rapid Late Triassic extinctions: Palynological evidence from the Newark Supergroup |date=1994 |work=Geological Society of America Special Papers |pages=197–206 |publisher=Geological Society of America |doi=10.1130/spe288-p197 |isbn=978-0813722887 |last2=Cornet |first2=B. |last3=Olsen |first3=P. E.}} The site of St. Audrie's Bay displays a shift from diverse gymnosperm-dominated forests to Cheirolepidiaceae-dominated monocultures. The Danish Basin saw 34% of its Rhaetian spore-pollen assemblage, including Cingulizonates rhaeticus, Limbosporites lundbladiae, Polypodiisporites polymicroforatus, and Ricciisporites tuberculatus, disappear, with the post-extinction plant community being dominated by pinacean conifers such as Pinuspollenites minimus and tree ferns such as Deltoidospora, with ginkgos, cycads, cypresses, and corystospermous seed ferns also represented.{{Cite journal |last1=Lindström |first1=Sofie |last2=Erlström |first2=Mikael |last3=Piasecki |first3=Stefan |last4=Nielsen |first4=Lars Henrik |last5=Mathiesen |first5=Anders |date=September 2017 |title=Palynology and terrestrial ecosystem change of the Middle Triassic to lowermost Jurassic succession of the eastern Danish Basin |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0034666716300318 |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |language=en |volume=244 |pages=65–95 |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2017.04.007 |access-date=28 March 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} Along the margins of the European Epicontinental Sea and the European shores of the Tethys, coastal and near-coastal mires fell victim to an abrupt sea level rise. These mires were replaced by a pioneering opportunistic flora after an abrupt sea level fall, although its heyday was short lived and it died out shortly after its rise.{{cite journal |last1=Lindström |first1=Sofie |date=17 September 2021 |title=Two-phased Mass Rarity and Extinction in Land Plants During the End-Triassic Climate Crisis |journal=Frontiers in Earth Science |volume=9 |page=1079 |bibcode=2021FrEaS...9.1079L |doi=10.3389/feart.2021.780343 |doi-access=free}} The opportunists that established themselves along the Tethyan coastline were primarily spore-producers.{{Cite journal |last1=Bonis |first1=Nina R. |last2=Kürschner |first2=Wolfram M. |date=2012 |title=Vegetation history, diversity patterns, and climate change across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0094837300000567/type/journal_article |journal=Paleobiology |language=en |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=240–264 |doi=10.1666/09071.1 |issn=0094-8373 |access-date=28 March 2024 |via=Cambridge Core|url-access=subscription }} In the Eiberg Basin of the Northern Calcareous Alps, there was a very rapid palynomorph turnover.{{cite journal |last1=Bonis |first1=N. R. |last2=Kürschner |first2=W. M. |last3=Krystyn |first3=L. |date=September 2009 |title=A detailed palynological study of the Triassic–Jurassic transition in key sections of the Eiberg Basin (Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034666709000633 |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |volume=156 |issue=3–4 |pages=376–400 |bibcode=2009RPaPa.156..376B |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2009.04.003 |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} The palynological and palaeobotanical succession in Queensland shows a Classopolis bloom after the TJME.{{Cite journal |last1=de Jersey |first1=Noel J. |last2=McKellar |first2=John L. |date=15 January 2013 |title=The palynology of the Triassic–Jurassic transition in southeastern Queensland, Australia, and correlation with New Zealand |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01916122.2012.718609 |journal=Palynology |language=en |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=77–114 |doi=10.1080/01916122.2012.718609 |issn=0191-6122 |access-date=19 June 2024 |via=Taylor and Francis Online|url-access=subscription }} Polyploidy may have been an important factor that mitigated a conifer species' risk of going extinct.{{cite journal |last1=Kürschner |first1=Wolfram M. |last2=Batenburg |first2=Sietske J. |last3=Mander |first3=Luke |date=7 October 2013 |title=Aberrant Classopollis pollen reveals evidence for unreduced (2n) pollen in the conifer family Cheirolepidiaceae during the Triassic–Jurassic transition |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=280 |issue=1768 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.1708 |pmc=3757988 |pmid=23926159}}

File:CAMP Magmatism in the context of Pangea.jpg volcanism at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary]]

The leading and best evidenced explanation for the TJME is massive volcanic eruptions, specifically from the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP),{{cite journal |last1=Ernst |first1=Richard E. |last2=Youbi |first2=Nasrrddine |date=15 July 2017 |title=How Large Igneous Provinces affect global climate, sometimes cause mass extinctions, and represent natural markers in the geological record |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018217302857 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=478 |pages=30–52 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.03.014 |bibcode=2017PPP...478...30E |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Deenen |first1=M. H. L. |last2=Ruhl |first2=M. |last3=Bonis |first3=N. R. |last4=Krijgsman |first4=W. |last5=Kuerschner |first5=W. M. |last6=Reitsma |first6=M. |last7=Van Bergen |first7=M. 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R. |last4=Domingos |first4=Fabio Garcia |last5=Ribeiro-Filho |first5=Nelson |date=1 June 2021 |title=Evidence for the Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP) in Precambrian and Phanerozoic sedimentary basins of the southern Amazonian Craton, Brazil |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895981121000638 |journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences |volume=108 |pages=103216 |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103216 |bibcode=2021JSAES.10803216R |s2cid=233565961 |issn=0895-9811 |access-date=12 January 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Rezende |first1=Gabriel L. |last2=Martins |first2=Cristiano Mendel |last3=Nogueira |first3=Afonso C. R. |last4=Domingos |first4=Fabio Garcia |last5=Ribeiro-Filho |first5=Nelson |date=June 2021 |title=Evidence for the Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP) in Precambrian and Phanerozoic sedimentary basins of the southern Amazonian Craton, Brazil |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981121000638#! |journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences |volume=108 |page=103216 |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103216 |bibcode=2021JSAES.10803216R |s2cid=233565961 |access-date=19 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}{{cite book |last1=Marzoli |first1=Andrea |last2=Callegaro |first2=Sara |last3=Dal Corso |first3=Jacopo |last4=Davies |first4=Joshua H. F. L. |last5=Chiaradia |first5=Massimo |last6=Youbi |first6=Nasrrddine |last7=Bertrand |first7=Hervé |last8=Reisberg |first8=Laurie |last9=Merle |first9=Renaud |last10=Jourdan |first10=Fred |series=Topics in Geobiology |editor-last1=Tanner |editor-first1=Lawrence H. |date=16 November 2017 |volume=46 |title=The Late Triassic World: Earth in a Time of Transition |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-68009-5 |chapter=The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP): A Review |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-68009-5_4 |publisher=Springer Cham |pages=91–125 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-68009-5_4 |isbn=978-3-319-68009-5}} and southeastern North America.{{cite journal |last1=Marzen |first1=R. E. |last2=Shillington |first2=D. J. |last3=Lizarralde |first3=D. |last4=Knapp |first4=J. H. |last5=Heffner |first5=D. M. |last6=Davis |first6=J. K. |last7=Harder |first7=S. H. |date=7 July 2020 |title=Limited and localized magmatism in the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province |journal=Nature Communications |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=3397 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-17193-6 |pmid=32636386 |pmc=7341742 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.3397M }}{{cite journal |last1=Goldberg |first1=David S. |last2=Kent |first2=Dennis V. |last3=Olsen |first3=Paul E. |date=4 January 2010 |title=Potential on-shore and off-shore reservoirs for CO2 sequestration in Central Atlantic magmatic province basalts |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=107 |issue=4 |pages=1327–1332 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0913721107 |pmid=20080705 |pmc=2824362 |bibcode=2010PNAS..107.1327G |doi-access=free }} The coincidence and synchrony of CAMP activity and the TJME is indicated by uranium-lead dating,{{cite journal |last1=Schaltegger |first1=Urs |last2=Guex |first2=Jean |last3=Bartolini |first3=Annachiara |last4=Schoene |first4=Blair |last5=Ovtcharova |first5=Maria |date=1 March 2008 |title=Precise U–Pb age constraints for end-Triassic mass extinction, its correlation to volcanism and Hettangian post-extinction recovery |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X07007777 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=166 |issue=1–2 |pages=266–275 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2007.11.031 |bibcode=2008E&PSL.267..266S |access-date=30 May 2023|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal|last1=Blackburn|first1=Terrence J.|last2=Olsen|first2=Paul E.|last3=Bowring|first3=Samuel A.|last4=McLean|first4=Noah M.|last5=Kent|first5=Dennis V|last6=Puffer|first6=John|last7=McHone|first7=Greg|last8=Rasbury|first8=Troy|last9=Et-Touhami7|first9=Mohammed|year=2013|title=Zircon U-Pb Geochronology Links the End-Triassic Extinction with the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province|url=http://www.personal.kent.edu/~alisonjs/paleo/Blackburn_2013Tr-JExtinctionChronology.pdf|journal=Science|volume=340|issue=6135|pages=941–945|bibcode=2013Sci...340..941B|citeseerx=10.1.1.1019.4042|doi=10.1126/science.1234204|pmid=23519213|s2cid=15895416}} argon-argon dating,{{cite journal |last1=Hames |first1=W. E. |last2=Renne |first2=Paul R. |last3=Ruppel |first3=C. |date=1 September 2000 |title=New evidence for geologically instantaneous emplacement of earliest Jurassic Central Atlantic magmatic province basalts on the North American margin |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/28/9/859/188925/New-evidence-for-geologically-instantaneous |journal=Geology |volume=28 |issue=9 |pages=859–862 |doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28<859:NEFGIE>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode=2000Geo....28..859H |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Verati |first1=Chrystèle |last2=Rapaille |first2=Cédric |last3=Féraud |first3=Gilbert |last4=Marzoli |first4=Andrea |last5=Bertrand |first5=Hervé |last6=Youbi |first6=Nasrrddine |date=9 February 2007 |title=40Ar/39Ar ages and duration of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province volcanism in Morocco and Portugal and its relation to the Triassic–Jurassic boundary |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018206004561 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=244 |issue=1–4 |pages=308–325 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.033 |bibcode=2007PPP...244..308V |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} and palaeomagnetism.{{cite journal |last1=Knight |first1=K. B. |last2=Nomade |first2=S. |last3=Renne |first3=Paul R. |last4=Marzoli |first4=Andrea |last5=Bertrand |first5=Hervé |last6=Youbi |first6=Nasrrddine |date=30 November 2004 |title=The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary: paleomagnetic and 40Ar/39Ar evidence from Morocco for brief, episodic volcanism |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X04005667 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=228 |issue=1–2 |pages=143–160 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2004.09.022 |bibcode=2004E&PSL.228..143K |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last1=Marzoli |first1=Andrea |last2=Bertrand |first2=Hervé |last3=Knight |first3=Kim B. |last4=Cirilli |first4=Simonetta |last5=Buratti |first5=Nicoletta |last6=Vérati |first6=Chrystèle |last7=Nomade |first7=Sébastien |last8=Renne |first8=Paul R. |last9=Youbi |first9=Nasrrddine |last10=Martini |first10=Rossana |last11=Allenbach |first11=Karin |last12=Neuwerth |first12=Ralph |last13=Rapaille |first13=Cédric |last14=Zaninetti |first14=Louisette |last15=Bellieni |first15=Giuliano |date=1 November 2004 |title=Synchrony of the Central Atlantic magmatic province and the Triassic-Jurassic boundary climatic and biotic crisis |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/32/11/973/103666/Synchrony-of-the-Central-Atlantic-magmatic |journal=Geology |language=en |volume=32 |issue=11 |pages=973 |doi=10.1130/G20652.1 |issn=0091-7613 |via=GeoScienceWorld|url-access=subscription }} The isotopic composition of fossil soils and marine sediments near the boundary between the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic has been tied to a large negative δ¹³C excursion,{{cite journal |last1=Hu |first1=Fangzhi |last2=Fu |first2=Xiugen |last3=Lin |first3=Li |last4=Song |first4=Chunyan |last5=Wang |first5=Zhongwei |last6=Tian |first6=Kangzhi |date=January 2020 |title=Marine Late Triassic-Jurassic carbon-isotope excursion and biological extinction records: New evidence from the Qiangtang Basin, eastern Tethys |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921818119305788 |journal=Global and Planetary Change |volume=185 |page=103093 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2019.103093 |bibcode=2020GPC...18503093H |s2cid=213355203 |access-date=7 November 2022|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Pálfy |first1=József |last2=Demény |first2=Attila |last3=Haas |first3=János |last4=Hetényi |first4=Magdolna |last5=Orchard |first5=Michael J. |last6=Veto |first6=István |date=1 November 2001 |title=Carbon isotope anomaly and other geochemical changes at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary from a marine section in Hungary |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/29/11/1047/197882/Carbon-isotope-anomaly-and-other-geochemical |journal=Geology |volume=29 |issue=11 |pages=1047–1050 |doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<1047:CIAAOG>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode=2001Geo....29.1047P |access-date=2 April 2023|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Hesselbo |first1=Stephen P. |last2=Korte |first2=Christophe |last3=Ullmann |first3=Clemens V. |last4=Ebbesen |first4=Anders L. |date=April 2020 |title=Carbon and oxygen isotope records from the southern Eurasian Seaway following the Triassic-Jurassic boundary: Parallel long-term enhanced carbon burial and seawater warming |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825219306592 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=203 |page=103131 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103131 |bibcode=2020ESRv..20303131H |hdl=10871/40906 |s2cid=213462318 |access-date=28 May 2023|hdl-access=free }} with values as low as -2.8%.{{Cite journal |last1=Al-Suwaidi |first1=Aisha H. |last2=Steuber |first2=Thomas |last3=Suarez |first3=Marina B. |date=7 July 2016 |title=The Triassic–Jurassic boundary event from an equatorial carbonate platform (Ghalilah Formation, United Arab Emirates) |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/jgs2015-102 |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |language=en |volume=173 |issue=6 |pages=949–953 |doi=10.1144/jgs2015-102 |issn=0016-7649 |via=Lyell Collection Geological Society Publications}} Carbon isotopes of hydrocarbons (n-alkanes) derived from leaf wax and lignin, and total organic carbon from two sections of lake sediments interbedded with the CAMP in eastern North America have shown carbon isotope excursions similar to those found in the mostly marine St. Audrie's Bay section, Somerset, England; the correlation suggests that the TJME began at the same time in marine and terrestrial environments, slightly before the oldest basalts in eastern North America but simultaneous with the eruption of the oldest flows in Morocco, with both a critical {{CO2}} greenhouse and a marine biocalcification crisis.{{cite journal |last1=Whiteside |first1=Jessica H. |last2=Olsen |first2=Paul E. |last3=Eglington |first3=Timothy |last4=Brookfield |first4=Michael E. |last5=Sambrotto |first5=Raymond N. |date=22 March 2010 |title=Compound-specific carbon isotopes from Earth's largest flood basalt eruptions directly linked to the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=107 |issue=15 |pages=6721–6725 |bibcode=2010PNAS..107.6721W |doi=10.1073/pnas.1001706107 |pmc=2872409 |pmid=20308590 |doi-access=free}} Furthermore, chemostratigraphic analysis in the Junggar Basin has shown that the negative δ¹³C excursions associated with CAMP volcanism corresponded in time to biotic turnovers in the palynomorph record, strongly suggesting a causal relationship between the two.{{Cite journal |last=Zhang |first=Xiaolin |date=14 February 2024 |title=Constraining the Triassic–Jurassic boundary carbon cycle perturbations using high-resolution δ 13 C org records from the Haojiagou section in northwestern China |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP538-2021-116 |journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |language=en |volume=538 |issue=1 |pages=97–113 |doi=10.1144/SP538-2021-116 |issn=0305-8719 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Lyell Collection Geological Society Publications|url-access=subscription }} Contemporaneous CAMP eruptions, mass extinction, and the carbon isotopic excursions are shown in the same places, making the case for a volcanic cause of a mass extinction.{{Cite journal |last1=Jeram |first1=Andrew J. |last2=Simms |first2=Michael J. |last3=Hesselbo |first3=Stephen P. |last4=Raine |first4=Robert |date=December 2021 |title=Carbon isotopes, ammonites and earthquakes: Key Triassic-Jurassic boundary events in the coastal sections of south-east County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016787821000948 |journal=Proceedings of the Geologists' Association |volume=132 |issue=6 |pages=702–725 |doi=10.1016/j.pgeola.2021.10.004 |bibcode=2021PrGA..132..702J |s2cid=244698669 |issn=0016-7878 |access-date=10 November 2023}}{{cite journal |last1=Hesselbo |first1=Stephen P. |last2=Robinson |first2=Stuart A. |last3=Surlyk |first3=Finn |last4=Piasecki |first4=Stefan |date=1 March 2002 |title=Terrestrial and marine extinction at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary synchronized with major carbon-cycle perturbation: A link to initiation of massive volcanism? |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/30/3/251/192348/Terrestrial-and-marine-extinction-at-the-Triassic |journal=Geology |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=251–254 |doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0251:TAMEAT>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode=2002Geo....30..251H |access-date=17 April 2023|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Lindström |first1=Sofie |last2=Van de Schootbrugge |first2=Bas |last3=Hansen |first3=Katrine H. |last4=Pedersen |first4=Gunver Krarup |last5=Alsen |first5=Peter |last6=Thibault |first6=Nicolas |last7=Dybkjær |first7=Karen |last8=Bjerrum |first8=Christian J. |last9=Nielsen |first9=Lars Henrik |date=15 July 2017 |title=A new correlation of Triassic–Jurassic boundary successions in NW Europe, Nevada and Peru, and the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province: A time-line for the end-Triassic mass extinction |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018216308926 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=478 |pages=80–102 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.12.025 |bibcode=2017PPP...478...80L |hdl=1874/351998 |s2cid=133353132 |access-date=27 August 2023|hdl-access=free }} The observed negative carbon isotope excursion is lower in some sites that correspond to what was then eastern Panthalassa because of the extreme aridity of western Pangaea limiting weathering and erosion there.{{cite journal |last1=Ruhl |first1=Micha |last2=Hesselbo |first2=Stephen P. |last3=Al-Suwaidi |first3=A. |last4=Jenkyns |first4=Hugh C. |last5=Damborenea |first5=S. E. |last6=Manceñido |first6=M. O. |last7=Storm |first7=M. |last8=Mather |first8=Tamsin A. |last9=Riccardi |first9=A. C. |date=September 2020 |title=On the onset of Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) volcanism and environmental and carbon-cycle change at the Triassic–Jurassic transition (Neuquén Basin, Argentina) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825220302750 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=208 |page=103229 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103229 |bibcode=2020ESRv..20803229R |hdl=10871/121712 |s2cid=219913748 |access-date=17 April 2023|hdl-access=free }} The negative δ¹³C excursion associated with CAMP volcanism lasted for approximately 20,000 to 40,000 years, or about one or two of Earth's axial precession cycles,{{cite journal |last1=Ruhl |first1=Micha |last2=Deenen |first2=M. H. L. |last3=Abels |first3=H. A. |last4=Bonis |first4=N. R. |last5=Krijgsman |first5=W. |last6=Kürschner |first6=W. M. |date=15 June 2010 |title=Astronomical constraints on the duration of the early Jurassic Hettangian stage and recovery rates following the end-Triassic mass extinction (St Audrie's Bay/East Quantoxhead, UK) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X10002426 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=295 |issue=1–2 |pages=262–276 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2010.04.008 |bibcode=2010E&PSL.295..262R |access-date=7 June 2023|url-access=subscription }} although the carbon cycle was so disrupted that it did not stabilise until the Sinemurian.{{cite journal |last1=Van de Schootbrugge |first1=Bas |last2=Payne |first2=Jonathan L. |last3=Tomasovych |first3=A. |last4=Pross |first4=J. |last5=Fiebig |first5=J. |last6=Benbrahim |first6=M. |last7=Föllmi |first7=Karl B. |last8=Quan |first8=T. M. |date=17 April 2008 |title=Carbon cycle perturbation and stabilization in the wake of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary mass-extinction event |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2007GC001914 |journal=Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=1–16 |doi=10.1029/2007GC001914 |bibcode=2008GGG.....9.4028V |s2cid=56000418 |access-date=7 June 2023|url-access=subscription }} Mercury anomalies from deposits in various parts of the world have further bolstered the volcanic cause hypothesis,{{cite journal |last1=Percival |first1=Lawrence M. E. |last2=Ruhl |first2=Micha |last3=Jenkyns |first3=Hugh C. |last4=Mather |first4=Tamsin A. |last5=Whiteside |first5=Jessica H. |date=19 June 2017 |title=Mercury evidence for pulsed volcanism during the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=114 |issue=30 |pages=7929–7934 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1705378114 |pmid=28630294 |pmc=5544315 |bibcode=2017PNAS..114.7929P |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Shen |first1=Jun |last2=Yin |first2=Runsheng |last3=Zhang |first3=Shuang |last4=Algeo |first4=Thomas J. |last5=Bottjer |first5=David J. |last6=Yu |first6=Jianxin |last7=Xu |first7=Guozhen |last8=Penman |first8=Donald |last9=Wang |first9=Yongdong |last10=Li |first10=Liqin |last11=Shi |first11=Xiao |last12=Planavsky |first12=Noah J. |last13=Feng |first13=Qinglai |last14=Xie |first14=Shucheng |date=13 January 2022 |title=Intensified continental chemical weathering and carbon-cycle perturbations linked to volcanism during the Triassic–Jurassic transition |journal=Nature Communications |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=299 |doi=10.1038/s41467-022-27965-x |pmid=35027546 |pmc=8758789 |bibcode=2022NatCo..13..299S |s2cid=256689306 }} as have anomalies from various platinum-group elements.{{cite journal |last1=Tegner |first1=Christian |last2=Marzoli |first2=Andrea |last3=McDonald |first3=Iain |last4=Youbi |first4=Nasrrddine |last5=Lindström |first5=Sofie |date=26 February 2020 |title=Platinum-group elements link the end-Triassic mass extinction and the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=3482 |bibcode=2020NatSR..10.3482T |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-60483-8 |pmc=7044291 |pmid=32103087}} Nickel enrichments are also observed at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary coevally with light carbon enrichments, providing yet more evidence of massive volcanism.{{cite thesis |last=Viðarsdóttir |first=Halla Margrét |date=2020 |title=Assessing the biodiversity crisis within the Triassic - Jurassic boundary interval using redox sensitive trace metals and stable carbon isotope geochemistry |url=https://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=9026651&fileOId=9026652 |type=MSc |chapter=6 |publisher=Lund University |access-date=27 August 2023}}

Some scientists initially rejected the volcanic eruption theory because the Newark Supergroup, a section of rock in eastern North America that records the Triassic–Jurassic boundary, contains no ash-fall horizons and because its oldest basalt flows were estimated to lie around 10 m above the transition zone,{{Cite journal |last1=Fowell |first1=Sarah J. |last2=Olsen |first2=Paul E. |date=May 1995 |title=Time calibration of Triassic/Jurassic microfloral turnover, eastern North America—Reply |journal=Tectonophysics |volume=245 |issue=1–2 |pages=96–99 |bibcode=1995Tectp.245...96F |citeseerx=10.1.1.383.7663 |doi=10.1016/0040-1951(94)00256-9 |issn=0040-1951}} which they estimated to have occurred 610 kyr after the TJME.{{Cite journal |last1=Whiteside |first1=Jessica H. |last2=Olsen |first2=Paul E. |last3=Kent |first3=Dennis V. |last4=Fowell |first4=Sarah J. |last5=Et-Touhami |first5=Mohammed |date=9 February 2007 |title=Synchrony between the Central Atlantic magmatic province and the Triassic–Jurassic mass-extinction event? |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018206004585 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=244 |issue=1–4 |pages=345–367 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.035 |access-date=31 October 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}} Also among their objections was that the Triassic-Jurassic boundary was poorly defined and the CAMP eruptions poorly constrained temporally.{{Cite journal |last1=Nomade |first1=S. |last2=Knight |first2=K. B. |last3=Beutel |first3=E. |last4=Renne |first4=P. R. |last5=Verati |first5=C. |last6=Féraud |first6=G. |last7=Marzoli |first7=A. |last8=Youbi |first8=N. |last9=Bertrand |first9=H. |date=9 February 2007 |title=Chronology of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province: Implications for the Central Atlantic rifting processes and the Triassic–Jurassic biotic crisis |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018206004573 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=244 |issue=1–4 |pages=326–344 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.034 |access-date=31 October 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} However, updated dating protocol and wider sampling has confirmed that the CAMP eruptions started in Morocco only a few thousand years before the extinction, preceding their onset in Nova Scotia and New Jersey,{{cite journal |last1=Panfili |first1=Giulia |last2=Cirilli |first2=Simonetta |last3=Dal Corso |first3=Jacopo |last4=Bertrand |first4=Hervé |last5=Medina |first5=Fida |last6=Youbi |first6=Nasrrdine |last7=Marzoli |first7=Andrea |date=January 2019 |title=New biostratigraphic constraints show rapid emplacement of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) during the end-Triassic mass extinction interval |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921818118303199 |journal=Global and Planetary Change |volume=172 |pages=60–68 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.09.009 |bibcode=2019GPC...172...60P |s2cid=135154965 |access-date=29 July 2023|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Yager |first1=Joyce A. |last2=West |first2=A. Joshua |last3=Corsetti |first3=Frank A. |last4=Berelson |first4=William M. |last5=Rollins |first5=Nick E. |last6=Rosas |first6=Silvia |last7=Bottjer |first7=David M. |date=1 September 2017 |title=Duration of and decoupling between carbon isotope excursions during the end-Triassic mass extinction and Central Atlantic Magmatic Province emplacement |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=473 |pages=227–236 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2017.05.031 |bibcode=2017E&PSL.473..227Y |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Cirilli |first1=Simonetta |last2=Marzoli |first2=A. |last3=Tanner |first3=L. |last4=Bertrand |first4=Hervé |last5=Buratti |first5=N. |last6=Jourdan |first6=F. |last7=Bellieni |first7=G. |last8=Kontak |first8=D. |last9=Renne |first9=P. R. |date=15 September 2009 |title=Latest Triassic onset of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) volcanism in the Fundy Basin (Nova Scotia): New stratigraphic constraints |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X09004324 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=286 |issue=3–4 |pages=514–525 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2009.07.021 |bibcode=2009E&PSL.286..514C |hdl=20.500.11937/17126 |access-date=29 July 2023|hdl-access=free }} and that they continued in several more pulses for the next 600,000 years. Volcanic global warming has also been criticised as an explanation because some estimates have found that the amount of carbon dioxide emitted was only around 250 ppm, not enough to generate a mass extinction.{{cite journal |first=L. H. |last=Tanner |title=Stability of atmospheric CO₂ levels across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary |journal=Nature |volume=411 |date=7 June 2001 |pages=675–677 |doi=10.1038/35079548 |pmid=11395765 |issue=6838 |author2=J. F. Hubert |author3=B. P. Coffey |display-authors=2 |last4=McInerney |first4=Dennis P. |s2cid=4418003}} In addition, at some sites, changes in carbon isotope ratios have been attributed to diagenesis and not any primary environmental changes.{{cite journal |last1=Morante |first1=R. |last2=Hallam |first2=Anthony |date=1 May 1996 |title=Organic carbon isotopic record across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in Austria and its bearing on the cause of the mass extinction |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/24/5/391/198779/Organic-carbon-isotopic-record-across-the-Triassic |journal=Geology |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=391–394 |doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1996)024<0391:OCIRAT>2.3.CO;2 |bibcode=1996Geo....24..391M |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }}

The flood basalts of the CAMP released gigantic quantities of carbon dioxide,{{cite journal |last1=Green |first1=Theodore |last2=Renne |first2=Paul R. |last3=Keller |first3=C. Brenhin |date=12 September 2022 |title=Continental flood basalts drive Phanerozoic extinctions |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=119 |issue=38 |pages=e2120441119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2120441119 |doi-access=free |pmid=36095185 |pmc=9499591 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11920441G }} a potent greenhouse gas causing intense global warming.{{cite journal |last1=Capriolo |first1=Manfredo |last2=Mills |first2=Benjamin J. W. |last3=Newton |first3=Robert J. |last4=Corso |first4=Jacobo Dal |last5=Dunhill |first5=Alexander M. |last6=Wignall |first6=Paul B. |last7=Marzoli |first7=Andrea |date=February 2022 |title=Anthropogenic-scale CO2 degassing from the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province as a driver of the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Global and Planetary Change |volume=209 |page=103731 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103731 |bibcode=2022GPC...20903731C |s2cid=245530815 |doi-access=free |hdl=10852/91551 |hdl-access=free }} Before the TJME, carbon dioxide levels were around 1,000 ppm as measured by the stomatal index of Lepidopteris ottonis, but this quantity jumped to 1,300 ppm at the onset of the extinction event.{{cite journal |last1=Slodownik |first1=Miriam |last2=Vajda |first2=Vivi |last3=Steinthorsdottir |first3=Margret |date=15 February 2021 |title=Fossil seed fern Lepidopteris ottonis from Sweden records increasing CO2 concentration during the end-Triassic extinction event |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=564 |page=110157 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.110157 |bibcode=2021PPP...56410157S |s2cid=230527791 |doi-access=free }} During the TJME, carbon dioxide concentrations increased fourfold.{{cite journal |last1=Huynh |first1=Tran T. |last2=Poulsen |first2=Christopher J. |date=25 February 2005 |title=Rising atmospheric CO2 as a possible trigger for the end-Triassic mass extinction |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018204006285 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=217 |issue=3–4 |pages=223–242 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2004.12.004 |bibcode=2005PPP...217..223H |access-date=30 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} The record of CAMP degassing shows several distinct pulses of carbon dioxide immediately following each major pulse of magmatism, at least two of which amount to a doubling of atmospheric CO₂.{{Cite journal |last1=Schaller |first1=Morgan F. |last2=Wright |first2=James D. |last3=Kent |first3=Dennis V. |date=18 March 2011 |title=Atmospheric Pco2 Perturbations Associated with the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province |journal=Science |volume=331 |issue=6023 |pages=1404–1409 |doi=10.1126/science.1199011 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=21330490 |bibcode=2011Sci...331.1404S |s2cid=206530492}} Carbon dioxide was emitted quickly and in enormous quantities compared to other periods of Earth's history, rate of carbon dioxide emissions was one of the most meteoric rises in carbon dioxide levels in Earth's entire history.{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Qiang |last2=Jourdan |first2=Fred |last3=Olierook |first3=Hugo K. H. |last4=Merle |first4=Renaud E. |last5=Bourdet |first5=Julien |last6=Fougerouse |first6=Denis |last7=Godel |first7=Belinda |last8=Walker |first8=Alex T. |date=25 July 2022 |title=Volume and rate of volcanic CO2 emissions governed the severity of past environmental crises |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=119 |issue=31 |pages=e2202039119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2202039119 |doi-access=free |pmid=35878029 |pmc=9351498 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11902039J |s2cid=251067948 }} It is estimated that a single volcanic pulse from the large igneous province would have emitted an amount of carbon dioxide roughly equivalent to projected anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions for the 21st century.{{cite journal |last1=Capriolo |first1=Manfredo |last2=Marzoli |first2=Andrea |last3=Aradi |first3=László E. |last4=Callegaro |first4=Sara |last5=Corso |first5=Jacopo Dal |last6=Newton |first6=Robert J. |last7=Mills |first7=Benjamin J. W. |last8=Wignall |first8=Paul B. |last9=Bartoli |first9=Omar |last10=Baker |first10=Don R. |last11=Youbi |first11=Nasrrddine |last12=Remusat |first12=Laurent |last13=Spiess |first13=Richard |last14=Szabó |first14=Csaba |date=7 April 2020 |title=Deep CO2 in the end-Triassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Province |journal=Nature Communications |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=1670 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-15325-6 |pmid=32265448 |pmc=7138847 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.1670C |s2cid=215404768 }} In addition, the flood basalts intruded through sediments that were rich in organic matter and combusted it,{{Cite journal |last=Hua |first=Xia |last2=Yin |first2=Runsheng |last3=Kemp |first3=David B. |last4=Huang |first4=Chunju |last5=Shen |first5=Jun |last6=Jin |first6=Xin |date=15 December 2023 |title=Mercury isotope constraints on the timing and pattern of magmatism during the end-Triassic mass extinction |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X2300451X |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |language=en |volume=624 |pages=118438 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118438 |access-date=18 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last1=Lindström |first1=Sofie |last2=Callegaro |first2=Sara |last3=Davies |first3=Joshua |last4=Tegner |first4=Christian |last5=van de Schootbrugge |first5=Bas |last6=Pedersen |first6=Gunver K. |last7=Youbi |first7=Nasrrddine |last8=Sanei |first8=Hamed |last9=Marzoli |first9=Andrea |date=1 January 2021 |title=Tracing volcanic emissions from the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province in the sedimentary record |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825220304906 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=212 |pages=103444 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103444 |bibcode=2021ESRv..21203444L |issn=0012-8252 |access-date=12 January 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|hdl=10852/81753 |hdl-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Van de Schootbrugge |first1=Bas |last2=Quan |first2=T. M. |last3=Lindström |first3=S. |last4=Püttmann |first4=W. |last5=Heunisch |first5=C. |last6=Pross |first6=J. |last7=Fiebig |first7=J. |last8=Petschik |first8=R. |last9=Röhling |first9=H.-G. |last10=Richoz |first10=S. |last11=Rosenthal |first11=Y. |last12=Falkowski |first12=P. G. |date=13 July 2009 |title=Floral changes across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary linked to flood basalt volcanism |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo577 |journal=Nature Geoscience |volume=2 |issue=8 |pages=589–594 |doi=10.1038/ngeo577 |bibcode=2009NatGe...2..589V |access-date=17 April 2023|url-access=subscription }} as evidenced by low Δ¹⁹⁹Hg values showing elevated levels of organic matter-derived mercury in the environment.{{cite journal |last1=Shen |first1=Jun |last2=Yin |first2=Runsheng |last3=Algeo |first3=Thomas J. |last4=Svensen |first4=Henrik Hovland |last5=Schoepfer |first5=Shane D. |date=9 March 2022 |title=Mercury evidence for combustion of organic-rich sediments during the end-Triassic crisis |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359108712 |journal=Nature Communications |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=1307 |bibcode=2022NatCo..13.1307S |doi=10.1038/s41467-022-28891-8 |pmc=8907283 |pmid=35264554 |access-date=29 March 2023}} The degassing of volatiles resulting from volcanic intrusions into organic-rich sediments further enhanced the volcanic warming of the climate.{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=J. H. F. L. |last2=Marzoli |first2=Andrea |last3=Bertrand |first3=H. |last4=Youbi |first4=Nasrrddine |last5=Ernesto |first5=M. |last6=Schaltegger |first6=U. |date=31 May 2017 |title=End-Triassic mass extinction started by intrusive CAMP activity |journal=Nature Communications |volume=8 |page=15596 |doi=10.1038/ncomms15596 |pmid=28561025 |pmc=5460029 |bibcode=2017NatCo...815596D |s2cid=13323882 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Capriolo |first1=Manfredo |last2=Marzoli |first2=Andrea |last3=Aradi |first3=László E. |last4=Ackerson |first4=Michael R. |last5=Bartoli |first5=Omar |last6=Callegaro |first6=Sara |last7=Dal Corso |first7=Jacopo |last8=Ernesto |first8=Marcia |last9=Gouvêa Vasconcellos |first9=Eleonora M. |last10=De Min |first10=Angelo |last11=Newton |first11=Robert J. |last12=Szabó |first12=Csaba |date=20 September 2021 |title=Massive methane fluxing from magma–sediment interaction in the end-Triassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Province |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=5534 |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-25510-w |pmid=34545073 |pmc=8452664 |bibcode=2021NatCo..12.5534C |issn=2041-1723 |hdl=11368/2996003 |hdl-access=free }} Thermogenic carbon release through such contact metamorphism of carbon-rich deposits has been found to be a sensible hypothesis providing a coherent explanation for the magnitude of the negative carbon isotope excursions at the terminus of the Triassic.{{cite journal |last1=Heimdal |first1=Thea H. |last2=Jones |first2=Morgan T. |last3=Svensen |first3=Henrik H. |date=18 May 2022 |title=Thermogenic carbon release from the Central Atlantic magmatic province caused major end-Triassic carbon cycle perturbations |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=117 |issue=22 |pages=11968–11974 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2000095117 |doi-access=free |pmid=32424084 |pmc=7275695 }} Global temperatures rose sharply by 3 to 4 °C.{{cite journal |last1=McElwain |first1=J. C. |last2=Beerling |first2=D. J. |last3=Woodward |first3=F. I. |date=27 August 1999 |title=Fossil Plants and Global Warming at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.285.5432.1386 |journal=Science |volume=285 |issue=5432 |pages=1386–1390 |doi=10.1126/science.285.5432.1386 |pmid=10464094 |access-date=15 November 2022|url-access=subscription }} In some regions, the temperature rise was as great as 10 °C.{{Cite journal |last1=Korte |first1=Christoph |last2=Hesselbo |first2=Stephen P. |last3=Jenkyns |first3=Hugh C. |last4=Rickaby |first4=Rosalind E. M. |last5=Spötl |first5=Christoph |date=May 2009 |title=Palaeoenvironmental significance of carbon- and oxygen-isotope stratigraphy of marine Triassic–Jurassic boundary sections in SW Britain |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249547523 |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |language=en |volume=166 |issue=3 |pages=431–445 |doi=10.1144/0016-76492007-177 |bibcode=2009JGSoc.166..431K |s2cid=128814622 |issn=0016-7649 |access-date=31 October 2023}} Kaolinite-dominated clay mineral spectra reflect the extremely hot and humid greenhouse conditions engendered by the CAMP.{{Cite journal |last1=Pálfy |first1=József |last2=Zajzon |first2=Norbert |date=15 June 2012 |title=Environmental changes across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary and coeval volcanism inferred from elemental geochemistry and mineralogy in the Kendlbachgraben section (Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria) |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0012821X12002075 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |language=en |volume=335-336 |pages=121–134 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2012.01.039 |access-date=19 June 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}} Soil erosion occurred as the hydrological cycle was accelerated by the extreme global heat.{{Cite journal |last1=van de Schootbrugge |first1=Bas |last2=Koutsodendris |first2=Andreas |last3=Taylor |first3=Wilson |last4=Weston |first4=Fabian |last5=Wellman |first5=Charles |last6=Strother |first6=Paul K. |date=March 2024 |title=Recognition of an extended record of euglenoid cysts: Implications for the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |language=en |volume=322 |pages=105043 |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2023.105043 |doi-access=free }}

The catastrophic dissociation of gas hydrates as a positive feedback resulting from warming, which has been suggested as one possible cause of the PTME, the largest mass extinction of all time,{{cite journal |last1 = Benton |first1= Michael James | last2=Twitchett |first2=Richard J. | year = 2003 |title=How to kill (almost) all life: The end-Permian extinction event | journal = Trends in Ecology & Evolution |volume = 18 | issue = 7 | pages = 358–365 |doi = 10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00093-4 |s2cid= 42114053 }} may have exacerbated greenhouse conditions,{{cite journal |last1=Ruhl |first1=Micha |last2=Bonis |first2=Nina R. |last3=Reichart |first3=Gert-Jan |last4=Sinninghe Damsté |first4=Jaap S. |last5=Kürschner |first5=Wolfram M. |date=22 July 2011 |title=Atmospheric Carbon Injection Linked to End-Triassic Mass Extinction |url=https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1204255 |journal=Science |volume=333 |issue=6041 |pages=430–434 |doi=10.1126/science.1204255 |pmid=21778394 |bibcode=2011Sci...333..430R |s2cid=13537776 |access-date=9 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Galli |first1=Maria Teresa |last2=Jadoul |first2=Flavio |last3=Bernasconi |first3=Stefano M. |last4=Weissert |first4=Helmut |date=1 February 2005 |title=Anomalies in global carbon cycling and extinction at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary: evidence from a marine C-isotope record |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018204005644 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=216 |issue=3–4 |pages=203–214 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2004.11.009 |bibcode=2005PPP...216..203G |access-date=9 December 2022|url-access=subscription }} although others suggest that methane hydrate release was temporally mismatched with the TJME and thus not a cause of it.{{cite journal |last1=Van de Schootbrugge |first1=Bas |last2=Bachan |first2=Aviv |last3=Suan |first3=Guillaume |last4=Richoz |first4=Sylvain |last5=Payne |first5=Jonathan L. |date=19 March 2013 |title=Microbes, mud and methane: cause and consequence of recurrent Early Jurassic anoxia following the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Palaeontology |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=685–709 |doi=10.1111/pala.12034 |bibcode=2013Palgy..56..685V |s2cid=76651746 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Lindström |first1=Sofie |last2=Van de Schootbrugge |first2=Bas |last3=Dybkjær |first3=Karen |last4=Pedersen |first4=Gunver Krarup |last5=Fiebig |first5=Jens |last6=Nielsen |first6=Lars Henrik |last7=Richoz |first7=Sylvain |date=1 June 2012 |title=No causal link between terrestrial ecosystem change and methane release during the end-Triassic mass extinction |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/40/6/531/130915/No-causal-link-between-terrestrial-ecosystem?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Geology |volume=40 |issue=6 |pages=531–534 |doi=10.1130/G32928.1 |bibcode=2012Geo....40..531L |access-date=27 August 2023|url-access=subscription }}

Besides the carbon dioxide-driven long-term global warming, CAMP volcanism had shorter term cooling effects resulting from the emission of sulphur dioxide aerosols.{{cite journal |last1=Landwehrs |first1=Jan Philip |last2=Feulner |first2=Georg |last3=Hofmann |first3=Matthias |last4=Petri |first4=Stefan |date=1 May 2020 |title=Climatic fluctuations modeled for carbon and sulfur emissions from end-Triassic volcanism |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X20301175 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=537 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116174 |bibcode=2020E&PSL.53716174L |s2cid=212982254 |access-date=29 July 2023|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Kaiho |first1=Kunio |last2=Tanaka |first2=Daisuke |last3=Richoz |first3=Sylvain |last4=Jones |first4=David S. |last5=Saito |first5=Ryosuke |last6=Kameyama |first6=Daichi |last7=Ikeda |first7=Masayuki |last8=Takahashi |first8=Satoshi |last9=Aftabuzzaman |first9=Md. |last10=Fujibayashi |first10=Megumu |date=1 February 2022 |title=Volcanic temperature changes modulated volatile release and climate fluctuations at the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=579 |page=117364 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117364 |bibcode=2022E&PSL.57917364K |s2cid=245922701 |doi-access=free }} The extremely voluminous emission of this gas caused sharp drops in Earth's albedo and induced severe volcanic winters.{{Cite journal |last=Kent |first=Dennis V. |last2=Olsen |first2=Paul E. |last3=Wang |first3=Huapei |last4=Schaller |first4=Morgan F. |last5=Et-Touhami |first5=Mohammed |date=12 November 2024 |title=Correlation of sub-centennial-scale pulses of initial Central Atlantic Magmatic Province lavas and the end-Triassic extinctions |url=https://pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2415486121 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=121 |issue=46 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2415486121 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=11573653 |pmid=39467154 |access-date=18 February 2025}} High latitudes had colder climates with evidence of mild glaciation during the extinction interval. Cold periods induced by volcanic ejecta clouding the atmosphere might have favoured endothermic animals, with dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and mammals being more capable at enduring these conditions than large pseudosuchians due to insulation.{{cite journal |last1=Olsen |first1=Paul |last2=Sha |first2=Jingeng |last3=Fang |first3=Yanan |last4=Chang |first4=Clara |last5=Whiteside |first5=Jessica H. |last6=Kinney |first6=Sean |last7=Sues |first7=Hans-Dieter |last8=Kent |first8=Dennis |last9=Schaller |first9=Morgan |last10=Vajda |first10=Vivi |title=Arctic ice and the ecological rise of the dinosaurs |journal=Science Advances |date=July 2022 |volume=8 |issue=26 |pages=eabo6342 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abo6342|pmid=35776799 |bibcode=2022SciA....8O6342O |s2cid=250218588 |doi-access=free |pmc=10883366 }}

CAMP volcanism released enormous amounts of toxic mercury.{{Cite journal |last1=Thibodeau |first1=Alyson M. |last2=Ritterbush |first2=Kathleen |last3=Yager |first3=Joyce A. |last4=West |first4=A. Joshua |last5=Ibarra |first5=Yadira |last6=Bottjer |first6=David J. |last7=Berelson |first7=William M. |last8=Bergquist |first8=Bridget A. |last9=Corsetti |first9=Frank A. |date=6 April 2016 |title=Mercury anomalies and the timing of biotic recovery following the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=11147 |doi=10.1038/ncomms11147 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=4823824 |pmid=27048776 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Yager |first1=Joyce A. |last2=West |first2=A. Joshua |last3=Thibodeau |first3=Alyson M. |last4=Corsetti |first4=Frank A. |last5=Rigo |first5=Manuel |last6=Berelson |first6=William M. |last7=Bottjer |first7=David J. |last8=Greene |first8=Sarah E. |last9=Ibarra |first9=Yadira |last10=Jadoul |first10=Flavio |last11=Ritterbush |first11=Kathleen A. |last12=Rollins |first12=Nick |last13=Rosas |first13=Silvia |last14=Di Stefano |first14=Pietro |last15=Sulca |first15=Debbie |last16=Todaro |first16=Simona |last17=Wynn |first17=Peter |last18=Zimmermann |first18=Laura |last19=Bergquist |first19=Bridget A. |date=December 2021 |title=Mercury contents and isotope ratios from diverse depositional environments across the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary: Towards a more robust mercury proxy for large igneous province magmatism |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0012825221002762 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |language=en |volume=223 |pages=103775 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103775 |hdl=10447/518179 |access-date=19 June 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|hdl-access=free }} The appearance of high rates of mutaganesis of varying severity in fossil spores during the TJME coincides with mercury anomalies and is thus believed by researchers to have been caused by mercury poisoning.{{cite journal |last1=Lindström |first1=Sofie |last2=Sanei |first2=Haver |last3=Van de Schootbrugge |first3=Bas |last4=Pedersen |first4=Gunver Krarup |last5=Lesher |first5=Charles E. |last6=Tegner |first6=Christian |last7=Heunisch |first7=Carmen |last8=Dybkjaer |first8=Karen |last9=Outridge |first9=Peter M. |date=23 October 2019 |title=Volcanic mercury and mutagenesis in land plants during the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Science Advances |volume=5 |issue=10 |pages=eaaw4018 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aaw4018 |pmid=31681836 |pmc=6810405 |bibcode=2019SciA....5.4018L }} δ²⁰²Hg and Δ¹⁹⁹Hg evidence suggests that volcanism caused the mercury loading directly at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, but that there were later bouts of elevated mercury in the environment during the Early Jurassic caused by eccentricity-forced enhancement of hydrological cycling and erosion that resulted in remobilisation of volcanically injected mercury that had been deposited in wetlands.{{Cite journal |last1=Bos |first1=Remco |last2=Zheng |first2=Wang |last3=Lindström |first3=Sofie |last4=Sanei |first4=Hamed |last5=Waajen |first5=Irene |last6=Fendley |first6=Isabel M. |last7=Mather |first7=Tamsin A. |last8=Wang |first8=Yang |last9=Rohovec |first9=Jan |last10=Navrátil |first10=Tomáš |last11=Sluijs |first11=Appy |last12=van de Schootbrugge |first12=Bas |date=27 April 2024 |title=Climate-forced Hg-remobilization associated with fern mutagenesis in the aftermath of the end-Triassic extinction |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=3596 |doi=10.1038/s41467-024-47922-0 |pmid=38678037 |pmc=11519498 |issn=2041-1723 }}

The intense, rapid warming is believed to have resulted in increased storminess and lightning activity as a consequence of the more humid climate. The uptick in lightning activity is in turn implicated as a cause of an increase in wildfire activity.{{cite journal |last1=Petersen |first1=Henrik I. |last2=Lindström |first2=Sofie |date=15 October 2012 |title=Synchronous Wildfire Activity Rise and Mire Deforestation at the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=7 |issue=10 |pages=e47236 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0047236 |pmid=23077574 |pmc=3471965 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...747236P |doi-access=free }} The combined presence of charcoal fragments and heightened levels of pyrolytic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Polish sedimentary facies straddling the Triassic-Jurassic boundary indicates wildfires were extremely commonplace during the earliest Jurassic, immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic transition.{{cite journal |last1=Marynowski |first1=Leszek |last2=Simoneit |first2=Bernd R. T. |title=Widespread Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic Wildfire Records from Poland: Evidence from Charcoal and Pyrolytic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons |date=1 December 2009 |url=https://bioone.org/journals/palaios/volume-24/issue-12/palo.2009.p09-044r/WIDESPREAD-UPPER-TRIASSIC-TO-LOWER-JURASSIC-WILDFIRE-RECORDS-FROM-POLAND/10.2110/palo.2009.p09-044r.short |journal=PALAIOS |volume=24 |issue=12 |pages=785–798 |doi=10.2110/palo.2009.p09-044r |bibcode=2009Palai..24..785M |s2cid=131470890 |access-date=29 March 2023|url-access=subscription }} Elevated wildfire activity is also known from the Junggar Basin.{{Cite journal |last1=Fang |first1=Yanan |last2=Fang |first2=Linhao |last3=Deng |first3=Shenghui |last4=Lu |first4=Yuanzheng |last5=Wang |first5=Bo |last6=Zhao |first6=Xiangdong |last7=Wang |first7=Yizhe |last8=Zhang |first8=Haichun |last9=Zhang |first9=Xinzhi |last10=Sha |first10=Jingeng |date=1 September 2021 |title=Carbon isotope stratigraphy across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in the high-latitude terrestrial Junggar Basin, NW China |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018221003448 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=577 |pages=110559 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110559 |bibcode=2021PPP...57710559F |issn=0031-0182 |access-date=12 January 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} In the Jiyuan Basin, two distinct pulses of drastically elevated wildfire activity are known: the first mainly affected canopies and occurred amidst relatively humid conditions while the second predominantly affected ground cover and was associated with aridity.{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Peixin |last2=Yang |first2=Minfang |last3=Lu |first3=Jing |last4=Jiang |first4=Zhongfeng |last5=Zhou |first5=Kai |last6=Xu |first6=Xiaotao |last7=Wang |first7=Lei |last8=Wu |first8=Li |last9=Zhang |first9=Yuchan |last10=Chen |first10=Huijuan |last11=Zhu |first11=Xuran |last12=Guo |first12=Yanghang |last13=Ye |first13=Huajun |last14=Shao |first14=Longyi |last15=Hilton |first15=Jason |date=26 January 2024 |title=Different wildfire types promoted two-step terrestrial plant community change across the Triassic-Jurassic transition |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=12 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2024.1329533 |doi-access=free |issn=2296-701X }} At the Winterswijk quarry in the Netherlands, a surge in wildfire activity has been suggested to correspond to and have caused the sudden decline in coniferous vegetation.{{Cite journal |last=Bos |first=Remco |last2=van Zonneveld |first2=Roel-Jan |last3=Reumer |first3=Jelle W.F. |last4=Vis |first4=Geert-Jan |last5=Janssen |first5=Nico |last6=Everwijn |first6=Teun |last7=Sluijs |first7=Appy |last8=van de Schootbrugge |first8=Bas |date=22 November 2024 |title=A high-resolution palynological and geochemical study of the end-Triassic mass-extinction based on a new cored succession at Winterswijk (the Netherlands) |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/geological-magazine/article/highresolution-palynological-and-geochemical-study-of-the-endtriassic-massextinction-based-on-a-new-cored-succession-at-winterswijk-the-netherlands/FBE4D0B40A5F3B6DCB7EE2937B0DA9FE |journal=Geological Magazine |language=en |volume=161 |doi=10.1017/S0016756824000323 |issn=0016-7568 |access-date=18 February 2025 |via=Cambridge Core|url-access=subscription }} Frequent wildfires, combined with increased seismic activity from CAMP emplacement, led to apocalyptic soil degradation.{{cite journal |last1=Van de Schootbrugge |first1=Bas |last2=Van der Weijst |first2=C. M. H. |last3=Hollaar |first3=T. P. |last4=Vecoli |first4=M. |last5=Strother |first5=P. K. |last6=Kuhlmann |first6=N. |last7=Thein |first7=J. |last8=Visscher |first8=Henk |last9=Van Konijnenburg-van Cittert |first9=H. |last10=Schobben |first10=M. A. N. |last11=Sluijs |first11=Appy |last12=Lindström |first12=Sofie |date=November 2020 |title=Catastrophic soil loss associated with end-Triassic deforestation |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=210 |page=103332 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103332 |bibcode=2020ESRv..21003332V |s2cid=225203547 |doi-access=free }}

Anoxia was another mechanism of extinction; the end-Triassic extinction was coeval with an uptick in black shale deposition and a pronounced negative δ²³⁸U excursion, indicating a major decrease in marine oxygen availability. Additional evidence for anoxia during the TJME comes from pyrite framboids, which grow in anoxic conditions.{{Cite journal |last=Hu |first=Fangzhi |last2=Fu |first2=Xiugen |last3=Wang |first3=Jian |last4=Wei |first4=Hengye |last5=Nie |first5=Ying |last6=Zhang |first6=Jian |last7=Tian |first7=Kangzhi |date=2 October 2023 |title=Biological extinction and photic-zone anoxia across the Triassic–Jurassic transition: insights from the Qiangtang Basin, eastern Tethys |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/jgs2022-108 |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |language=en |volume=180 |issue=5 |doi=10.1144/jgs2022-108 |issn=0016-7649 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Lyell Collection Geological Society Publications|url-access=subscription }} Evidence of anoxia has been discovered at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary across the world's oceans; the western Tethys, eastern Tethys, and Panthalassa were all affected by a precipitous drop in seawater oxygen,{{cite journal |last1=Tang |first1=Wei |last2=Wang |first2=Jian |last3=Wei |first3=Hengye |last4=Fu |first4=Xiugen |last5=Ke |first5=Puyang |date=1 August 2023 |title=Sulfur isotopic evidence for global marine anoxia and low seawater sulfate concentration during the Late Triassic |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1367912023001207 |journal=Journal of Asian Earth Sciences |volume=251 |page=105659 |doi=10.1016/j.jseaes.2023.105659 |bibcode=2023JAESc.25105659T |s2cid=258091074 |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} although at a few sites, the TJME was associated with fully oxygenated waters.{{cite journal |last1=Wignall |first1=Paul B. |last2=Bond |first2=David P. G. |last3=Kuwahara |first3=Kiyoko |last4=Kakuwa |first4=Yoshitaka |last5=Newton |first5=Robert J. |last6=Poulton |first6=Simon W. |date=March 2010 |title=An 80 million year oceanic redox history from Permian to Jurassic pelagic sediments of the Mino-Tamba terrane, SW Japan, and the origin of four mass extinctions |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921818110000287 |journal=Global and Planetary Change |volume=71 |issue=1–2 |pages=109–123 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2010.01.022 |bibcode=2010GPC....71..109W |access-date=7 June 2023|url-access=subscription }} Positive δ¹⁵N excursions have also been interpreted as evidence of anoxia concomitant with increased denitrification in marine sediments in the TJME's aftermath.{{cite journal |last1=Quan |first1=Tracy M. |last2=Van de Schootbrugge |first2=Bas |last3=Field |first3=M. Paul |last4=Rosenthal |first4=Yair |last5=Falkowski |first5=Paul G. |date=10 May 2008 |title=Nitrogen isotope and trace metal analyses from the Mingolsheim core (Germany): Evidence for redox variations across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary |journal=Global Biogeochemical Cycles |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=1–14 |bibcode=2008GBioC..22.2014Q |doi=10.1029/2007GB002981 |s2cid=56002825 |doi-access=free }}

In northeastern Panthalassa, episodes of anoxia were already occurring during the Rhaetian before the TJME, making its marine ecosystems unstable even before the main crisis began.{{cite journal |last1=Larina |first1=Ekaterina |last2=Bottjer |first2=David P. |last3=Corsetti |first3=Frank A. |last4=Zonneveld |first4=John-Paul |last5=Celestian |first5=Aaron J. |last6=Bailey |first6=Jake V. |date=11 December 2019 |title=Uppermost Triassic phosphorites from Williston Lake, Canada: link to fluctuating euxinic-anoxic conditions in northeastern Panthalassa before the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=18790 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-55162-2 |pmid=31827166 |pmc=6906467 |bibcode=2019NatSR...918790L }}{{Cite journal |last1=Clement |first1=Annaka M. |last2=Tackett |first2=Lydia S. |last3=Marolt |first3=Samuel |date=15 March 2024 |title=Biosediment assemblages reveal disrupted silica cycling and redox conditions throughout the Rhaetian Stage: Evidence for a precursor event to the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=638 |pages=112034 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112034 |doi-access=free }} This early phase of environmental degradation in eastern Panthalassa may have been caused by an early phase of CAMP activity.{{cite journal |last1=Larina |first1=Ekaterina |last2=Bottjer |first2=David P. |last3=Corsetti |first3=Frank A. |last4=Thibodeau |first4=Alyson M. |last5=Berelson |first5=William M. |last6=West |first6=A. Joshua |last7=Yager |first7=Joyce A. |date=15 December 2021 |title=Ecosystem change and carbon cycle perturbation preceded the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=576 |page=117180 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117180 |bibcode=2021E&PSL.57617180L |s2cid=244179806 |doi-access=free }} Anoxic, reducing conditions were likewise present in western Panthalassa off the coast of what is now Japan for about a million years prior to the TJME.{{Cite journal |last1=Schoepfer |first1=Shane D. |last2=Shen |first2=Jun |last3=Sano |first3=Hiroyoshi |last4=Algeo |first4=Thomas J. |date=January 2022 |title=Onset of environmental disturbances in the Panthalassic Ocean over one million years prior to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary mass extinction |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0012825221003718 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |language=en |volume=224 |pages=103870 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103870 |bibcode=2022ESRv..22403870S |s2cid=244473296 |access-date=22 November 2023|url-access=subscription }} During the TJME, the rapid warming led to the stagnation of ocean circulation in many ocean regions, enabling the development of catastrophic anoxia; in what is now northwestern Europe, shallow seas became salinity stratified, enabling easy development of anoxia.{{cite journal |last1=Van de Schootbrugge |first1=Bas |last2=Tremolada |first2=F. |last3=Rosenthal |first3=Y. |last4=Bailey |first4=T. R. |last5=Feist-Burkhardt |first5=S. |last6=Brinkhuis |first6=Henk |last7=Pross |first7=J. |last8=Kent |first8=D. V. |last9=Falkowski |first9=P. G. |date=9 February 2007 |title=End-Triassic calcification crisis and blooms of organic-walled 'disaster species' |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018206004457 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=244 |issue=1–4 |pages=126–141 |bibcode=2007PPP...244..126V |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.026 |access-date=30 May 2023}} Another factor contributing to anoxia was the increase in continental weathering driven by intense warming that delivered vast quantities of nutrients to the ocean surface and engendered eutrophication; this uptick in weathering is evidenced by positive δ⁵⁶Fe excursions.{{Cite journal |last=Wan |first=Ruoqi |last2=Yuan |first2=Chengshuai |last3=Liu |first3=Sheng-Ao |last4=Fang |first4=Linhao |last5=Shen |first5=Jun |last6=Wang |first6=Xiaomei |date=17 October 2024 |title=Intensified continental weathering and reductive surface runoff during the Triassic–Jurassic transition |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geology/article/53/1/13/649334/Intensified-continental-weathering-and-reductive |journal=Geology |language=en |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=13–17 |doi=10.1130/G52551.1 |issn=0091-7613 |access-date=18 February 2025 |via=GeoScienceWorld}} A combination of negative δ⁶⁶Zn excursions, positive δ²⁶Mg excursions, and a lack of significant change in δ⁶⁵Cu provides further evidence of increased chemical weathering resulting from increased temperature and humidity on land at high latitudes.{{Cite journal |last=Xing |first=Kai-Chen |last2=Wang |first2=Feng |last3=Teng |first3=Fang-Zhen |last4=Xu |first4=Wen-Liang |last5=Li |first5=Ming |last6=Sun |first6=Yue-Wu |last7=Yang |first7=De-Bin |date=5 November 2022 |title=High-latitude climatic response across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary recorded by Mg-Cu-Zn isotopes |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009254122003795 |journal=Chemical Geology |language=en |volume=610 |pages=121085 |doi=10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.121085 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} Increased influx of terrestrial organic matter, in conjunction with reduced salinity, has been directly shown to have enkindled anoxia in the Eiberg Basin.{{Cite journal |last1=Bonis |first1=N.R. |last2=Ruhl |first2=M. |last3=Kürschner |first3=W.M. |date=15 April 2010 |title=Climate change driven black shale deposition during the end-Triassic in the western Tethys |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0031018209002326 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=290 |issue=1–4 |pages=151–159 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.06.016 |bibcode=2010PPP...290..151B |access-date=22 November 2023|url-access=subscription }} Persistent low δ²³⁸U ratios indicate prolonged global oxygen depletion continued into the Hettangian,{{Cite journal |last=Somlyay |first=Anna |last2=Palcsu |first2=László |last3=Kiss |first3=Gabriella Ilona |last4=Clarkson |first4=Matthew O. |last5=Kovács |first5=Emma Blanka |last6=Vallner |first6=Zsolt |last7=Zajzon |first7=Norbert |last8=Pálfy |first8=József |date=15 July 2023 |title=Uranium isotope evidence for extensive seafloor anoxia after the end-Triassic mass extinction |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X23002030 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |language=en |volume=614 |pages=118190 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118190 |access-date=18 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|hdl=10831/107736 |hdl-access=free }} with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values showing that high influxes of terrestrial nutrients likely continued to eutrophicate the oceans well after the Triassic-Jurassic boundary.{{Cite journal |last=Heszler |first=Bernát |last2=Katchinoff |first2=Joachim |last3=Palcsu |first3=László |last4=Horváth |first4=Anikó |last5=Vallner |first5=Zsolt |last6=Kovács |first6=Emma Blanka |last7=Planavsky |first7=Noah J. |last8=Pálfy |first8=József |date=19 March 2024 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|last4=He |first4=Tianchen |last5=Singh |first5=Pulkit |last6=Kemeny |first6=Preston Cosslett |last7=Todes |first7=Jordan P. |last8=Pohl |first8=Alexandre |last9=Bhattacharya |first9=Tripti |last10=van de Schootbrugge |first10=Bas |last11=Wignall |first11=Paul B. |last12=Todaro |first12=Simona |last13=Payne |first13=Jonathan L. |date=5 February 2025 |title=Calcium isotopes support spatial redox gradients on the Tethys European margin across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0009254124006107 |journal=Chemical Geology |language=en |volume=673 |pages=122530 |doi=10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.122530 |access-date=18 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}

Euxinia, a form of anoxia defined by not just the absence of dissolved oxygen but high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide, also developed in the oceans, as indicated by findings of increased isorenieratane. The increase in concentration of this substance reveals that populations of green sulphur bacteria, which photosynthesise using hydrogen sulphide instead of water, grew significantly across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary.{{cite journal |last1=Richoz |first1=Sylvain |last2=Van de Schootbrugge |first2=Bas |last3=Pross |first3=Jörg |last4=Püttmann |first4=Wilhelm |last5=Quan |first5=Tracy M. |last6=Lindström |first6=Sofie |last7=Heunisch |first7=Carmen |last8=Fiebig |first8=Jens |last9=Maquil |first9=Robert |last10=Schouten |first10=Stefan |last11=Hauzenberger |first11=Christoph A. |last12=Wignall |first12=Paul B. |date=12 August 2012 |title=Hydrogen sulphide poisoning of shallow seas following the end-Triassic extinction |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo1539 |journal=Nature Geoscience |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=662–667 |bibcode=2012NatGe...5..662R |doi=10.1038/ngeo1539 |s2cid=128759882 |access-date=22 May 2023|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Jaraula |first1=Caroline M. B. |last2=Grice |first2=Kliti |last3=Twitchett |first3=Richard J. |last4=Böttcher |first4=Michael E. |last5=LeMetayer |first5=Pierre |last6=Dastidar |first6=Apratim G. |last7=Opazo |first7=L. Felipe |date=1 September 2013 |title=Elevated pCO2 leading to Late Triassic extinction, persistent photic zone euxinia, and rising sea levels |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/41/9/955/131334/Elevated-pCO2-leading-to-Late-Triassic-extinction |journal=Geology |volume=41 |issue=9 |pages=955–958 |bibcode=2013Geo....41..955J |doi=10.1130/G34183.1 |access-date=30 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} A meteoric shift towards positive sulphur isotope ratios in reduced sulphur species indicates a complete utilisation of sulphate by sulphate reducing bacteria.{{cite journal |last1=Williford |first1=Kenneth H. |last2=Foriel |first2=Juliet |last3=Ward |first3=Peter D. |last4=Steig |first4=Eric J. |date=1 September 2009 |title=Major perturbation in sulfur cycling at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/37/9/835/30031/Major-perturbation-in-sulfur-cycling-at-the |journal=Geology |volume=37 |issue=9 |pages=835–838 |bibcode=2009Geo....37..835W |doi=10.1130/G30054A.1 |access-date=7 June 2023|url-access=subscription }} Off the shores of the Wrangellia Terrane, the onset of photic zone euxinia was preceded by an interval of limited nitrogen availability and increased nitrogen fixation in surface waters while euxinia developed in bottom waters.{{Cite journal |last1=Schoepfer |first1=Shane D. |last2=Algeo |first2=Thomas J. |last3=Ward |first3=Peter Douglas |last4=Williford |first4=Kenneth H. |last5=Haggart |first5=James W. |date=1 October 2016 |title=Testing the limits in a greenhouse ocean: Did low nitrogen availability limit marine productivity during the end-Triassic mass extinction? |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=451 |pages=138–148 |bibcode=2016E&PSL.451..138S |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2016.06.050 |issn=0012-821X |doi-access=free}} Recurrent hydrogen sulphide poisoning following the TJME had retarding effects on biotic rediversification.{{cite journal |last1=Beith |first1=Sarah J. |last2=Fox |first2=Calum P. |last3=Marshall |first3=John E. A. |last4=Whiteside |first4=Jessica H. |date=15 December 2021 |title=Recurring photic zone euxinia in the northwest Tethys impinged end-Triassic extinction recovery |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S003101822100465X |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=584 |page=110680 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110680 |bibcode=2021PPP...58410680B |s2cid=244263152 |access-date=28 May 2023}}

Oceanic uptake of volcanogenic carbon and sulphur dioxide would have led to a significant decrease of seawater pH known as ocean acidification, which is discussed as a relevant driver of marine extinction,{{cite journal |last1=Hautmann |first1=Michael |date=28 July 2004 |title=Effect of end-Triassic CO2 maximum on carbonate sedimentation and marine mass extinction |journal=Facies |volume=50 |issue=2 |doi=10.1007/s10347-004-0020-y |s2cid=130658467}}{{cite journal |last1=Greene |first1=Sarah E. |last2=Martindale |first2=Rowan C. |last3=Ritterbush |first3=Kathleen A. |last4=Bottjer |first4=David J. |last5=Corsetti |first5=Frank A. |last6=Berelson |first6=William M. |date=June 2012 |title=Recognising ocean acidification in deep time: An evaluation of the evidence for acidification across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=113 |issue=1–2 |pages=72–93 |bibcode=2012ESRv..113...72G |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.03.009}}{{Cite journal |last1=Ikeda |first1=Masayuki |last2=Hori |first2=Rie S. |last3=Okada |first3=Yuki |last4=Nakada |first4=Ryoichi |date=15 December 2015 |title=Volcanism and deep-ocean acidification across the end-Triassic extinction event |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018215005568 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=440 |pages=725–733 |bibcode=2015PPP...440..725I |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.09.046 |issn=0031-0182 |access-date=12 January 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }} acting in conjunction with marine anoxia.{{cite journal |last1=Fox |first1=Calum P. |last2=Whiteside |first2=Jessica H. |last3=Olsen |first3=Paul E. |last4=Cui |first4=Xingqian |last5=Summons |first5=Roger E. |last6=Idiz |first6=Erdem |last7=Grice |first7=Kliti |date=5 January 2022 |title=Two-pronged kill mechanism at the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Geology |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=448–453 |bibcode=2022Geo....50..448F |doi=10.1130/G49560.1 |s2cid=245782726 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=20.500.11937/90125}} Additionally, acidification was enhanced and exacerbated by widespread photic zone euxinia, which caused increased rates of organic matter respiration and carbon dioxide release.{{cite journal |last1=Kasprak |first1=Alex H. |last2=Sepúlveda |first2=Julio |last3=Price-Waldman |first3=Rosalyn |last4=Williford |first4=Kenneth H. |last5=Schoepfer |first5=Shane D. |last6=Haggart |first6=James W. |last7=Ward |first7=Peter D. |last8=Summons |first8=Roger E. |last9=Whiteside |first9=Jessica H. |date=1 April 2015 |title=Episodic photic zone euxinia in the northeastern Panthalassic Ocean during the end-Triassic extinction |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/43/4/307/131839/Episodic-photic-zone-euxinia-in-the-northeastern?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Geology |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=307–310 |bibcode=2015Geo....43..307K |doi=10.1130/G36371.1 |s2cid=132681136 |access-date=10 November 2023 |hdl-access=free |hdl=1721.1/107847}} Evidence for ocean acidification as an extinction mechanism comes from the preferential extinction of marine organisms with thick aragonitic skeletons and little biotic control of biocalcification (e.g., corals, hypercalcifying sponges),{{Cite journal |last=Galli |first=Maria Teresa |last2=Jadoul |first2=Flavio |last3=Bernasconi |first3=Stefano M. |last4=Cirilli |first4=Simonetta |last5=Weissert |first5=Helmut |date=9 February 2007 |title=Stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental analysis of the Triassic–Jurassic transition in the western Southern Alps (Northern Italy) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003101820600441X |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=244 |issue=1-4 |pages=52–70 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.023 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Hautmann |first1=Michael |last2=Benton |first2=Michael J. |last3=Tomašových |first3=Adam |date=1 July 2008 |title=Catastrophic ocean acidification at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie – Abhandlungen |volume=249 |issue=1 |pages=119–127 |doi=10.1127/0077-7749/2008/0249-0119}} which resulted in a coral reef collapse and an early Hettangian "coral gap". The decline of megalodontoid bivalves is also attributed to increased seawater acidity.{{Cite journal |last1=Rigo |first1=Manuel |last2=Favero |first2=Marco |last3=Di Stefano |first3=Pietro |last4=Todaro |first4=Simona |date=15 November 2024 |title=Organic carbon isotope (δ13Corg) curve and extinction trends across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary at Mt. Sparagio (Italy): A tool for global correlations between peritidal and pelagic successions |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=654 |pages=112440 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112440 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=10447/651193}} Extensive fossil remains of malformed calcareous nannoplankton, a common sign of significant drops in pH, have also been extensively reported from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Global interruption of carbonate deposition at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary has been cited as additional evidence for catastrophic ocean acidification.{{cite journal |last1=Črne |first1=Alenka E. |last2=Weissert |first2=Helmut |last3=Goričan |first3=Špela |last4=Bernasconi |first4=Stefano M. |date=1 January 2011 |title=A biocalcification crisis at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary recorded in the Budva Basin (Dinarides, Montenegro) |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-abstract/123/1-2/40/125647/A-biocalcification-crisis-at-the-Triassic-Jurassic?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin |volume=123 |issue=1–2 |pages=40–50 |bibcode=2011GSAB..123...40C |doi=10.1130/B30157.1 |access-date=30 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} Upwardly developing aragonite fans in the shallow subseafloor may also reflect decreased pH, these structures being speculated to have precipitated concomitantly with acidification.{{Cite journal |last1=Greene |first1=Sarah E. |last2=Bottjer |first2=David J. |last3=Corsetti |first3=Frank A. |last4=Berelson |first4=William M. |last5=Zonneveld |first5=John-Paul |date=2012-11-01 |title=A subseafloor carbonate factory across the Triassic-Jurassic transition |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geology/article-abstract/40/11/1043/130752/A-subseafloor-carbonate-factory-across-the |journal=Geology |language=en |volume=40 |issue=11 |pages=1043–1046 |bibcode=2012Geo....40.1043G |doi=10.1130/G33205.1 |issn=0091-7613 |access-date=19 March 2023|url-access=subscription }} In some studied sections, the TJME biocalcification crisis is masked by emersion of carbonate platforms induced by marine regression.{{Cite journal |last1=Felber |first1=Roland |last2=Weissert |first2=Helmut J. |last3=Furrer |first3=Heinz |last4=Bontognali |first4=Tomaso R. R. |date=30 July 2015 |title=The Triassic–Jurassic boundary in the shallow-water marine carbonates from the western Northern Calcareous Alps (Austria) |journal=Swiss Journal of Geosciences |language=en |volume=108 |issue=2–3 |pages=213–224 |doi=10.1007/s00015-015-0192-1 |issn=1661-8726 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/109482}}

Research on the role of ozone shield deterioration during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction has suggested that it may have been a factor in the TJME as well.{{Cite journal |last1=Visscher |first1=Henk |last2=Looy |first2=Cindy V. |last3=Collinson |first3=Margaret E. |last4=Brinkhuis |first4=Henk |last5=Cittert |first5=Johanna H. A. van Konijnenburg-van |last6=Kürschner |first6=Wolfram M. |last7=Sephton |first7=Mark A. |date=31 August 2004 |title=Environmental mutagenesis during the end-Permian ecological crisis |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=101 |issue=35 |pages=12952–12956 |bibcode=2004PNAS..10112952V |doi=10.1073/pnas.0404472101 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=516500 |pmid=15282373 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Feng |last2=Peng |first2=Huiping |last3=Marshall |first3=John E. A. |last4=Lomax |first4=Barry H. |last5=Bomfleur |first5=Benjamin |last6=Kent |first6=Matthew S. |last7=Fraser |first7=Wesley T. |last8=Jardine |first8=Phillip E. |date=6 January 2023 |title=Dying in the Sun: Direct evidence for elevated UV-B radiation at the end-Permian mass extinction |journal=Science Advances |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=eabo6102 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abo6102 |pmid=36608140 |pmc=9821938 |bibcode=2023SciA....9O6102L }} A spike in the abundance of unseparated tetrads of Kraeuselisporites reissingerii has been interpreted as evidence of increased ultraviolet radiation flux resulting from ozone layer damage caused by volcanic aerosols.{{cite journal |last1=Van de Schootbrugge |first1=Bas |last2=Wignall |first2=Paul B. |date=26 October 2015 |title=A tale of two extinctions: converging end-Permian and end-Triassic scenarios |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geolmag/article-abstract/153/2/332/251216/A-tale-of-two-extinctions-converging-end-Permian?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Geological Magazine |volume=153 |issue=2 |pages=332–354 |doi=10.1017/S0016756815000643 |hdl=1874/329922 |s2cid=131750128 |access-date=26 May 2023|hdl-access=free }}

The extinctions at the end of the Triassic were initially attributed to gradually changing environments. Within his 1958 study recognizing biological turnover between the Triassic and Jurassic, Edwin H. Colbert's proposal was that this extinction was a result of geological processes decreasing the diversity of land biomes. He considered the Triassic period to be an era of the world experiencing a variety of environments, from towering highlands to arid deserts to tropical marshes. In contrast, the Jurassic period was much more uniform both in climate and elevation due to excursions by shallow seas.

Later studies noted a clear trend towards increased aridification towards the end of the Triassic. Although high-latitude areas like Greenland and Australia actually became wetter, most of the world experienced more drastic changes in climate as indicated by geological evidence. This evidence includes an increase in carbonate and evaporite deposits (which are most abundant in dry climates) and a decrease in coal deposits (which primarily form in humid environments such as coal forests). In addition, the climate may have become much more seasonal, with long droughts interrupted by severe monsoons.{{Cite journal |last=T Parrish |first=Judith |date=1993 |title=Climate of the Supercontinent Pangea |url=https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~polsen/cpcp/parrish_93_sm.pdf |journal=The Journal of Geology |volume=101 |issue=2 |pages=215–233 |bibcode=1993JG....101..215P |doi=10.1086/648217 |jstor=30081148 |s2cid=128757269}} The world gradually got warmer over this time as well; from the late Norian to the Rhaetian, mean annual temperatures rose by 7 to 9 °C.{{cite journal |last1=Cleveland |first1=David M. |last2=Nordt |first2=Lee C. |last3=Dworkin |first3=Steven I. |last4=Atchley |first4=Stacy C. |date=1 November 2008 |title=Pedogenic carbonate isotopes as evidence for extreme climatic events preceding the Triassic-Jurassic boundary: Implications for the biotic crisis? |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-abstract/120/11-12/1408/2241/Pedogenic-carbonate-isotopes-as-evidence-for |journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin |volume=120 |issue=11–12 |pages=1408–1415 |bibcode=2008GSAB..120.1408C |doi=10.1130/B26332.1 |access-date=22 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} The site of Hochalm in Austria preserves evidence of carbon cycle perturbations during the Rhaetian preceding the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, potentially having a role in the ecological crisis.{{Cite journal |last1=Rizzi |first1=Małgorzata |last2=Thibault |first2=Nicolas |last3=Ullmann |first3=Clemens V. |last4=Ruhl |first4=Micha |last5=Olsen |first5=Troels K. |last6=Moreau |first6=Julien |last7=Clémence |first7=Marie-Emilie |last8=Mette |first8=Wolfgang |last9=Korte |first9=Christoph |date=1 August 2020 |title=Sedimentology and carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Rhaetian Hochalm section (Late Triassic, Austria) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818120301016 |journal=Global and Planetary Change |volume=191 |pages=103210 |bibcode=2020GPC...19103210R |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2020.103210 |issn=0921-8181 |s2cid=218917014 |access-date=26 November 2023 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10871/121120}}

Geological formations in Europe and the Middle East seem to indicate a drop in sea levels at the end of the Triassic associated with the TJME.{{Cite journal |last=Hallam |first=Anthony |date=September 1997 |title=Estimates of the amount and rate of sea-level change across the Rhaetian—Hettangian and Pliensbachian—Toarcian boundaries (latest Triassic to early Jurassic) |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/gsjgs.154.5.0773 |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |language=en |volume=154 |issue=5 |pages=773–779 |doi=10.1144/gsjgs.154.5.0773 |issn=0016-7649 |access-date=28 October 2024 |via=Lyell Collection Geological Society Publications|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last1=Urban |first1=Ingrid |last2=Demangel |first2=Isaline |last3=Krystyn |first3=Leopold |last4=Calner |first4=Mikael |last5=Kovács |first5=Zsófia |last6=Gradwohl |first6=Gerit |last7=Lernpeiss |first7=Simon |last8=Maurer |first8=Florian |last9=Richoz |first9=Sylvain |date=1 June 2023 |title=Mid-Norian to Hettangian record and time-specific oolites during the end-Triassic Mass Extinction at Wadi Milaha, Musandam Peninsula, United Arab Emirates |journal=Journal of Asian Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=9 |pages=100138 |doi=10.1016/j.jaesx.2023.100138 |doi-access=free }} Although falling sea levels have sometimes been considered a culprit for marine extinctions, evidence is inconclusive since many sea level drops in geological history are not correlated with increased extinctions. However, there is still some evidence that marine life was affected by secondary processes related to falling sea levels, such as decreased oxygenation (caused by sluggish circulation), or increased acidification. These processes do not seem to have been worldwide, with the sea level fall observed in European sediments believed to be not global but regional,{{cite journal |last1=Fox |first1=Calum P. |last2=Cui |first2=Xingqian |last3=Whiteside |first3=Jessica H. |last4=Olsen |first4=Paul E. |last5=Summons |first5=Roger E. |last6=Grice |first6=Kliti |date=16 November 2020 |title=Molecular and isotopic evidence reveals the end-Triassic carbon isotope excursion is not from massive exogenous light carbon |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=117 |issue=48 |pages=30171–30178 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11730171F |doi=10.1073/pnas.1917661117 |pmc=7720136 |pmid=33199627 |doi-access=free}} and with even some European sections showing no sign of sea level fall across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary,{{Cite journal |last=Gómez |first=Juan J. |last2=Goy |first2=Antonio |last3=Barrón |first3=Eduardo |date=9 February 2007 |title=Events around the Triassic–Jurassic boundary in northern and eastern Spain: A review |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018206004433 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=244 |issue=1-4 |pages=89–110 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.025 |access-date=19 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}} but they may explain local extinctions in European marine fauna. However, it is not universally accepted that even this local diversity drop was caused by sea level fall.{{Cite journal |last1=Hesselbo |first1=Stephen P. |last2=Robinson |first2=Stuart A. |last3=Surlyk |first3=Finn |date=May 2004 |title=Sea-level change and facies development across potential Triassic–Jurassic boundary horizons, SW Britain |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/0016-764903-033 |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |language=en |volume=161 |issue=3 |pages=365–379 |doi=10.1144/0016-764903-033 |issn=0016-7649 |access-date=28 October 2024 |via=Lyell Collection Geological Society Publications}} A pronounced sea level change in latest Triassic records from Lake Williston in northeastern British Columbia, which was then the northeastern margin of Panthalassa, resulted in an extinction event of infaunal (sediment-dwelling) bivalves, though not epifaunal ones.{{cite journal |last1=Wignall |first1=Paul B. |last2=Zonneveld |first2=John-Paul |last3=Newton |first3=Robert J. |last4=Amor |first4=K. |last5=Sephton |first5=M. A. |last6=Hartley |first6=S. |date=27 September 2007 |title=The end Triassic mass extinction record of Williston Lake, British Columbia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S003101820700329X |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=253 |issue=3–4 |pages=385–406 |bibcode=2007PPP...253..385W |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.06.020 |access-date=28 May 2023|url-access=subscription }}

File:Manicouagan-EO.JPG in Quebec, a massive crater formed by a Late Triassic impact. Radiometric dating has determined that it is about 13 million years older than the Triassic–Jurassic boundary, and thus an unlikely candidate for a mass extinction.]]

Some have hypothesized that an impact from an asteroid or comet caused the Triassic–Jurassic extinction, similar to the extraterrestrial object which was the main factor in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction about 66 million years ago, as evidenced by the Chicxulub crater in Mexico. However, so far no impact crater of sufficient size has been dated to precisely coincide with the Triassic–Jurassic boundary.

Nevertheless, the Late Triassic did experience several impacts, including the second-largest confirmed impact in the Mesozoic. The Manicouagan Reservoir in Quebec is one of the most visible large impact craters on Earth, and at {{cvt|100|km}} in diameter it is tied with the Eocene Popigai impact structure in Siberia as the fourth-largest impact crater on Earth. Olsen et al. (1987) were the first scientists to link the Manicouagan crater to the Triassic–Jurassic extinction, citing its age which at the time was roughly considered to be Late Triassic. More precise radiometric dating by Hodych & Dunning (1992) has shown that the Manicouagan impact occurred about 214 million years ago, about 13 million years before the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. Therefore, it could not have been responsible for an extinction precisely at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary.{{Cite journal |last1=Hodych |first1=J. P. |last2=Dunning |first2=G. R. |date=1 January 1992 |title=Did the Manicouagan impact trigger end-of-Triassic mass extinction? |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230892382 |journal=Geology |language=en |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=51–54 |bibcode=1992Geo....20...51H |doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0051:dtmite>2.3.co;2 |issn=0091-7613}} Nevertheless, the Manicouagan impact did have a widespread effect on the planet; a 214-million-year-old ejecta blanket of shocked quartz has been found in rock layers as far away as England{{Cite journal |last=Racki |first=Grzegorz |date=2010 |title=The Alvarez impact theory of mass extinction; limits to its applicability and the "great expectations syndrome" |url=https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app57/app20110058.pdf |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=681–702 |doi=10.4202/app.2011.0058 |s2cid=54021858 |doi-access=free}} and Japan. There is still a possibility that the Manicouagan impact was responsible for a small extinction midway through the Late Triassic at the Carnian–Norian boundary, although the disputed age of this boundary (and whether an extinction actually occurred in the first place) makes it difficult to correlate the impact with extinction. Onoue et al. (2016) alternatively proposed that the Manicouagan impact was responsible for a marine extinction in the middle of the Norian which affected radiolarians, sponges, conodonts, and Triassic ammonoids. Thus, the Manicouagan impact may have been partially responsible for the gradual decline in the latter two groups which culminated in their extinction at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary.{{Cite journal |last1=Onoue |first1=Tetsuji |last2=Sato |first2=Honami |last3=Yamashita |first3=Daisuke |last4=Ikehara |first4=Minoru |last5=Yasukawa |first5=Kazutaka |last6=Fujinaga |first6=Koichiro |last7=Kato |first7=Yasuhiro |last8=Matsuoka |first8=Atsushi |date=8 July 2016 |title=Bolide impact triggered the Late Triassic extinction event in equatorial Panthalassa |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=6 |pages=29609 |bibcode=2016NatSR...629609O |doi=10.1038/srep29609 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=4937377 |pmid=27387863}} The boundary between the Adamanian and Revueltian land vertebrate faunal zones, which involved extinctions and faunal changes in tetrapods and plants, was possibly also caused by the Manicouagan impact, although discrepancies between magnetochronological and isotopic dating lead to some uncertainty.{{Cite journal |last1=Kent |first1=Dennis V. |last2=Olsen |first2=Paul E. |last3=Lepre |first3=Christopher |last4=Rasmussen |first4=Cornelia |last5=Mundil |first5=Roland |last6=Gehrels |first6=George E. |last7=Giesler |first7=Dominique |last8=Irmis |first8=Randall B. |last9=Geissman |first9=John W. |last10=Parker |first10=William G. |date=16 October 2019 |title=Magnetochronology of the entire Chinle Formation (Norian age) in a scientific drill core from Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona, USA) and implications for regional and global correlations in the Late Triassic |journal=Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |language=en |volume=20 |issue=11 |pages=4654–4664 |bibcode=2019GGG....20.4654K |doi=10.1029/2019GC008474 |issn=1525-2027 |s2cid=207980627 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10150/636323}}

Other Triassic craters are closer to the Triassic–Jurassic boundary but also much smaller than the Manicouagan reservoir. The eroded Rochechouart impact structure in France has most recently been dated to {{val|201|2}} million years ago,{{cite journal |last=Schmieder |first=M. |author2=Buchner, E. |author3=Schwarz, W. H. |author4=Trieloff, M. |author5=Lambert, P. |date=2010-10-05 |title=A Rhaetian ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age for the Rochechouart impact structure (France) and implications for the latest Triassic sedimentary record |journal=Meteoritics & Planetary Science |volume=45 |issue=8 |pages=1225–1242 |bibcode=2010M&PS...45.1225S |doi=10.1111/j.1945-5100.2010.01070.x |s2cid=129154084 |doi-access=free}} but at {{cvt|25|km}} across (possibly up to {{cvt|50|km|-1}} across originally), it appears to be too small to have affected the ecosystem,{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Roff |date=2011-11-16 |title=Dark days of the Triassic: Lost world |journal=Nature |volume=479 |issue=7373 |pages=287–289 |bibcode=2011Natur.479..287S |doi=10.1038/479287a |pmid=22094671 |doi-access=free}} although it has been speculated to have played a role in an alleged much smaller extinction event at the Norian-Rhaetian boundary.{{Cite journal |last1=Sato |first1=Honami |last2=Ishikawa |first2=Akira |last3=Onoue |first3=Tetsuji |last4=Tomimatsu |first4=Yuki |last5=Rigo |first5=Manuel |date=30 December 2021 |title=Sedimentary record of Upper Triassic impact in the Lagonegro Basin, southern Italy: Insights from highly siderophile elements and Re-Os isotope stratigraphy across the Norian/Rhaetian boundary |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009254121004496 |journal=Chemical Geology |volume=586 |pages=120506 |bibcode=2021ChGeo.58620506S |doi=10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120506 |issn=0009-2541 |s2cid=239637928 |access-date=26 November 2023|url-access=subscription }} The {{cvt|40|km}} wide Saint Martin crater in Manitoba has been proposed as a candidate for a possible TJME-causing impact, but its has since been dated to be Carnian.{{cite journal |last1=Schmieder |first1=Martin |last2=Jourdan |first2=Fred |last3=Tohver |first3=Eric |last4=Cloutis |first4=Edward A. |date=15 November 2014 |title=40Ar/39Ar age of the Lake Saint Martin impact structure (Canada) – Unchaining the Late Triassic terrestrial impact craters |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X14005445 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=406 |pages=37–48 |bibcode=2014E&PSL.406...37S |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2014.08.037 |access-date=30 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} Other putative or confirmed Triassic craters include the {{cvt|80|km}} wide Puchezh-Katunki crater in Eastern Russia (though it may be Jurassic in age), the {{cvt|15|km|0}} wide Obolon' crater in Ukraine, and the {{cvt|9|km|0}} wide Red Wing Creek structure in North Dakota. Spray et al. (1998) noted an interesting phenomenon, that being how the Manicouagan, Rochechouart, and Saint Martin craters all seem to be at the same latitude, and that the Obolon' and Red Wing craters form parallel arcs with the Rochechouart and Saint Martin craters, respectively. Spray and his colleagues hypothesized that the Triassic experienced a "multiple impact event", a large fragmented asteroid or comet which broke up and impacted the earth in several places at the same time. Such an impact has been observed in the present day, when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke up and hit Jupiter in 1992. However, the "multiple impact event" hypothesis for Triassic impact craters has not been well-supported; Kent (1998) noted that the Manicouagan and Rochechouart craters were formed in eras of different magnetic polarity,{{Cite journal |last=Kent |first=Dennis V. |date=10 September 1998 |title=Impacts on Earth in the Late Triassic |journal=Nature |volume=395 |issue=6698 |pages=126 |bibcode=1998Natur.395..126K |doi=10.1038/25874 |s2cid=4303109 |doi-access=free}} and radiometric dating of the individual craters has shown that the impacts occurred millions of years apart.

Shocked quartz has been found in Rhaetian deposits from the Northern Apennines of Italy, providing possible evidence of an end-Triassic extraterrestrial impact.{{cite journal |last1=Bice |first1=D. M. |last2=Newton |first2=C. R. |last3=McCauley |first3=S. |last4=Reinerts |first4=P. W. |last5=McRoberts |first5=C. A. |date=24 January 1992 |title=Shocked Quartz at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary in Italy |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.255.5043.443 |journal=Science |volume=255 |issue=5043 |pages=443–446 |bibcode=1992Sci...255..443B |doi=10.1126/science.255.5043.443 |pmid=17842896 |s2cid=28314974 |access-date=30 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} Certain trace metals indicative of a bolide impact have been found in the late Rhaetian, though not at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary itself; the discoverers of these trace metal anomalies purport that such a bolide impact could only have been an indirect cause of the TJME.{{cite journal |last1=Hori |first1=Rie S. |last2=Fujiki |first2=Toru |last3=Inoue |first3=Eriko |last4=Kimura |first4=Jun-Ichi |date=9 February 2007 |title=Platinum group element anomalies and bioevents in the Triassic–Jurassic deep-sea sediments of Panthalassa |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018206004615 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=244 |issue=1–4 |pages=391–406 |bibcode=2007PPP...244..391H |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.06.038 |access-date=30 May 2023|url-access=subscription }} The discovery of seismites two to four metres thick coeval with the carbon isotope fluctuations associated with the TJME has been interpreted as evidence of a possible bolide impact, although no definitive link between these seismites and any impact event has been found.{{cite journal |last1=Simms |first1=Michael J. |date=1 June 2003 |title=Uniquely extensive seismite from the latest Triassic of the United Kingdom: Evidence for bolide impact? |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/31/6/557/192639/Uniquely-extensive-seismite-from-the-latest?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live |journal=Geology |volume=31 |issue=6 |pages=557{{ndash}}560 |bibcode=2003Geo....31..557S |doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2003)031<0557:UESFTL>2.0.CO;2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602214717/https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/31/6/557/192639/uniquely-extensive-seismite-from-the-latest?redirectedFrom=fulltext |archive-date=2018-06-02 |access-date=31 May 2023|url-access=subscription }}

On the other hand, the dissimilarity between the isotopic perturbations characterising the TJME and those characterising the end-Cretaceous mass extinction makes an extraterrestrial impact highly unlikely to have been the cause of the TJME, according to many researchers.{{cite journal |last1=Ward |first1=Peter D. |last2=Garrison |first2=Geoffrey H. |last3=Haggart |first3=James W. |last4=Kring |first4=David A. |last5=Beattie |first5=Michael J. |date=15 August 2004 |title=Isotopic evidence bearing on Late Triassic extinction events, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, and implications for the duration and cause of the Triassic/Jurassic mass extinction |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X04002857 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=224 |issue=3–4 |pages=589–600 |bibcode=2004E&PSL.224..589W |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2004.04.034 |access-date=23 November 2022|url-access=subscription }} Various trace metal ratios, including palladium/iridium, platinum/iridium, and platinum/rhodium, in rocks deposited during the TJME have numerical values very different from what would be expected in an extraterrestrial impact scenario, providing further evidence against this hypothesis. The Triassic-Jurassic boundary furthermore lacks a fern spore spike akin to that observed at the terminus of the Cretaceous, inconsistent with an asteroid impact.{{cite journal |last1=Bonis |first1=Nina R. |last2=Ruhl |first2=Micha |last3=Kürschner |first3=Wolfram R. |date=1 September 2010 |title=Milankovitch-scale palynological turnover across the Triassic–Jurassic transition at St. Audrie's Bay, SW UK |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/jgs/article/167/5/877/372819/Milankovitch-scale-palynological-turnover-across |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |volume=167 |issue=5 |pages=877–888 |bibcode=2010JGSoc.167..877B |doi=10.1144/0016-76492009-141 |s2cid=128896141 |access-date=12 December 2022}}

The extremely rapid, centuries-long timescale of carbon emissions and global warming caused by pulses of CAMP volcanism has drawn comparisons between the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction and anthropogenic global warming, currently causing the Holocene extinction. The current rate of carbon dioxide emissions is around 50 gigatonnes per year, hundreds of times faster than during the latest Triassic, although the lack of extremely detailed stratigraphic resolution and pulsed nature of CAMP volcanism means that individual pulses of greenhouse gas emissions likely occurred on comparable timescales to human release of warming gases since the Industrial Revolution. The degassing rate of the first pulse of CAMP volcanism is estimated to have been around half of the rate of modern anthropogenic emissions. Palaeontologists studying the TJME and its impacts warn that a major reduction in humanity's carbon dioxide emissions to slow down climate change is of critical importance for preventing a catastrophe similar to the TJME from befalling the modern biosphere. If human-induced climate change persists as is, predictions can be made as to how various aspects of the biosphere will respond based on records of the TJME. For example, current conditions such the increased carbon dioxide levels, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation create a similar climate to that of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary for marine life, so it is the common assumption that should the trends continue, modern reef-building taxa and skeletal benthic organisms will be preferentially impacted.{{Cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Pulkit |last2=Lu |first2=Wanyi |last3=Lu |first3=Zunli |last4=Jost |first4=Adam B. |last5=Lau |first5=Kimberly |last6=Bachan |first6=Aviv |last7=van de Schootbrugge |first7=Bas |last8=Payne |first8=Jonathan L. |date=March 2023 |title=Reduction in animal abundance and oxygen availability during and after the end-Triassic mass extinction |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gbi.12533 |journal=Geobiology |language=en |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=175–192 |doi=10.1111/gbi.12533 |pmid=36329603 |bibcode=2023Gbio...21..175S |hdl=1874/427044 |s2cid=253303479 |issn=1472-4677|hdl-access=free }} The end-Triassic reef crisis has been specifically cited as a possible analogue for the fate of present coral reefs should anthropogenic global warming continue.{{cite journal |last1=Pandolfi |first1=John M. |last2=Kiessling |first2=Wolfgang |date=April 2014 |title=Gaining insights from past reefs to inform understanding of coral reef response to global climate change |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877343513001826 |journal=Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability |volume=7 |pages=52–58 |bibcode=2014COES....7...52P |doi=10.1016/j.cosust.2013.11.020 |access-date=12 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}

{{Reflist|3}}

• {{cite journal|first=J. P.|last=Hodych|author2=G. R. Dunning |title=Did the Manicougan impact trigger end-of-Triassic mass extinction?|journal=Geology|volume=20|issue=1|year=1992|pages=51–54|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0051:DTMITE>2.3.CO;2|bibcode = 1992Geo....20...51H }}
• {{cite journal|first=J. C.|last= McElwain|author2=D. J. Beerling |author-link2 = David Beerling|author3=F. I. Woodward |title=Fossil Plants and Global Warming at the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary|journal=Science|date= 27 August 1999|volume=285|pages=1386–1390|pmid=10464094|issue=5432 | doi=10.1126/science.285.5432.1386 }}
• McHone, J.G. (2003), Volatile emissions of Central Atlantic Magmatic Province basalts: Mass assumptions and environmental consequences, in Hames, W.E. et al., eds., The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province: Insights from Fragments of Pangea. American Geophysical Union Monograph 136, p. 241–254.
• {{cite journal|first=L.H.|last= Tanner |author2=S.G. Lucas |author3=M.G. Chapman|title=Assessing the record and causes of Late Triassic extinctions|journal=Earth-Science Reviews|issue=1–2|year=2004|pages=103–139|doi=10.1016/S0012-8252(03)00082-5|volume=65|bibcode=2004ESRv...65..103T}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20060306225005/http://museums.state.nm.us/nmmnh/pdf_files/TJB.pdf]
• {{cite journal |last = Whiteside |first= Jessica H. |author2=Paul E. Olsen |author3=Timothy Eglinton |author4=Michael E. Brookfield |author5=Raymond N. Sambrotto |date = March 22, 2010 |title= Compound-specific carbon isotopes from Earth's largest flood basalt eruptions directly linked to the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=107 |issue=15 |pages=6721–5 |doi =10.1073/pnas.1001706107 |pmid = 20308590 |pmc = 2872409 |bibcode = 2010PNAS..107.6721W |doi-access= free }}
• {{cite journal|first=M.H.L.|last=Deenen |author2=M. Ruhl |author3=N.R. Bonis |author4=W. Krijgsman |author5=W. Kuerscher |author6=M. Reitsma |author7=M.J. van Bergen |title=A new chronology for the end-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=291 |issue=1–4 |pages=113–125 |year=2010|doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2010.01.003 |bibcode=2010E&PSL.291..113D }}
• {{cite book |last1=Hautmann |first1=M. |title=eLS |chapter=Extinction: End-Triassic Mass Extinction |date=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester. |language=en |doi=10.1002/9780470015902.a0001655.pub3 |isbn=978-0470016176 |s2cid=130434497 }}
• {{Cite journal |author=Tetsuji Onoue |author2=Honami Sato |author3=Daisuke Yamashita |author4=Minoru Ikehara |author5=Kazutaka Yasukawa |author6=Koichiro Fujinaga |author7=Yasuhiro Kato |author8=Atsushi Matsuoka |date =2016-07-08 |title=Bolide impact triggered the Late Triassic extinction event in equatorial Panthalassa |journal=Scientific Reports |volume= 6|pages= 29609|doi=10.1038/srep29609 |pmid=27387863 |pmc=4937377 |bibcode=2016NatSR...629609O}}

• [http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Triassic/triextict.htm Theories on the Triassic–Jurassic Extinction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801065542/http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/palaeofiles/triassic/triextict.htm |date=2017-08-01 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090720234639/http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/impact/news_detail.cfm?ID=23&keyword=250 The Triassic–Jurassic Mass Extinction]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15272230 200 million year old mystery] BBC News story, 12-Oct-2011

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