Constraining shifts in North Atlantic plate motions during the Palaeocene by U-Pb dating of Svalbard tephra layers.

Radioisotopic dating of volcanic minerals is a powerful method for establishing absolute time constraints in sedimentary basins, which improves our understanding of the chronostratigraphy and evolution of basin processes. The relative plate motions of Greenland, North America, and Eurasia changed several times during the Palaeogene. However, the timing of a key part of this sequence, namely the initiation of compression between Greenland and Svalbard, is currently poorly constrained.

High-precision geochronology confirms voluminous magmatism before, during, and after Earth's most severe extinction.

The end-Permian mass extinction was the most severe in the Phanerozoic, extinguishing more than 90% of marine and 75% of terrestrial species in a maximum of 61 ± 48 ky. Because of broad temporal coincidence between the biotic crisis and one of the most voluminous continental volcanic eruptions since the origin of animals, the Siberian Traps large igneous province (LIP), a causal connection has long been suggested. Magmatism is hypothesized to have caused rapid injection of massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, driving climate change and subsequent destabilization of the biosphere.

High-precision timeline for Earth's most severe extinction.

The end-Permian mass extinction was the most severe loss of marine and terrestrial biota in the last 542 My. Understanding its cause and the controls on extinction/recovery dynamics depends on an accurate and precise age model. U-Pb zircon dates for five volcanic ash beds from the Global Stratotype Section and Point for the Permian-Triassic boundary at Meishan, China, define an age model for the extinction and allow exploration of the links between global environmental perturbation, carbon cycle disruption, mass extinction, and recovery at millennial timescales.