The Carnian Crisis in the Tethys Realm: Multistratigraphic Studies and Palaeoclimate Constraints

The Carnian stage is characterised by one of the most severe intra-Triassic ecological crisis affecting marine and epicontinental biota on a global scale. The so-called Carnian Crisis is defined by a major gap in carbonate productivity followed by a marking rise of siliciclastic influx that was shed across terrestrial and shallow marine environments. What can explain the widespread ecological incisions? Was it a single sedimentary incident or a chain of events which were unleashed by a dramatic climate shift? Based on detailed multistratigraphic studies drawn on 20 selected sections throughout the Northern Alps, the Southern Alps and the Indian Himalaya, the author Thomas Hornung introduces a sequence-stratigraphic framework of the Carnian extinction event. In addition, a climate archive derived from oxygen stable isotopes of conodont apatite and lithofacies allowed the first quantitative proof of a climate-induced event and suggests a possible scenario that may have caused the Carnian Crisis. This book addresses all Triassic Biostratigraphers and Palaeontologists, but especially Earth Scientists that combine multistratigraphic tools to geochemical and palaeoclimate aspects.