Triassic Period

The Climate on Earth

How Earth looked

Life on Earth

The Triassic Period

From the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya(50.5 million years)

References

Interesting facts

Mass extinctions

References

• Benton, Michael J. “The Triassic.” Current biology 26, no. 23 (2016): R1214–R1218.
• Preto, Nereo, Evelyn Kustatscher, and Paul B. Wignall. “Triassic Climates — State of the Art and Perspectives.” Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology 290, no. 1 (2010): 1–10.
• Romano, Marco, Massimo Bernardi, Fabio Massimo Petti, Bruce Rubidge, John Hancox, and Michael J. Benton. “Early Triassic Terrestrial Tetrapod Fauna: A Review.” Earth-science reviews 210 (2020): 103331-.

Earths Climate

As a result of the CO2 emissions from the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, known as the Great Dying, the Early Triassic Period was dominated by mostly hot and dry climate. However, the climate would fluctuate across Pangea, with continental weather being observed the closer to the ocean it became (That is to say hot summers and cold winters). It was also during this time that Pangean megamonsoons would occur. Winds would change an a period of rainfall, mostly concentrated in the north, would occur. During the Middle Triassic, the Earth became more humid and cooled slightly as a result of increased rainfall. Finally, in the Late Triassic, Earth warmed again as a result of the humidity and CO2 caused by the end-Triassic extinction.

What Earth Looked Like

During this period, the Earth was still dominated by the supercontinent Pangea. There were forests on the surrounding coasts on Pangea as well as a wide expanse of deserts in the center. Surrounding the continent was the Panthalassa Ocean, with a deep and large trench named Tethys.

Life on Earth

In the gap between the Permian and Triassic periods, there was a mass extinction event known as the Great Dying, where 96% of Earths life was wiped out. It was so great that it almost ended all life on Earth. However, what did survive was mostly reptiles as well as various plant species. According to Early Triassic terrestrial tetrapod fauna: a review, plants such as conifers and ferns flourished throughout Pangea while new tetra and decapods began to pop up during this times. Repitle tetra and decapods would dominate the land during this period and new species of marine reptiles began to appear in the oceans.

Mass extinctions

The beginning and the end of the Triassic period were marked by mass extinctions events, The Great Dying and the end-Triassic. Volcanic eruptions and gases and the resulting temperature spikes killed off >90% of Earth's life and came close to completely eradicating life entirely. It is because of this that we saw stagnation of biodiversity of Earth. It was not until the mid-Triassic that we see the development of new species and floruishing of flora. The second was the end-Triassic extinction. The end-Triassic, potentially caused by climate change or even meteor impact, saw the wiping out of many species, with dinosaurs being the only survivors. As a result, dinosaurs would become dominant in the Jurassic period.

Lorem ipsum dolor

• Archosaurs, the ancestors of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, originated during this period.
• The Great Dying and the end-Triassic extinction events are two of the most destructive extinction events in Earths history, with the Great Dying being the most destructive.
• The climate was so hot during this time, that there were no polar ice caps. Rather than glaciers, the poles were very temperate lush with plant life.
• Althoug there is no known cause of the end-Triassic extinction, experts believe it possible that multiple asteroid strikes were responsible.