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Marine extinction intensity during Phanerozoic

Millions of years ago

Comparison of the three episodes of extinction in the Late Devonian (Late D) to other mass extinction events in Earth's history. Plotted is the extinction intensity, calculated from marine genera.

Side view of a stromatoporoid showing laminae and pillars; Columbus Limestone (Devonian) of Ohio

The Late Devonian extinction refers to a series of extinction events in the Late Devonian Period, which collectively represent one of five largest mass extinction events in the history of life on Earth. A major extinction, the Kellwasser event (also known as the Frasnian-Famennian extinction), occurred arounf 372 million years ago, at the boundary between the Frasnian stage and the beginning of the Famennian stage, the last stage in the Devonian Period.^[1]^[2] Overall, 19% of all families and 50% of all genera became extinct.^[3] A second, distinct mass extinction, the Hangenberg event, (also known as the end-Devonian extinction) occurred 359 million years ago, bringing an end to the Famennian and Devonian, as the world transitioned into the Carboniferous Period.^[4]

Although it is clear that there was a massive loss of biodiversity in the Late Devonian, the timespan of this event is uncertain, with estimates ranging from 500,000 to 25 million years, extending from the mid-Givetian to the end-Famennian.^[5] Some consider the extinction to be as many as seven distinct events, spread over about 25 million years, with notable extinctions at the ends of the Givetian, Frasnian, and Famennian stages.^[6]

By the Late Devonian, the land had been colonized by plants and insects. In the oceans, massive reefs were built by corals and stromatoporoids. Euramerica and Gondwana were beginning to converge into what would become Pangaea. The extinction seems to have only affected marine life. Hard-hit groups include brachiopods, trilobites, and reef-building organisms; the latter almost completely disappeared. The causes of these extinctions are unclear. Leading hypotheses include changes in sea level and ocean anoxia, possibly triggered by global cooling or oceanic volcanism. The impact of a comet or another extraterrestrial body has also been suggested,^[7] such as the Siljan Ring event in Sweden. Some statistical analysis suggests that the decrease in diversity was caused more by a decrease in speciation than by an increase in extinctions.^[8]^[9] This might have been caused by invasions of cosmopolitan species, rather than by any single event.^[9] Placoderms were hit hard by the Kellwasser event and completely died out in the Hangenberg event, but most other jawed vertebrates were less strongly impacted. Agnathans (jawless fish) were in decline long before the end of the Frasnian and were nearly wiped out by the extinctions.^[10]

The extinction events were accompanied by widespread oceanic anoxia; that is, a lack of oxygen, prohibiting decay and allowing the preservation of organic matter. This, combined with the ability of porous reef rocks to hold oil, has led to Devonian rocks being an important source of oil, especially in the USA.

Late Devonian world

Events of the Devonian Period

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Rhynie chert^[11]

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Hunsrück fauna

Key events of the Devonian Period.
Axis scale: millions of years ago.

During the Late Devonian, the continents were arranged differently from today, with a supercontinent, Gondwana, covering much of the Southern Hemisphere. The continent of Siberia occupied the Northern Hemisphere, while an equatorial continent, Laurussia (formed by the collision of Baltica and Laurentia), was drifting towards Gondwana, closing the Iapetus Ocean. The Caledonian mountains were also growing across what is now the Scottish Highlands and Scandinavia, while the Appalachians rose over America.^[13]

The biota was also very different. Plants, which had been on land in forms similar to mosses, liverworts, and lichens since the Ordovician, had just developed roots, seeds, and water transport systems that allowed them to survive away from places that were constantly wet—and so grew huge forests on the highlands. Several clades had developed a shrubby or tree-like habitat by the Late Givetian, including the cladoxylalean ferns, lepidosigillarioid lycopsids, and aneurophyte and archaeopterid progymnosperms.^[14] Fish were also undergoing a huge radiation, and tetrapodomorphs, such as the Frasnian-age Tiktaalik, were beginning to evolve leg-like structures.

Extinction patterns

Biological impact

The Kellwasser event and most other Later Devonian pulses primarily affected the marine community, and had a greater effect on shallow warm-water organisms than on cool-water organisms. The most important group to be affected by the Kellwasser event were the reef-builders of the great Devonian reef-systems, including the stromatoporoids, and the rugose and tabulate corals. Reefs of the later Devonian were dominated by sponges and calcifying bacteria, producing structures such as oncolites and stromatolites. The collapse of the reef system was so stark that bigger reef-building by new families of carbonate-secreting organisms, the modern scleractinian or "stony" corals, did not recover until the Mesozoic era.

Further taxa to be starkly affected include the brachiopods, trilobites, ammonites, conodonts, and acritarchs. Both graptolites and cystoids disappeared during this event. The surviving taxa show morphological trends through the event. Trilobites evolved smaller eyes in the run-up to the Kellwasser event, with eye size increasing again afterwards. This suggests vision was less important around the event, perhaps due to increasing water depth or turbidity. The brims of trilobites (i.e. the rims of their heads) also expanded across this period. The brims are thought to have served a respiratory purpose, and the increasing anoxia of waters led to an increase in their brim area in response. The shape of conodonts' feeding apparatus varied with the oxygen isotope ratio, and thus with the sea water temperature; this may relate to them occupying different trophic levels as nutrient input changed.^[15] As with most extinction events, specialist taxa occupying small niches were harder hit than generalists.^[2]

The Hangenberg event affected both marine and freshwater communities. This mass extinction affected ammonites and trilobites, as well as jawed vertebrates, including tetrapod ancestors.^[10]^[16]^{[citation needed]} The Hangenberg is linked to the extinction of 44% of high-level vertebrate clades, including all placoderms and most sarcopterygians, and the complete turnover of the vertebrate biota.^[10] 97% of vertebrate species disappeared, with only smaller forms surviving. After the event only sharks less than a meter and most fishes and tetrapods less than 10 centimeters remained, and it would take 40 million years before they started to increase in size again.^{[citation needed]} This led to the establishment of the modern vertebrate fauna in the Carboniferous, consisting mostly of actinopterygians, chondrichthyans, and tetrapods. Romer's gap, a 15 million-year hiatus in the early Carboniferous tetrapod record, has been linked to this event.^[10] Also, the poor Famennian record for marine invertebrates suggests that some of the losses attributed to the Kellwasser event likely actually occurred during the Hangenberg extinction.^[10]^[17]^{[citation needed]}

Magnitude

The late Devonian crash in biodiversity was more drastic than the familiar extinction event that closed the Cretaceous. A recent survey (McGhee 1996) estimates that 22% of all the 'families' of marine animals (largely invertebrates) were eliminated. The family is a great unit, and to lose so many signifies a deep loss of ecosystem diversity. On a smaller scale, 57% of genera and at least 75% of species did not survive into the Carboniferous. These latter estimates^[a] need to be treated with a degree of caution, as the estimates of species loss depend on surveys of Devonian marine taxa that are perhaps not well enough known to assess their true rate of losses, so it is difficult to estimate the effects of differential preservation and sampling biases during the Devonian.

Duration and timing

Extinction rates appear to have been higher than the background rate, for an extended interval covering the last 20–25 million years of the Devonian. During this time, about eight to ten distinct events can be seen, of which two stand out as particularly severe.^[18] The Kellwasser event was preceded by a longer period of prolonged biodiversity loss.^[19] The fossil record of the first 15 million years of the Carboniferous period which followed is largely void of terrestrial animal fossils, likely related to losses during the end-Devonian Hangenberg event. This period is known as Romer's gap.^[20]

The Kellwasser event

The Kellwasser event, named for its locus typicus, the Kellwassertal in Lower Saxony, Germany, is the term given to the extinction pulse that occurred near the Frasnian–Famennian boundary (372.2 ± 1.6 Ma). Most references to the "Late Devonian extinction" are in fact referring to the Kellwasser, which was the first event to be detected based on marine invertebrate record. There may in fact have been two closely spaced events here, as shown by the presence of two distinct anoxic shale layers.

The Hangenberg event

The Hangenberg event is found on or just below the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary (358.9 ± 0.4 Ma) and marks the last spike in the period of extinction. It is marked by an anoxic black shale layer and an overlying sandstone deposit.^[21] Unlike the Kellwasser event, the Hangenberg event affected both marine and terrestrial habitats.^[10]

Potential causes

Since the Kellwasser-related extinctions occurred over such a long time, it is difficult to assign a single cause, and indeed to separate cause from effect. The sedimentary record shows that the late Devonian was a time of environmental change, which directly affected organisms and caused extinction. What caused these changes is somewhat more open to debate.

From the end of the Middle Devonian (382.7 ± 1.6 Ma), into the Late Devonian (382.7 ± 1.6-358.9 ± 0.4 Ma), several environmental changes can be detected from the sedimentary record. Evidence exists of widespread anoxia in oceanic bottom waters;^[14] the rate of carbon burial shot up,^[14] and benthic organisms were devastated, especially in the tropics, and especially reef communities.^[14] Good evidence has been found for high-frequency sea-level changes around the Frasnian–Famennian Kellwasser event, with one sea level rise associated with the onset of anoxic deposits.^[22] The Hangenberg event has been associated with sea-level rise followed swiftly by glaciation-related sea-level fall.^[21]^[23]^{[citation needed]}

Possible triggers are as follows:

Extraterrestrial events

Bolide impacts can be dramatic triggers of mass extinctions. An asteroid impact was proposed as the prime cause of this faunal turnover.^[2]^[24] The impact that created the Siljan Ring either was just before the Kellwasser event or coincided with it.^[25] Most impact craters, such as the Kellwasser-aged Alamo and the Hangenberg-aged Woodleigh, cannot generally be dated with sufficient precision to link them to the event; others dated precisely are not contemporaneous with the extinction.^[1] Although some minor features of meteoric impact have been observed in places (iridium anomalies and microspherules), these were probably caused by other factors.^[26]^[27]

A more recent explanation suggests that a nearby supernova explosion was the cause for the specific Hangenberg event, which marks the boundary between the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, or even for a sequence of events covering several millions of years towards the end of the Devonian period. This could offer a possible explanation for the dramatic drop in atmospheric ozone that could have permitted massive ultraviolet damage to the genetic material of lifeforms, triggering a mass extinction. Recent research offers evidence of ultraviolet damage to pollen and spores over many thousands of years during this event as observed in the fossil record and that, in turn, points to a possible long-term destruction of the ozone layer.^[28] A supernova explosion is an alternative explanation to global temperature rise, that could account for the drop in atmospheric ozone. Detecting either of the long-lived, extra-terrestrial radioisotopes ¹⁴⁶Sm or ²⁴⁴Pu in one or more end-Devonian extinction strata would confirm a supernova origin. However, there is currently no direct evidence for this hypothesis.

Weathering and cooling

During the Devonian, land plants underwent a hugely significant phase of evolution. Their maximum height went from 30 cm at the start of the Devonian, to 30 m archaeopterids,^[29] at the end of the period. This increase in height was made possible by the evolution of advanced vascular systems, which permitted the growth of complex branching and rooting systems.^[14] In conjunction with this, the evolution of seeds permitted reproduction and dispersal in areas which were not waterlogged, allowing plants to colonise previously inhospitable inland and upland areas.^[14] The two factors combined to greatly magnify the role of plants on the global scale. In particular, Archaeopteris forests expanded rapidly during the closing stages of the Devonian.

These tall trees required deep rooting systems to acquire water and nutrients, and provide anchorage. These systems broke up the upper layers of bedrock and stabilized a deep layer of soil, which would have been of the order of metres thick. In contrast, early Devonian plants bore only rhizoids and rhizomes that could penetrate no more than a few centimeters. The mobilization of a large portion of soil had a huge effect: soil promotes weathering, the chemical breakdown of rocks, releasing ions which are nutrients for plants and algae.^[14] The relatively sudden input of nutrients into river water may have caused eutrophication and subsequent anoxia. For example, during an algal bloom, organic material formed at the surface can sink at such a rate that decomposing organisms use up all available oxygen by decaying them, creating anoxic conditions and suffocating bottom-dwelling fish. The fossil reefs of the Frasnian were dominated by stromatolites and (to a lesser degree) corals—organisms which only thrive in low-nutrient conditions. Therefore, the postulated influx of high levels of nutrients may have caused an extinction.^[14] Anoxic conditions correlate better with biotic crises than phases of cooling, suggesting anoxia may have played the dominant role in extinction.^[26]

The "greening" of the continents occurred during the Devonian. The covering of the planet's continents with massive photosynthesizing land plants in the first forests may have reduced CO₂ levels in the atmosphere. Since CO₂ is a greenhouse gas, reduced levels might have helped produce a chillier climate. Evidence such as glacial deposits in northern Brazil (near the Devonian South Pole) suggests widespread glaciation at the end of the Devonian, as a broad continental mass covered the polar region. A cause of the extinctions may have been an episode of global cooling, following the mild climate of the Devonian period. The Hangenberg event has also been linked to glaciation in the tropics equivalent to that of the Pleistocene ice age.^[21]

The weathering of silicate rocks also draws down CO₂ from the atmosphere. This acted together with the burial of organic matter to decrease atmospheric CO₂ concentrations from about 15 to three times present levels. Carbon in the form of plant matter would be produced on prodigious scales, and given the right conditions, could be stored and buried, eventually producing vast coal measures (e.g. in China) which locked the carbon out of the atmosphere and into the lithosphere.^[30] This reduction in atmospheric CO₂ would have caused global cooling and resulted in at least one period of late Devonian glaciation (and subsequent sea level fall),^[31]^{[citation needed]} probably fluctuating in intensity alongside the 40ka Milankovic cycle. The continued drawdown of organic carbon eventually pulled the Earth out of its Greenhouse Earth state into the Icehouse that continued throughout the Carboniferous and Permian.

Volcanic activity

Magmatism was suggested as a cause of the Late Devonian extinction in 2002.^[32] The end of the Devonian Period had extremely widespread trap magmatism and rifting in the Russian and Siberian platforms, which were situated above the hot mantle plumes and suggested as a cause of the Frasnian / Famennian and end-Devonian extinctions.^[33] The Viluy and Pripyat-Dnieper-Donets large igneous provinces were suggested to correlate with the Frasnian / Famennian extinction and the Kola and Timan-Pechora magmatism was suggested to correspond to the end Devonian-Carboniferous extinction.^[33]

Most recently, scientists have confirmed a correlation between Viluy traps (in the Vilyuysk region) on the Siberian Craton and the Kellwasser extinction by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating.^[34]^[35]

The Viluy Large igneous province covers most of the present day north-eastern margin of the Siberian Platform. The triple-junction rift system was formed during the Devonian Period; the Viluy rift is the western remaining branch of the system and two other branches form the modern margin of the Siberian Platform. Volcanic rocks are covered with post Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous sediments.^[36] Volcanic rocks, dyke belts, and sills that cover more than 320,000 km², and a gigantic amount of magmatic material (more than 1 million km³) formed in the Viluy branch.^[36]

Ages show^{[clarification needed]} that the two volcanic phase hypotheses are well supported and the weighted mean ages of each volcanic phase are 376.7±3.4 and 364.4±3.4 Ma, or 373.4±2.1 and 363.2±2.0 Ma, which the first volcanic phase is in agreement with the age of 372.2±3.2 Ma proposed for the Kellwasser event. However, the second volcanic phase is slightly older than Hangenberg event which place at 358.9±1.2 Ma.^{[clarification needed]}^[35] Viluy magmatism may have injected enough CO₂ and SO₂ into the atmosphere to have generated a destabilised greenhouse and ecosystem, causing rapid global cooling, sea-level falls and marine anoxia occur during Kellwasser black shale deposition.^[37]^[15]^[38]^[39]

Other suggestions

Other mechanisms put forward to explain the extinctions include tectonic-driven climate change, sea-level change, and oceanic overturning^{[clarification needed]}. These have all been discounted because they are unable to explain the duration, selectivity, and periodicity of the extinctions.^[26] Another overlooked contributor could be the now extinct Cerberean Caldera which was active in the Late Devonian period and thought to have undergone a super eruption approximately 374 Million years ago.^[b]^[41] Remains of this caldera can be found in the modern day state of Victoria, Australia.

Notes

^ The species estimate is the toughest to assess and most likely to be adjusted.
^ Though a super eruption on its own would have devastating effects in both short term and long term, the Late Devonian extinction was caused by a series of events which contributed to the extinction.^[40]

References

^ ^a ^b Racki, 2005
^ ^a ^b ^c McGhee, George R. Jr, 1996. The Late Devonian Mass Extinction: the Frasnian/Famennian Crisis (Columbia University Press) ISBN 0-231-07504-9
^ "John Baez, Extinction, April 8, 2006".
^ Caplan, Mark L; Bustin, R.Mark (May 1999). "Devonian–Carboniferous Hangenberg mass extinction event, widespread organic-rich mudrock and anoxia: causes and consequences". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 148 (4): 187–207. doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(98)00218-1.
^ Stigall, Alycia (2011). "GSA Today - Speciation collapse and invasive species dynamics during the Late Devonian "Mass Extinction"". www.geosociety.org. Retrieved 2021-03-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ Sole, R. V., and Newman, M., 2002. "Extinctions and Biodiversity in the Fossil Record - Volume Two, The earth system: biological and ecological dimensions of global environment change" pp. 297-391, Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change John Wiley & Sons.
^ Sole, R. V., and Newman, M. Patterns of extinction and biodiversity in the fossil record Archived 2012-03-14 at the Wayback Machine
^ Bambach, R.K.; Knoll, A.H.; Wang, S.C. (December 2004). "Origination, extinction, and mass depletions of marine diversity". Paleobiology. 30 (4): 522–542. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2004)030<0522:OEAMDO>2.0.CO;2.
^ ^a ^b Stigall, 2011
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Sallan, L. C.; Coates, M. I. (June 2010). "End-Devonian extinction and a bottleneck in the early evolution of modern jawed vertebrates". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (22): 10131–10135. doi:10.1073/pnas.0914000107.
^ Parry, S.F.; Noble S.R.; Crowley Q.G.; Wellman C.H. (2011). "A high-precision U–Pb age constraint on the Rhynie Chert Konservat-Lagerstätte: time scale and other implications". Journal of the Geological Society. 168 (4). London: Geological Society: 863–872. doi:10.1144/0016-76492010-043.
^ Kaufmann, B.; Trapp, E.; Mezger, K. (2004). "The numerical age of the Upper Frasnian (Upper Devonian) Kellwasser horizons: A new U-Pb zircon date from Steinbruch Schmidt(Kellerwald, Germany)". The Journal of Geology. 112 (4): 495–501. Bibcode:2004JG....112..495K. doi:10.1086/421077.
^ McKerrow, W.S.; Mac Niocaill, C.; Dewey, J.F. (2000). "The Caledonian Orogeny redefined". Journal of the Geological Society. 157 (6): 1149–1154. Bibcode:2000JGSoc.157.1149M. doi:10.1144/jgs.157.6.1149. S2CID 53608809.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Algeo, T.J.; Scheckler, S. E. (1998). "Terrestrial-marine teleconnections in the Devonian: links between the evolution of land plants, weathering processes, and marine anoxic events". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 353 (1365): 113–130. doi:10.1098/rstb.1998.0195. PMC 1692181.
^ ^a ^b Balter, Vincent; Renaud, Sabrina; Girard, Catherine; Joachimski, Michael M. (November 2008). "Record of climate-driven morphological changes in 376 Ma Devonian fossils". Geology. 36 (11): 907. Bibcode:2008Geo....36..907B. doi:10.1130/G24989A.1.
^ Korn, 2004
^ Foote, 2005
^ Algeo, T.J., S.E. Scheckler and J. B. Maynard (2001). "Effects of the Middle to Late Devonian spread of vascular land plants on weathering regimes, marine biota, and global climate". In P.G. Gensel; D. Edwards (eds.). Plants Invade the Land: Evolutionary and Environmental Approaches. Columbia Univ. Press: New York. pp. 13–236.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Streel, M.; Caputo, M.V.; Loboziak, S.; Melo, J.H.G. (2000). "Late Frasnian--Famennian climates based on palynomorph analyses and the question of the Late Devonian glaciations". Earth-Science Reviews. 52 (1–3): 121–173. Bibcode:2000ESRv...52..121S. doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(00)00026-X.
^ Ward, P.; Labandeira, C.; Laurin, M; Berner, R (2006). "Confirmation of Romer's Gap as a low oxygen interval constraining the timing of initial arthropod and vertebrate terrestrialization". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (45): 16818–16822. Bibcode:2006PNAS..10316818W. doi:10.1073/pnas.0607824103. PMC 1636538. PMID 17065318.
^ ^a ^b ^c Brezinski, D.K.; Cecil, C.B.; Skema, V.W.; Kertis, C.A. (2009). "Evidence for long-term climate change in Upper Devonian strata of the central Appalachians". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 284 (3–4): 315–325. Bibcode:2009PPP...284..315B. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.10.010.
^ David P. G. Bond; Paul B. Wignalla (2008). "The role of sea-level change and marine anoxia in the Frasnian-Famennian (Late Devonian) mass extinction" (PDF). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 263 (3–4): 107–118. Bibcode:2008PPP...263..107B. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.02.015.
^ Algeo et al., 2008
^ Digby McLaren, 1969
^ J.R. Morrow and C.A. Sandberg. Revised Dating Of Alamo And Some Other Late Devonian Impacts In Relation To Resulting Mass Extinction, 68th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting (2005)
^ ^a ^b ^c Algeo, T.J.; Berner, R.A.; Maynard, J.B.; Scheckler, S.E.; Archives, G.S.A.T. (1995). "Late Devonian Oceanic Anoxic Events and Biotic Crises: "Rooted" in the Evolution of Vascular Land Plants?" (PDF). GSA Today. 5 (3).
^ Wang K, Attrep M, Orth CJ (December 2017). "Global iridium anomaly, mass extinction, and redox change at the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary". Geology. 21 (12): 1071–1074. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1993)021<1071:giamea>2.3.co;2.
^ Fields, Brian D.; Melott, Adrian L.; Ellis, John; Ertel, Adrienne F.; Fry, Brian J.; Lieberman, Bruce S.; Liu, Zhenghai; Miller, Jesse A.; Thomas, Brian C. (2020-08-18). "Supernova triggers for end-Devonian extinctions". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (35): 21008–21010. arXiv:2007.01887. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11721008F. doi:10.1073/pnas.2013774117. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 7474607. PMID 32817482.
^ Beck, C.B. (April 1962). "Reconstructions of Archaeopteris, and further consideration of its phylogenetic position". American Journal of Botany. 49: 373–382.
^ Carbon locked in Devonian coal, the earliest of Earth's coal deposits, is currently being returned to the atmosphere.
^ (Caputo 1985; Berner 1992, 1994) in Algeo 1998
^ Kravchinsky, V.A.; K.M. Konstantinov; V. Courtillot; J.-P. Valet; J.I. Savrasov; S.D. Cherniy; S.G. Mishenin; B.S. Parasotka (2002). "Palaeomagnetism of East Siberian traps and kimberlites: two new poles and palaeogeographic reconstructions at about 360 and 250 Ma". Geophysical Journal International. 148: 1–33. doi:10.1046/j.0956-540x.2001.01548.x.
^ ^a ^b Kravchinsky, V. A. (2012). "Paleozoic large igneous provinces of Northern Eurasia: Correlation with mass extinction events". Global and Planetary Change. 86–87: 31–36. Bibcode:2012GPC....86...31K. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.01.007.
^ Courtillot, V.; et al. (2010). "Preliminary dating of the Viluy traps (Eastern Siberia): Eruption at the time of Late Devonian extinction events?". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 102 (1–2): 29–59. Bibcode:2010ESRv..102...29K. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.06.004.
^ ^a ^b Ricci, J.; et al. (2013). "New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and K–Ar ages of the Viluy traps (Eastern Siberia): Further evidence for a relationship with the Frasnian–Famennian mass extinction". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 386: 531–540. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.06.020.
^ ^a ^b Kuzmin, M.I.; Yarmolyuk, V.V.; Kravchinsky, V.A. (2010). "Phanerozoic hot spot traces and paleogeographic reconstructions of the Siberian continent based on interaction with the African large low shear velocity province". Earth-Science Reviews. 148 (1–2): 1–33. Bibcode:2010ESRv..102...29K. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.06.004.
^ Bond, D. P. G.; Wignall, P. B. (2014). "Large igneous provinces and mass extinctions: An update". GSA Special Papers. 505: 29–55.
^ Joachimski, M. M.; et al. (2002). "Conodont apatite δ¹⁸O signatures indicate climatic cooling as a trigger of the Late Devonian mass extinction". Geology. 30 (8): 711. Bibcode:2002Geo....30..711J. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0711:caosic>2.0.co;2.
^ Ma, X. P.; et al. (2015). "The Late Devonian Frasnian–Famennian event in South China — Patterns and causes of extinctions, sea level changes, and isotope variations". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 448: 224–244. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.10.047.
^ "Devonian Mass Extinction: Causes, Facts, Evidence & Animals". Study.com. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
^ Clemens, J. D.; Birch, W. D. (2012). "Assembly of a zoned volcanic magma chamber from multiple magma batches: The Cerberean Cauldron, Marysville Igneous Complex, Australia". Lithos. 155: 272–288. Bibcode:2012Litho.155..272C. doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2012.09.007.

Sources

McGhee, George R. (1 January 1996). The Late Devonian Mass Extinction: The Frasnian/Famennian Crisis. Columbia University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-231-07505-3. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
Racki, Grzegorz, "Toward understanding Late Devonian global events: few answers, many questions" in Jeff Over, Jared Morrow, P. Wignall (eds.), Understanding Late Devonian and Permian-Triassic Biotic and Climatic Events, Elsevier, 2005.

External links

Late Devonian mass extinctions at The Devonian Times. An excellent overview.
Devonian Mass Extinction
BBC "The Extinction files" "The Late Devonian Extinction"
"Understanding Late Devonian and Permian-Triassic Biotic and Climatic Events: Towards an Integrated Approach": a Geological Society of America conference in 2003 reflects current approaches
PBS: Deep Time

[18] The species estimate is the toughest to assess and most likely to be adjusted.

[42] Though a super eruption on its own would have devastating effects in both short term and long term, the Late Devonian extinction was caused by a series of events which contributed to the extinction.^[40]

[Racki,_2005-1] Racki, 2005

[McGhee-2] McGhee, George R. Jr, 1996. The Late Devonian Mass Extinction: the Frasnian/Famennian Crisis (Columbia University Press) ISBN 0-231-07504-9

[ucr-3] "John Baez, Extinction, April 8, 2006".

[4] Caplan, Mark L; Bustin, R.Mark (May 1999). "Devonian–Carboniferous Hangenberg mass extinction event, widespread organic-rich mudrock and anoxia: causes and consequences". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 148 (4): 187–207. doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(98)00218-1.

[5] Stigall, Alycia (2011). "GSA Today - Speciation collapse and invasive species dynamics during the Late Devonian "Mass Extinction"". www.geosociety.org. Retrieved 2021-03-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[sole-6] Sole, R. V., and Newman, M., 2002. "Extinctions and Biodiversity in the Fossil Record - Volume Two, The earth system: biological and ecological dimensions of global environment change" pp. 297-391, Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change John Wiley & Sons.

[7] Sole, R. V., and Newman, M. Patterns of extinction and biodiversity in the fossil record Archived 2012-03-14 at the Wayback Machine

[8] Bambach, R.K.; Knoll, A.H.; Wang, S.C. (December 2004). "Origination, extinction, and mass depletions of marine diversity". Paleobiology. 30 (4): 522–542. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2004)030<0522:OEAMDO>2.0.CO;2.

[Stigall,_2011-9] Stigall, 2011

[Sallan_and_Coates,_2010-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Sallan, L. C.; Coates, M. I. (June 2010). "End-Devonian extinction and a bottleneck in the early evolution of modern jawed vertebrates". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (22): 10131–10135. doi:10.1073/pnas.0914000107.

[Parry-11] Parry, S.F.; Noble S.R.; Crowley Q.G.; Wellman C.H. (2011). "A high-precision U–Pb age constraint on the Rhynie Chert Konservat-Lagerstätte: time scale and other implications". Journal of the Geological Society. 168 (4). London: Geological Society: 863–872. doi:10.1144/0016-76492010-043.

[Kaufmann2004-12] Kaufmann, B.; Trapp, E.; Mezger, K. (2004). "The numerical age of the Upper Frasnian (Upper Devonian) Kellwasser horizons: A new U-Pb zircon date from Steinbruch Schmidt(Kellerwald, Germany)". The Journal of Geology. 112 (4): 495–501. Bibcode:2004JG....112..495K. doi:10.1086/421077.

[McKerrow-13] McKerrow, W.S.; Mac Niocaill, C.; Dewey, J.F. (2000). "The Caledonian Orogeny redefined". Journal of the Geological Society. 157 (6): 1149–1154. Bibcode:2000JGSoc.157.1149M. doi:10.1144/jgs.157.6.1149. S2CID 53608809.

[Algeo1998-14] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Algeo, T.J.; Scheckler, S. E. (1998). "Terrestrial-marine teleconnections in the Devonian: links between the evolution of land plants, weathering processes, and marine anoxic events". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 353 (1365): 113–130. doi:10.1098/rstb.1998.0195. PMC 1692181.

[Balter-15] Balter, Vincent; Renaud, Sabrina; Girard, Catherine; Joachimski, Michael M. (November 2008). "Record of climate-driven morphological changes in 376 Ma Devonian fossils". Geology. 36 (11): 907. Bibcode:2008Geo....36..907B. doi:10.1130/G24989A.1.

[16] Korn, 2004

[17] Foote, 2005

[Algeo2001-19] Algeo, T.J., S.E. Scheckler and J. B. Maynard (2001). "Effects of the Middle to Late Devonian spread of vascular land plants on weathering regimes, marine biota, and global climate". In P.G. Gensel; D. Edwards (eds.). Plants Invade the Land: Evolutionary and Environmental Approaches. Columbia Univ. Press: New York. pp. 13–236.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[Streel2000-20] Streel, M.; Caputo, M.V.; Loboziak, S.; Melo, J.H.G. (2000). "Late Frasnian--Famennian climates based on palynomorph analyses and the question of the Late Devonian glaciations". Earth-Science Reviews. 52 (1–3): 121–173. Bibcode:2000ESRv...52..121S. doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(00)00026-X.

[Wardetal06-21] Ward, P.; Labandeira, C.; Laurin, M; Berner, R (2006). "Confirmation of Romer's Gap as a low oxygen interval constraining the timing of initial arthropod and vertebrate terrestrialization". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (45): 16818–16822. Bibcode:2006PNAS..10316818W. doi:10.1073/pnas.0607824103. PMC 1636538. PMID 17065318.

[Brezinski_et_al._2009-22] Brezinski, D.K.; Cecil, C.B.; Skema, V.W.; Kertis, C.A. (2009). "Evidence for long-term climate change in Upper Devonian strata of the central Appalachians". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 284 (3–4): 315–325. Bibcode:2009PPP...284..315B. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.10.010.

[Bond2008-23] David P. G. Bond; Paul B. Wignalla (2008). "The role of sea-level change and marine anoxia in the Frasnian-Famennian (Late Devonian) mass extinction" (PDF). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 263 (3–4): 107–118. Bibcode:2008PPP...263..107B. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.02.015.

[24] Algeo et al., 2008

[25] Digby McLaren, 1969

[26] J.R. Morrow and C.A. Sandberg. Revised Dating Of Alamo And Some Other Late Devonian Impacts In Relation To Resulting Mass Extinction, 68th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting (2005)

[Algeo1995-27] Algeo, T.J.; Berner, R.A.; Maynard, J.B.; Scheckler, S.E.; Archives, G.S.A.T. (1995). "Late Devonian Oceanic Anoxic Events and Biotic Crises: "Rooted" in the Evolution of Vascular Land Plants?" (PDF). GSA Today. 5 (3).

[28] Wang K, Attrep M, Orth CJ (December 2017). "Global iridium anomaly, mass extinction, and redox change at the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary". Geology. 21 (12): 1071–1074. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1993)021<1071:giamea>2.3.co;2.

[29] Fields, Brian D.; Melott, Adrian L.; Ellis, John; Ertel, Adrienne F.; Fry, Brian J.; Lieberman, Bruce S.; Liu, Zhenghai; Miller, Jesse A.; Thomas, Brian C. (2020-08-18). "Supernova triggers for end-Devonian extinctions". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (35): 21008–21010. arXiv:2007.01887. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11721008F. doi:10.1073/pnas.2013774117. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 7474607. PMID 32817482.

[Beck-30] Beck, C.B. (April 1962). "Reconstructions of Archaeopteris, and further consideration of its phylogenetic position". American Journal of Botany. 49: 373–382.

[31] Carbon locked in Devonian coal, the earliest of Earth's coal deposits, is currently being returned to the atmosphere.

[32] (Caputo 1985; Berner 1992, 1994) in Algeo 1998

[Krav2002-33] Kravchinsky, V.A.; K.M. Konstantinov; V. Courtillot; J.-P. Valet; J.I. Savrasov; S.D. Cherniy; S.G. Mishenin; B.S. Parasotka (2002). "Palaeomagnetism of East Siberian traps and kimberlites: two new poles and palaeogeographic reconstructions at about 360 and 250 Ma". Geophysical Journal International. 148: 1–33. doi:10.1046/j.0956-540x.2001.01548.x.

[Krav2012-34] Kravchinsky, V. A. (2012). "Paleozoic large igneous provinces of Northern Eurasia: Correlation with mass extinction events". Global and Planetary Change. 86–87: 31–36. Bibcode:2012GPC....86...31K. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.01.007.

[35] Courtillot, V.; et al. (2010). "Preliminary dating of the Viluy traps (Eastern Siberia): Eruption at the time of Late Devonian extinction events?". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 102 (1–2): 29–59. Bibcode:2010ESRv..102...29K. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.06.004.

[:1-36] Ricci, J.; et al. (2013). "New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and K–Ar ages of the Viluy traps (Eastern Siberia): Further evidence for a relationship with the Frasnian–Famennian mass extinction". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 386: 531–540. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.06.020.

[Kuz2010-37] Kuzmin, M.I.; Yarmolyuk, V.V.; Kravchinsky, V.A. (2010). "Phanerozoic hot spot traces and paleogeographic reconstructions of the Siberian continent based on interaction with the African large low shear velocity province". Earth-Science Reviews. 148 (1–2): 1–33. Bibcode:2010ESRv..102...29K. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.06.004.

[B2014-38] Bond, D. P. G.; Wignall, P. B. (2014). "Large igneous provinces and mass extinctions: An update". GSA Special Papers. 505: 29–55.

[39] Joachimski, M. M.; et al. (2002). "Conodont apatite δ¹⁸O signatures indicate climatic cooling as a trigger of the Late Devonian mass extinction". Geology. 30 (8): 711. Bibcode:2002Geo....30..711J. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0711:caosic>2.0.co;2.

[40] Ma, X. P.; et al. (2015). "The Late Devonian Frasnian–Famennian event in South China — Patterns and causes of extinctions, sea level changes, and isotope variations". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 448: 224–244. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.10.047.

[41] "Devonian Mass Extinction: Causes, Facts, Evidence & Animals". Study.com. Retrieved 4 October 2019.

[Cerberean_Caldera-43] Clemens, J. D.; Birch, W. D. (2012). "Assembly of a zoned volcanic magma chamber from multiple magma batches: The Cerberean Cauldron, Marysville Igneous Complex, Australia". Lithos. 155: 272–288. Bibcode:2012Litho.155..272C. doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2012.09.007.

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@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 By the Late Devonian, the land had been colonized by [[plants]] and [[insects]]. In the oceans, massive [[reef]]s were built by corals and [[Stromatoporoidea|stromatoporoids]]. [[Euramerica]] and [[Gondwana]] were beginning to converge into what would become [[Pangaea]]. The extinction seems to have only affected [[marine life]]. Hard-hit groups include [[brachiopod]]s, [[trilobite]]s, and reef-building [[organism]]s; the latter almost completely disappeared. The causes of these extinctions are unclear. Leading hypotheses include changes in sea level and ocean [[anoxic event|anoxia]], possibly triggered by global cooling or oceanic volcanism. The impact of a [[comet]] or another extraterrestrial body has also been suggested,<ref>Sole, R. V., and Newman, M. [http://www.santafe.edu/media/workingpapers/99-12-079.pdf Patterns of extinction and biodiversity in the fossil record] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314144008/http://www.santafe.edu/media/workingpapers/99-12-079.pdf |date=2012-03-14 }}</ref> such as the [[Siljan Ring]] event in Sweden. Some statistical analysis suggests that the decrease in diversity was caused more by a decrease in [[speciation]] than by an increase in extinctions.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Bambach | first1=R.K. | last2=Knoll | first2=A.H. | last3=Wang | first3=S.C. | title=Origination, extinction, and mass depletions of marine diversity | journal=Paleobiology | volume=30 | issue=4 | pages=522–542 | date=December 2004 | url=http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&issn=0094-8373&volume=30&page=522 | doi=10.1666/0094-8373(2004)030<0522:OEAMDO>2.0.CO;2  }}</ref><ref name="Stigall, 2011">Stigall, 2011</ref> This might have been caused by invasions of cosmopolitan species, rather than by any single event.<ref name="Stigall, 2011"/> [[Placodermi|Placoderms]] were hit hard by the Kellwasser event and completely died out in the Hangenberg event, but most other jawed vertebrates were less strongly impacted. Agnathans (jawless fish) were in decline long before the end of the Frasnian and were nearly wiped out by the extinctions.<ref name="Sallan and Coates, 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Sallan |first1=L. C. |last2=Coates |first2=M. I. |title=End-Devonian extinction and a bottleneck in the early evolution of modern jawed vertebrates |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=June 2010 |volume=107 |issue=22 |pages=10131–10135 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0914000107|doi-access=free }}</ref>
+The extinction events were accompanied by widespread oceanic [[anoxic event|anoxia]]; that is, a lack of oxygen, prohibiting decay and allowing the preservation of organic matter. This, combined with the ability of porous reef rocks to hold oil, has led to Devonian rocks being an important source of oil, especially in the USA.
 ==Late Devonian world==
 {{Fish graphical timeline}}
-[[File:Tiktaalik restoration by ObsidianSoul 01.png|thumb|left|190px|A restored ''[[Tiktaalik]]'']]
 During the Late Devonian, the continents were arranged differently from today, with a supercontinent, [[Gondwana]], covering much of the Southern Hemisphere. The [[continent]] of [[Siberia (continent)|Siberia]] occupied the Northern Hemisphere, while an equatorial continent, [[Laurussia]] (formed by the collision of [[Baltica]] and [[Laurentia]]), was [[continental drift|drifting]] towards Gondwana, closing the [[Iapetus Ocean]]. The Caledonian mountains were also growing across what is now the Scottish Highlands and Scandinavia, while the [[Appalachians]] rose over America.<ref name=McKerrow>{{cite journal |last1=McKerrow |first1=W.S. |last2=Mac Niocaill |first2=C. |last3=Dewey |first3=J.F. |date=2000 |title=The Caledonian Orogeny redefined |journal=Journal of the Geological Society |volume=157 |issue=6 |pages=1149–1154 |doi=10.1144/jgs.157.6.1149 |bibcode=2000JGSoc.157.1149M |s2cid=53608809 |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/c4345504fc969eb976baef75f7160de9af008c73 }}</ref>
 The biota was also very different. Plants, which had been on land in forms similar to mosses, liverworts, and lichens since the [[Ordovician]], had just developed roots, seeds, and [[vascular|water transport]] systems that allowed them to survive away from places that were constantly wet—and so grew huge forests on the highlands. Several clades had developed a shrubby or tree-like habitat by the Late Givetian, including the [[Cladoxylopsid|cladoxylalean]] [[fern]]s, [[lepidosigillarian|lepidosigillarioid]] [[lycopsid]]s, and [[aneurophyte]] and [[archaeopteris|archaeopterid]] [[progymnosperm]]s.<ref name=Algeo1998/> Fish were also undergoing a huge radiation, and tetrapodomorphs, such as the Frasnian-age ''[[Tiktaalik]]'', were beginning to evolve leg-like structures.
+==Extinction patterns==
+===Biological impact===
+The Kellwasser event and most other Later Devonian pulses primarily affected the marine community, and had a greater effect on shallow warm-water organisms than on cool-water organisms. The most important group to be affected by the Kellwasser event were the reef-builders of the great Devonian reef-systems, including the [[stromatoporoid]]s, and the [[rugosa|rugose]] and [[tabulate]] [[coral]]s. Reefs of the later Devonian were dominated by sponges and calcifying bacteria, producing structures such as [[oncolite]]s and [[stromatolites]]. The collapse of the reef system was so stark that bigger reef-building by new families of carbonate-secreting organisms, the modern [[scleractinia|scleractinian or "stony" corals]], did not recover until the Mesozoic era.[[File:Tiktaalik restoration by ObsidianSoul 01.png|thumb|left|190px|''[[Tiktaalik]]'', an early air-breathing [[Elpistostegalia|elpistostegalian]]. They were among the vertebrates which died out due to the Kellwasser event]]Further taxa to be starkly affected include the [[brachiopod]]s, [[trilobite]]s, [[ammonite]]s, [[conodont]]s, and [[acritarch]]s. Both [[graptolites]] and [[cystoids]] disappeared during this event. The surviving taxa show morphological trends through the event. Trilobites evolved smaller eyes in the run-up to the Kellwasser event, with eye size increasing again afterwards. This suggests vision was less important around the event, perhaps due to increasing water depth or turbidity. The brims of trilobites (i.e. the rims of their heads) also expanded across this period. The brims are thought to have served a respiratory purpose, and the increasing anoxia of waters led to an increase in their brim area in response. The shape of conodonts' feeding apparatus varied with [[Δ18O|the oxygen isotope ratio]], and thus with the sea water temperature; this may relate to them occupying different [[trophic level]]s as nutrient input changed.<ref name="Balter">{{cite journal|last1=Balter|first1=Vincent|last2=Renaud|first2=Sabrina|last3=Girard|first3=Catherine|last4=Joachimski|first4=Michael M.|date=November 2008|title=Record of climate-driven morphological changes in 376&nbsp;Ma Devonian fossils|journal=Geology|volume=36|issue=11|pages=907|bibcode=2008Geo....36..907B|doi=10.1130/G24989A.1}}</ref> As with most extinction events, specialist taxa occupying small niches were harder hit than generalists.<ref name="McGhee" />
+The Hangenberg event affected both marine and freshwater communities. This mass extinction affected [[ammonite]]s and [[trilobite]]s, as well as jawed vertebrates, including [[tetrapod]] ancestors.<ref name="Sallan and Coates, 2010" /><ref>Korn, 2004</ref>{{citation needed|reason=incomplete|date=January 2015}} The Hangenberg is linked to the extinction of 44% of high-level vertebrate [[clade]]s, including all placoderms and most [[sarcopterygian]]s, and the complete turnover of the vertebrate biota.<ref name="Sallan and Coates, 2010" /> 97% of vertebrate species disappeared, with only smaller forms surviving. After the event only sharks less than a meter and most fishes and tetrapods less than 10&nbsp;centimeters remained, and it would take 40 million years before they started to increase in size again.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} This led to the establishment of the modern vertebrate fauna in the [[Carboniferous]], consisting mostly of [[actinopterygii|actinopterygians]], [[chondrichthyes|chondrichthyans]], and [[tetrapod]]s. [[Romer's gap]], a 15 million-year hiatus in the early Carboniferous tetrapod record, has been linked to this event.<ref name="Sallan and Coates, 2010" /> Also, the poor Famennian record for marine invertebrates suggests that some of the losses attributed to the Kellwasser event likely actually occurred during the Hangenberg extinction.<ref name="Sallan and Coates, 2010" /><ref>Foote, 2005</ref>{{citation needed|reason=incomplete|date=January 2015}}
+===Magnitude===
+The late Devonian crash in [[biodiversity]] was more drastic than the familiar [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction event]] that closed the [[Cretaceous]]. A recent survey (McGhee 1996) estimates that 22% of all the '[[family (biology)|families]]' of marine animals (largely [[invertebrate]]s) were eliminated. The family is a great unit, and to lose so many signifies a deep loss of ecosystem diversity. On a smaller scale, 57% of genera and at least 75% of species did not survive into the Carboniferous. These latter estimates<ref group="lower-alpha">The species estimate is the toughest to assess and most likely to be adjusted.</ref> need to be treated with a degree of caution, as the estimates of species loss depend on surveys of Devonian marine taxa that are perhaps not well enough known to assess their true rate of losses, so it is difficult to estimate the effects of differential preservation and [[sampling bias]]es during the Devonian.
 ==Duration and timing==
@@ Line 26: / Line 36: @@
 The [[Hangenberg event]] is found on or just below the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary (358.9 ± 0.4 Ma) and marks the last spike in the period of extinction. It is marked by an anoxic black shale layer and an overlying sandstone deposit.<ref name="Brezinski et al. 2009">{{cite journal |title=Evidence for long-term climate change in Upper Devonian strata of the central Appalachians |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.10.010 |author1=Brezinski, D.K. |author2=Cecil, C.B. |author3=Skema, V.W. |author4=Kertis, C.A. |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=284 |issue=3–4 |year=2009|pages=315–325 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223209616|bibcode=2009PPP...284..315B }}</ref> Unlike the Kellwasser event, the Hangenberg event affected both marine and terrestrial habitats.<ref name="Sallan and Coates, 2010"/>
+==Potential causes==
-==Causes==
 Since the Kellwasser-related extinctions occurred over such a long time, it is difficult to assign a single cause, and indeed to separate cause from effect. The sedimentary record shows that the late Devonian was a time of environmental change,<!--this needs to be more specific to transmit information--> which directly affected organisms and caused extinction. What caused these changes is somewhat more open to debate.
@@ Line 33: / Line 43: @@
 Possible triggers are as follows:
-===Bolide impact===
+===Extraterrestrial events===
 [[Bolide]] impacts can be dramatic triggers of mass extinctions. An asteroid impact was proposed as the prime cause of this faunal turnover.<ref name="McGhee" /><ref>Digby McLaren, 1969</ref> The impact that created the [[Siljan Ring]] either was just before the Kellwasser event or coincided with it.<ref>J.R. Morrow and C.A. Sandberg. [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/metsoc2005/pdf/5148.pdf Revised Dating Of Alamo And Some Other Late Devonian Impacts In Relation To Resulting Mass Extinction], 68th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting (2005)</ref> Most impact craters, such as the Kellwasser-aged [[Alamo bolide impact|Alamo]] and the Hangenberg-aged [[Woodleigh crater|Woodleigh]], cannot generally be dated with sufficient precision to link them to the event; others dated precisely are not contemporaneous with the extinction.<ref name="Racki, 2005"/> Although some minor features of meteoric impact have been observed in places (iridium anomalies and microspherules), these were probably caused by other factors.<ref name=Algeo1995/><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Wang K, Attrep M, Orth CJ |date=December 2017 |title=Global iridium anomaly, mass extinction, and redox change at the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary |journal=Geology |volume=21 |issue=12 |pages=1071–1074 |doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1993)021<1071:giamea>2.3.co;2}}</ref>
+A more recent explanation suggests that a nearby [[supernova]] explosion was the cause for the specific [[Hangenberg event|Hangenberg]] event, which marks the boundary between the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, or even for a sequence of events covering several millions of years towards the end of the Devonian period. This could offer a possible explanation for the dramatic drop in atmospheric ozone that could have permitted massive ultraviolet damage to the genetic material of lifeforms, triggering a mass extinction. Recent research offers evidence of ultraviolet damage to pollen and spores over many thousands of years during this event as observed in the fossil record and that, in turn, points to a possible long-term destruction of the ozone layer.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fields|first1=Brian D.|last2=Melott|first2=Adrian L.|last3=Ellis|first3=John|last4=Ertel|first4=Adrienne F.|last5=Fry|first5=Brian J.|last6=Lieberman|first6=Bruce S.|last7=Liu|first7=Zhenghai|last8=Miller|first8=Jesse A.|last9=Thomas|first9=Brian C.|date=2020-08-18|title=Supernova triggers for end-Devonian extinctions|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=117|issue=35|pages=21008–21010|language=en|doi=10.1073/pnas.2013774117|issn=0027-8424|pmid=32817482|pmc=7474607|arxiv=2007.01887|bibcode=2020PNAS..11721008F|doi-access=free}}</ref> A supernova explosion is an alternative explanation to global temperature rise, that could account for the drop in atmospheric ozone. Detecting either of the long-lived, extra-terrestrial radioisotopes <sup>146</sup>Sm or <sup>244</sup>Pu in one or more end-Devonian extinction strata would confirm a supernova origin. However, there is currently no direct evidence for this hypothesis.
-===Supernova event===
-A more recent explanation presents a nearby [[supernova]] explosion as the cause for the specific [[Hangenberg event|Hangenberg]] event, which marks the boundary between the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, or even for a sequence of events covering several millions of years towards the end of the Devonian period. This could offer a possible explanation for the dramatic drop in atmospheric ozone that could have permitted massive ultraviolet damage to the genetic material of lifeforms, triggering a mass extinction. Recent research offers evidence of ultraviolet damage to pollen and spores over many thousands of years during this event as observed in the fossil record and that, in turn, points to a possible long-term destruction of the ozone layer.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fields|first1=Brian D.|last2=Melott|first2=Adrian L.|last3=Ellis|first3=John|last4=Ertel|first4=Adrienne F.|last5=Fry|first5=Brian J.|last6=Lieberman|first6=Bruce S.|last7=Liu|first7=Zhenghai|last8=Miller|first8=Jesse A.|last9=Thomas|first9=Brian C.|date=2020-08-18|title=Supernova triggers for end-Devonian extinctions|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=117|issue=35|pages=21008–21010|language=en|doi=10.1073/pnas.2013774117|issn=0027-8424|pmid=32817482|pmc=7474607|arxiv=2007.01887|bibcode=2020PNAS..11721008F|doi-access=free}}</ref> A supernova explosion is an alternative explanation to global temperature rise, that could account for the drop in atmospheric ozone. Detecting either of the long-lived, extra-terrestrial radioisotopes <sup>146</sup>Sm or <sup>244</sup>Pu in one or more end-Devonian extinction strata would confirm a supernova origin.
-===Plant evolution===
+===Weathering and cooling===
-During the Devonian, land plants underwent a hugely significant phase of evolution. Their maximum height went from 30&nbsp;cm at the start of the Devonian, to {{nowrap|30 m}} Archaeopterids,<ref name=Beck>{{cite journal|first=C.B. |last=Beck|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/141981/ajb214953.pdf;jsessionid=0F631BFED2336656C5828043FE60D867?sequence=1|date=April 1962 |title=Reconstructions of ''Archaeopteris'', and further consideration of its phylogenetic position |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=49 |pages=373–382}}</ref> at the end of the period. This increase in height was made possible by the evolution of advanced vascular systems, which permitted the growth of complex branching and rooting systems.<ref name=Algeo1998>{{cite journal|author=Algeo, T.J.|year=1998|title=Terrestrial-marine teleconnections in the Devonian: links between the evolution of land plants, weathering processes, and marine anoxic events|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=353|issue=1365|pages=113–130|doi=10.1098/rstb.1998.0195|last2=Scheckler|first2=S. E.|pmc=1692181}}</ref> In conjunction with this, the evolution of seeds permitted reproduction and dispersal in areas which were not waterlogged, allowing plants to colonise previously inhospitable inland and upland areas.<ref name=Algeo1998/> The two factors combined to greatly magnify the role of plants on the global scale. In particular, ''[[Archaeopteris]]'' forests expanded rapidly during the closing stages of the Devonian.
+During the Devonian, land plants underwent a hugely significant phase of evolution. Their maximum height went from 30 cm at the start of the Devonian, to {{nowrap|30 m}} archaeopterids,<ref name=Beck>{{cite journal|first=C.B. |last=Beck|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/141981/ajb214953.pdf;jsessionid=0F631BFED2336656C5828043FE60D867?sequence=1|date=April 1962 |title=Reconstructions of ''Archaeopteris'', and further consideration of its phylogenetic position |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=49 |pages=373–382}}</ref> at the end of the period. This increase in height was made possible by the evolution of advanced vascular systems, which permitted the growth of complex branching and rooting systems.<ref name=Algeo1998>{{cite journal|author=Algeo, T.J.|year=1998|title=Terrestrial-marine teleconnections in the Devonian: links between the evolution of land plants, weathering processes, and marine anoxic events|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=353|issue=1365|pages=113–130|doi=10.1098/rstb.1998.0195|last2=Scheckler|first2=S. E.|pmc=1692181}}</ref> In conjunction with this, the evolution of seeds permitted reproduction and dispersal in areas which were not waterlogged, allowing plants to colonise previously inhospitable inland and upland areas.<ref name=Algeo1998/> The two factors combined to greatly magnify the role of plants on the global scale. In particular, ''[[Archaeopteris]]'' forests expanded rapidly during the closing stages of the Devonian.
-====Effect on weathering====
 These tall trees required deep rooting systems to acquire water and nutrients, and provide anchorage. These systems broke up the upper layers of bedrock and stabilized a deep layer of soil, which would have been of the order of metres thick. In contrast, early Devonian plants bore only rhizoids and rhizomes that could penetrate no more than a few centimeters. The mobilization of a large portion of soil had a huge effect: soil promotes [[weathering]], the chemical breakdown of rocks, releasing ions which are nutrients for plants and algae.<ref name=Algeo1998/> The relatively sudden input of nutrients into river water may have caused [[eutrophication]] and subsequent anoxia. For example, during an algal bloom, organic material formed at the surface can sink at such a rate that decomposing organisms use up all available oxygen by decaying them, creating anoxic conditions and suffocating bottom-dwelling fish. The fossil reefs of the Frasnian were dominated by stromatolites and (to a lesser degree) corals—organisms which only thrive in low-nutrient conditions. Therefore, the postulated influx of high levels of nutrients may have caused an extinction.<ref name=Algeo1998/> Anoxic conditions correlate better with biotic crises than phases of cooling, suggesting anoxia may have played the dominant role in extinction.<ref name=Algeo1995>{{cite journal|author=Algeo, T.J.|author2=Berner, R.A.|author3=Maynard, J.B.|author4=Scheckler, S.E.|author5=Archives, G.S.A.T.|year=1995|title=Late Devonian Oceanic Anoxic Events and Biotic Crises: "Rooted" in the Evolution of Vascular Land Plants?|journal=GSA Today|volume=5|issue=3|url=https://homepages.uc.edu/~algeot/Algeo-Dev95.pdf}}</ref>
-====Effect on {{CO2}}====
 The "greening" of the continents occurred during the Devonian. The covering of the planet's continents with massive photosynthesizing land plants in the first forests may have reduced CO<sub>2</sub> levels in the atmosphere. Since {{co2}} is a greenhouse gas, reduced levels might have helped produce a chillier climate. Evidence such as glacial deposits in northern Brazil (near the Devonian South Pole) suggests widespread glaciation at the end of the Devonian, as a broad continental mass covered the polar region. A cause of the extinctions may have been an episode of global cooling, following the mild climate of the Devonian period. The Hangenberg event has also been linked to glaciation in the tropics equivalent to that of the [[Pleistocene]] [[ice age]].<ref name="Brezinski et al. 2009"/>
 The weathering of silicate rocks also draws down CO<sub>2</sub> from the atmosphere. This acted together with the burial of organic matter to decrease atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations from about 15 to three times present levels. Carbon in the form of plant matter would be produced on prodigious scales, and given the right conditions, could be stored and buried, eventually producing vast coal measures (e.g. in China) which locked the carbon out of the atmosphere and into the [[lithosphere]].<ref>Carbon locked in Devonian coal, the earliest of Earth's coal deposits, is currently being returned to the atmosphere.</ref> This reduction in atmospheric {{co2}} would have caused global cooling and resulted in at least one period of late Devonian glaciation (and subsequent sea level fall),<ref>(Caputo 1985; Berner 1992, 1994) in Algeo 1998</ref>{{citation needed|reason=incomplete|date=January 2015}} probably fluctuating in intensity alongside the 40ka [[Milankovic cycle]]. The continued drawdown of organic carbon eventually pulled the Earth out of its [[Greenhouse Earth]] state into the [[Greenhouse Earth|Icehouse]] that continued throughout the Carboniferous and Permian.
-=== Magmatism ===
+=== Volcanic activity ===
 [[Magmatism]] was suggested as a cause of the Late Devonian extinction in 2002.<ref name=Krav2002>{{cite journal |author=Kravchinsky, V.A. |author2=K.M. Konstantinov |author3=V. Courtillot |author4=J.-P. Valet |author5=J.I. Savrasov |author6=S.D. Cherniy |author7=S.G. Mishenin |author8=B.S. Parasotka |year=2002 |title=Palaeomagnetism of East Siberian traps and kimberlites: two new poles and palaeogeographic reconstructions at about 360 and 250&nbsp;Ma |journal=Geophysical Journal International |volume=148 |pages=1–33 |url=http://gji.oxfordjournals.org/content/148/1/1.abstract |doi=10.1046/j.0956-540x.2001.01548.x|doi-access=free }}</ref> The end of the Devonian Period had extremely widespread [[Siberian traps|trap magmatism]] and rifting in the Russian and Siberian platforms, which were situated above the hot mantle plumes and suggested as a cause of the Frasnian / Famennian and end-Devonian extinctions.<ref name=Krav2012>{{cite journal |last=Kravchinsky |first=V. A. |year=2012 |title=Paleozoic large igneous provinces of Northern Eurasia: Correlation with mass extinction events |journal=Global and Planetary Change |volume=86–87 |pages=31–36 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.01.007 |bibcode=2012GPC....86...31K}}</ref> The Viluy and [[Dnieper-Donets Rift|Pripyat-Dnieper-Donets]] large igneous provinces were suggested to correlate with the Frasnian / Famennian extinction and the Kola and Timan-Pechora magmatism was suggested to correspond to the end Devonian-Carboniferous extinction.<ref name=Krav2012/>
@@ Line 64: / Line 71: @@
 Other mechanisms put forward to explain the extinctions include [[tectonic]]-driven [[Climate change (general concept)|climate change]], sea-level change, and oceanic overturning{{clarify|date=March 2017}}. These have all been discounted because they are unable to explain the duration, selectivity, and periodicity of the extinctions.<ref name=Algeo1995/> Another overlooked contributor could be the now extinct [[Lake Eildon National Park|Cerberean Caldera]] which was active in the Late [[Devonian]] period and thought to have undergone a super eruption approximately 374 Million years ago.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Though a super eruption on its own would have devastating effects in both short term and long term, the Late Devonian extinction was caused by a series of events which contributed to the extinction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Devonian Mass Extinction: Causes, Facts, Evidence & Animals |url=https://study.com/academy/lesson/devonian-mass-extinction-causes-facts-evidence-animals.html |website=Study.com |access-date=4 October 2019 |language=en}}</ref>}}<ref name="Cerberean Caldera">{{cite journal |last1=Clemens |first1=J. D. |last2=Birch |first2=W. D. |title=Assembly of a zoned volcanic magma chamber from multiple magma batches: The Cerberean Cauldron, Marysville Igneous Complex, Australia |journal=Lithos |volume=155 |date=2012 |pages=272–288 |bibcode=2012Litho.155..272C |doi=10.1016/j.lithos.2012.09.007 }}</ref> Remains of this caldera can be found in the modern day state of Victoria, Australia.
-==Effects==
-The extinction events were accompanied by widespread oceanic [[anoxic event|anoxia]]; that is, a lack of oxygen, prohibiting decay and allowing the preservation of organic matter. This, combined with the ability of porous reef rocks to hold oil, has led to Devonian rocks being an important source of oil, especially in the USA. <!--Anoxic conditions in the sea-bed of late Devonian ocean basins produced some oil shales.-->
-===Biological impact===
-The Kellwasser event and most other Later Devonian pulses primarily affected the marine community, and had a greater effect on shallow warm-water organisms than on cool-water organisms. The most important group to be affected by the Kellwasser event were the reef-builders of the great Devonian reef-systems, including the [[stromatoporoid]]s, and the [[rugosa|rugose]] and [[tabulate]] [[coral]]s. Reefs of the later Devonian were dominated by sponges and calcifying bacteria, producing structures such as [[oncolite]]s and [[stromatolites]]. The collapse of the reef system was so stark that bigger reef-building by new families of carbonate-secreting organisms, the modern [[scleractinia|scleractinian or "stony" corals]], did not recover until the Mesozoic era.
-Further taxa to be starkly affected include the [[brachiopod]]s, [[trilobite]]s, [[ammonite]]s, [[conodont]]s, and [[acritarch]]s. Both [[graptolites]] and [[cystoids]] disappeared during this event. The surviving taxa show morphological trends through the event. Trilobites evolved smaller eyes in the run-up to the Kellwasser event, with eye size increasing again afterwards. This suggests vision was less important around the event, perhaps due to increasing water depth or turbidity. The brims of trilobites (i.e. the rims of their heads) also expanded across this period. The brims are thought to have served a respiratory purpose, and the increasing anoxia of waters led to an increase in their brim area in response. The shape of conodonts' feeding apparatus varied with [[Δ18O|the oxygen isotope ratio]], and thus with the sea water temperature; this may relate to them occupying different [[trophic level]]s as nutrient input changed.<ref name="Balter">{{cite journal |title=Record of climate-driven morphological changes in 376&nbsp;Ma Devonian fossils |date=November 2008 |journal=Geology |doi=10.1130/G24989A.1 |volume=36 |pages=907 |last1=Balter |first1=Vincent |last2=Renaud |first2=Sabrina |last3=Girard |first3=Catherine |last4=Joachimski |first4=Michael M. |issue=11 |bibcode=2008Geo....36..907B}}</ref> As with most extinction events, specialist taxa occupying small niches were harder hit than generalists.<ref name="McGhee"/>
-The Hangenberg event affected both marine and freshwater communities. This mass extinction affected [[ammonite]]s and [[trilobite]]s, as well as jawed vertebrates, including [[tetrapod]] ancestors.<ref name="Sallan and Coates, 2010"/><ref>Korn, 2004</ref>{{citation needed|reason=incomplete|date=January 2015}} The Hangenberg is linked to the extinction of 44% of high-level vertebrate [[clade]]s, including all placoderms and most [[sarcopterygian]]s, and the complete turnover of the vertebrate biota.<ref name="Sallan and Coates, 2010"/> 97% of vertebrate species disappeared, with only smaller forms surviving. After the event only sharks less than a meter and most fishes and tetrapods less than 10&nbsp;centimeters remained, and it would take 40 million years before they started to increase in size again.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} This led to the establishment of the modern vertebrate fauna in the [[Carboniferous]], consisting mostly of [[actinopterygii|actinopterygians]], [[chondrichthyes|chondrichthyans]], and [[tetrapod]]s. [[Romer's gap]], a 15&nbsp;million-year hiatus in the early Carboniferous tetrapod record, has been linked to this event.<ref name="Sallan and Coates, 2010"/> Also, the poor Famennian record for marine invertebrates suggests that some of the losses attributed to the Kellwasser event likely actually occurred during the Hangenberg extinction.<ref name="Sallan and Coates, 2010"/><ref>Foote, 2005</ref>{{citation needed|reason=incomplete|date=January 2015}}
-===Magnitude===
-The late Devonian crash in [[biodiversity]] was more drastic than the familiar [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction event]] that closed the [[Cretaceous]]. A recent survey (McGhee 1996) estimates that 22% of all the '[[family (biology)|families]]' of marine animals (largely [[invertebrate]]s) were eliminated. The family is a great unit, and to lose so many signifies a deep loss of ecosystem diversity. On a smaller scale, 57% of genera and at least 75% of species did not survive into the Carboniferous. These latter estimates<ref group=lower-alpha>The species estimate is the toughest to assess and most likely to be adjusted.</ref> need to be treated with a degree of caution, as the estimates of species loss depend on surveys of Devonian marine taxa that are perhaps not well enough known to assess their true rate of losses, so it is difficult to estimate the effects of differential preservation and [[sampling bias]]es during the Devonian.
 ==See also==
-<!--Wikipedia links to follow-->
 * [[Evolutionary history of plants]]