The Smithian-Spathian boundary: A critical juncture in the Early Triassic recovery of marine ecosystems

Extreme greenhouse warming in the latest Permian played a key role in the largest animal extinction event ever recorded in Earth history. The extinction was likely triggered by volcanic eruptions that dramatically increased atmospheric CO2 levels and pushed the Earth system into a lethally hot greenhouse state with stratified, anoxic and more acidic oceans. These conditions intensified a few million years later during the middle/late Smithian...