
The Permian Extinction
252 million years ago
Reading a Layered Catastrophe
In some beds, trilobites lie stacked and oriented in the same direction, suggesting they were overwhelmed at once rather than scattered over years. Geochemists find signs of anoxia and toxic hydrogen sulphide in the surrounding rock, linking these death horizons to broader environmental crises that built toward the end-Permian extinction. In a single slab, it is possible to see both a local event and a chapter in a much larger planetary disruption.
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In some beds, trilobites lie stacked and oriented in the same direction, suggesting they were overwhelmed at once rather than scattered over years. Geochemists find signs of anoxia and toxic hydrogen sulphide in the surrounding rock, linking these death horizons to broader environmental crises that built toward the end-Permian extinction. In a single slab, it is possible to see both a local event and a chapter in a much larger planetary disruption.































































