HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Induan is the first
age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
of the
Early Triassic The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which is a un ...
epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...
in the
geologic timescale The geologic time scale, or geological time scale, (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochr ...
, or the lowest
stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...
of the
Lower Triassic The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which is a un ...
series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...
in
chronostratigraphy Chronostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that studies the ages of rock strata in relation to time. The ultimate aim of chronostratigraphy is to arrange the sequence of deposition and the time of deposition of all rocks within a geologic ...
. It spans the time between 251.902 Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Induan is sometimes divided into the Griesbachian and the Dienerian subages or substages. The Induan is preceded by the
Changhsingian In the geologic time scale, the Changhsingian or Changxingian is the latest age or uppermost stage of the Permian. It is also the upper or latest of two subdivisions of the Lopingian Epoch or Series. The Changhsingian lasted from to 251.902 ...
(latest
Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...
) and is followed by the
Olenekian In the geologic timescale, the Olenekian is an age in the Early Triassic epoch; in chronostratigraphy, it is a stage in the Lower Triassic series. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Olenekian is sometimes divided i ...
. The Induan is roughly coeval with the regional Feixianguanian Stage of China.


Geology


Stratigraphy

The
Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...
is the first
period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...
of the
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
era An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...
. It is subdivided into the
Lower Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́ ...
, Middle, and Upper Triassic
series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...
, which are further subdivided into
stages Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * S ...
. The Induan is the first stage of the Lower Triassic, from 251.9 million to 251.2 million years ago, spanning the first 700,000 years after the
Permian–Triassic extinction event The Permian–Triassic (P–T, P–Tr) extinction event, also known as the Latest Permian extinction event, the End-Permian Extinction and colloquially as the Great Dying, formed the boundary between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods, as ...
. Stages can be defined globally or regionally. For global stratigraphic correlation, the
International Commission on Stratigraphy The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), sometimes referred to unofficially as the "International Stratigraphic Commission", is a daughter or major subcommittee grade scientific daughter organization that concerns itself with stratigr ...
(ICS) ratifies global stages based on a
Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point A Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) is an internationally agreed upon reference point on a stratigraphic section which defines the lower boundary of a stage on the geologic time scale. The effort to define GSSPs is conducted b ...
(GSSP) from a single
formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
(a
stratotype A stratotype or type section in geology is the physical location or outcrop of a particular reference exposure of a stratigraphic sequence or stratigraphic boundary. If the stratigraphic unit is layered, it is called a stratotype, whereas the stan ...
) identifying the lower boundary of the stage. The GSSP for the Induan is defined as the bottom of Bed 27c of the
Meishan Meishan (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Mi2san1; local pronunciation: ; ), formerly known as Meizhou () or Qingzhou (), is a prefecture-level city with 2,955,219 inhabitants as of 2020 census whom 1,232,648 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of t ...
Section, China, , with the appearance of the conodont '' Hindeodus parvus'' as its primary marker (
biostratigraphy Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. “Biostratigraphy.” ''Oxford Reference: Dictionary of B ...
), and minimum zones (negative anomalies) of 13C and 18O (corresponding to the extinction event) as its secondary marker. Bed 27c comprises a medium- bedded section of
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, overlain by
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
and a medium-bedded section of
dolomitic Dolomite () is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomiti ...
,
argillaceous Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates (e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4), sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations found on or near some planetary surfaces. Clay minerals ...
calcimicrite. Calcimicrite is a type of limestone that contains more
micrite Micrite is a limestone constituent formed of calcareous particles ranging in diameter up to four μm formed by the recrystallization of lime mud. Flügel, Erik, ''Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks: Analysis, Interpretation and Application,'' Springe ...
than
allochem Allochem is a term introduced by FolkFolk, R. L. (1959) ''Practical petrographic classification of limestones.'' American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin. 43, pp. 1–38. to describe the recognisable "grains" in carbonate rocks. Any fr ...
, and the diameter of any particle measures less than 20
microns The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...
. The Induan is succeeded by the
Olenekian In the geologic timescale, the Olenekian is an age in the Early Triassic epoch; in chronostratigraphy, it is a stage in the Lower Triassic series. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Olenekian is sometimes divided i ...
, whose GSSP is defined at the bottom of Bed A-2 of the Mikin Formation near
Mud village, Spiti Mud (also known as Mudh and Muth) is a small village in the cold desert region of Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, India. Located at an altitude of on the left bank of the Pin River, a right bank tributary of the Spiti River, the village nestles at ...
, India, with the appearance of the conodont '' Neospathodus waageni'' and a 13C peak.


History

There have been several propositions for the organization of the Triassic timescale. Most of the Triassic stages and sub-stages, which are still used today, were coined in an 1895 publication by Austro-Hungarian geologist
Johann August Georg Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvar Johann August Georg Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvár (18 October 18392 October 1907) was an Austro-Hungarian geologist and palaeontologist. Biography Mojsisovics was the son of the surgeon Georg Mojsisovics von Mojsvar (1799–1860). His name in ...
, Austrian geologist
Carl Diener Carl Diener (11 December 1862 in Vienna – 6 January 1928, Vienna) was an Austrian geographer, geologist and paleontologist. Biography In 1883 he received his doctorate from the University of Vienna, where his instructors included Eduard ...
, and German geologist
Wilhelm Heinrich Waagen Wilhelm Heinrich Waagen (23 June 184124 March 1900) was a German geologist and paleontologist. He was born in Munich and died in Vienna. Overview He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Munich, where he studied the rocks and ...
. They were defined using ammonite research conducted in large part by Mojsisovics and Diener in primarily Austria, Italy, and Bosnia; as well as Waagen's work in the Pakistani
Salt Range The Salt Range ( pnb, ) is a mountain range in the north of Punjab province of Pakistan, deriving its name from its extensive deposits of rock salt. The range extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River. The ...
. They divided the Triassic into four series (from lowest to highest): the Scythian, Dinaric, Tyrolean, and Bavarian. The Scythian was divided (from lowest to highest) into the Brahmanian and Jakutian stages. The Brahmanian's lower boundary was defined by the appearance of the ammonite '' Otoceras woodwardi'' in the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...
(Austrian paleontologist Carl Ludolf Griesbach had already proposed this ammonite demarcate the beginning of the Triassic in 1880), and its upper boundary by a section of
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
in the Salt Range characterized by ceratite ammonites. In 1956, Soviet paleontologists Lubov D. Kiparisova and Yurij N. Popov decided to divide the Lower Triassic series into, what they coined, the Induan and Olenekian stages. The Induan honors the Indus River, as they also bounded it using the same criteria and sites as Mojsisovics' Brahmanian in the Indus region, though they resided in
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
at the time. That is, the Induan is synonymous with the Brahmanian. In the 1960s, English paleontologist Edward T. Tozer (sometimes collaborating with American geologist Norman J. Silberling) crafted Triassic timescales based on North American ammonoid zones (further refining it in the following decades), based on the works of Frank McLearn in British Columbia and
Siemon Muller Siemon William Muller (May 9, 1900 – September 9, 1970) was an American paleontologist and geologist, known for his studies on Triassic paleontology and stratigraphy, and for his work on permafrost. Siemon Muller was born in Blagoveshchensk ...
in Nevada who pieced together the ammonoid fossil record of the North American Cordillera. Tozer's nomenclature was largely derived from Mojsvar's work, but he redefined them using North American sites. He recommended the Lower Triassic series be divided into the: Griesbachian, Dienerian, Smithian, and Spathian. The former two roughly correspond with the Induan. Tozer's timescale became popular in the Americas. He named the Griesbachian after Griesbach Creek on Axel Heiberg Island, Canada, and further split it into the Gangetian and Ellesmarian substages; the former he defined by the ammonite zones of ''O. concavum'' and ''O. boreale'', and the latter by '' Ophicera commune'' and '' Proptychites striatus''. He named the Dienerian after Diener Creek on Ellesmere Island, Canada, and defined it by the ammonite zones ''P. candus'' and '' Vavilovites sverdrupi''. In the 1970s, the ICS was founded to globally standardize stratigraphy. They erected the Subcommission on Triassic Stratigraphy (STS), which published its first timescale to Triassic stratigraphy in 1985. They divided it into the Lower, Middle, and Upper series; the Lower Triassic divided into the Induan and Olenekian stages; and the Induan further divided into the Griesbachian and Dienerian substages. In a revised 1991 timescale, they dropped several more of Tozer's considerations, and likewise did away with Induan substages entirely, though Tozer's original definition of them are still in use in ammonoid research. By the 1990s, most geologists had moved away from ammonite zones, preferring conodonts. Consequently, in 1996, the STS moved the Induan's GSSP to Meishan, China, with the appearance of ''H. parvus''. It was the first GSSP approved by the STS.


Coal gap

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...
is formed when plant matter decays into
peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...
, which is then buried and subjected to heat and pressure over a long time. Following the Permian extinction, there is a conspicuous lack of
coal seam Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...
s dating to the Early Triassic, and only a few thin ones have been identified dating to the Middle Triassic. The apparent marginalization of peat-producing plants has variously been explained to be a consequence of: high global elevation, excess acidity due to volcanic sulfur dioxide emissions or nitrous oxides from
bolide A bolide is normally taken to mean an exceptionally bright meteor, but the term is subject to more than one definition, according to context. It may refer to any large crater-forming body, or to one that explodes in the atmosphere. It can be a ...
(meteor) impact, the transition from an icehouse to a greenhouse Earth (the melting of the poles and surging global temperatures), excess plant predation by herbivores (insects or
tetrapod Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids ( pelycosaurs, extinct t ...
s) which evolved more efficient eating strategies (though they were quite diverse before even the Permian), or mass die-off of peat-producing plants.


Paleogeography

During the Induan, all major landmasses had already amalgamated into the
supercontinent In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", which leav ...
Pangea Pangaea or Pangea () was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous approximately 335 million y ...
, the northern portion referred to as
Laurentia Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, althoug ...
, and the southern portion Gondwana. At this point in time, the
South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
was near but not on Antarctica. Eastern Gondwana lay south of the 60°S, and the western part north. A major
rifting In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben wi ...
zone existed on Madagascar, which was wedged in between the
African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...
and the
Indian Plate The Indian Plate (or India Plate) is a minor tectonic plate straddling the equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, the Indian Plate broke away from the other fragments of Gondwana , began ...
, gradually pushing them apart. This action would eventually expand the newly forming Neo-Tethys Ocean at the expense of the
Paleo-Tethys Ocean The Paleo-Tethys or Palaeo-Tethys Ocean was an ocean located along the northern margin of the paleocontinent Gondwana that started to open during the Middle Cambrian, grew throughout the Paleozoic, and finally closed during the Late Triassic; exi ...
. Behind the burgeoning Neo-Tethys lay a major rift pushing India away from western Australia, which promulgated volcanoes across the area. During the Permian extinction, this volcanic activity created the
Panjal Traps The Panjal Traps or the Tethyan Plume is a large igneous province (LIP) that erupted during the Early–Middle Permian in what is now north-western India. The Panjal Traps are associated with the opening of the Neo-Tethys Ocean, which resulted in ...
. In eastern Australia, the
Hunter-Bowen orogeny The Hunter-Bowen Orogeny was a significant arc accretion event in the Permian and Triassic periods affecting approximately 2,500 km of the Australian continental margin. The Hunter-Bowen Orogeny occurred in two main phases, a Permian accreti ...
and related magmatic activity was shutting down. The fold belts from this event, as well as the first phase of those at
Cape Fold Belt The Cape Fold Belt is a fold and thrust belt of late Paleozoic age, which affected the sequence of sedimentary rock layers of the Cape Supergroup in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It was originally continuous with the Ventana Moun ...
in what is now the South African coast, were being degraded by the
Gondwanide orogeny The Gondwanide orogeny was an orogeny active in the Permian that affected parts of Gondwana that are by current geography now located in southern South America, South Africa, Antarctica, Australia and New Guinea. The zone of deformation in Arge ...
.


Induan life

The Induan followed the Permian–Triassic extinction event, and historically, it was thought recovery was delayed by as much as five million years to the Middle Triassic. The 21st century discoveries of diverse arrays of conodonts, ammonoids, bivalves, benthic
foraminifera Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly ...
, and other
ichnotaxa An ichnotaxon (plural ichnotaxa) is "a taxon based on the fossilized work of an organism", i.e. the non-human equivalent of an artifact. ''Ichnotaxa'' comes from the Greek ίχνος, ''ichnos'' meaning ''track'' and ταξις, ''taxis'' meaning ...
serve to suggest that recovery instead took under 1.5 million years. The Induan age followed the mass extinction event at the end of the
Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...
period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...
. Both global
biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
and
community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
-level (alpha)
diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...
remained low through much of this stage of the Triassic. Marine
black shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especia ...
deposits are common especially in the Dienerian substage of the Induan. These point to low oxygenation in the ocean.Ware et al. (2015): High-resolution biochronology and diversity dynamics of the Early Triassic ammonoid recovery: the Dienerian faunas of the Northern Indian Margin. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 440:363-373 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.09.013 Much of the
supercontinent In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", which leav ...
Pangea Pangaea or Pangea () was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous approximately 335 million y ...
remained almost lifeless, deserted, hot, and dry. In higher
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
s, the
flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...
during the Griesbachian was
gymnosperm The gymnosperms ( lit. revealed seeds) are a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers, cycads, '' Ginkgo'', and gnetophytes, forming the clade Gymnospermae. The term ''gymnosperm'' comes from the composite word in el, γυμν ...
dominated but became
lycopod Lycopodiopsida is a class of vascular plants known as lycopods, lycophytes or other terms including the component lyco-. Members of the class are also called clubmosses, firmosses, spikemosses and quillworts. They have dichotomously branching s ...
dominated (e.g. '' Pleuromeia'') in the Dienerian. This change reflects a shift in global climate from cool and dry in the Griesbachian to hot and humid in the Dienerian and points to an extinction event during the Induan,  500,000 years after the end-Permian mass extinction event. It led to the
extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
of the Permian ''
Glossopteris ''Glossopteris'' tymology: from Ancient Greek γλῶσσα (glôssa, " tongue ") + πτερίς (pterís, " fern ")is the largest and best-known genus of the extinct Permian order of seed ferns known as Glossopteridales (also known as Arberia ...
'' flora. The
lystrosaurid Lystrosauridae is a family of dicynodont therapsids from the Permian and Triassic time periods. It includes two genera, ''Lystrosaurus'' and '' Kwazulusaurus''. ''Kwazulusaurus'' includes a single species, ''K. shakai'', from the Late Permian of ...
s and the
proterosuchid Proterosuchidae is an early family of basal archosauriforms whose fossils are known from the Latest Permian and the Early Triassic of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and possibly South America. The name comes from Greek πρότερο- ("first" ...
s were the only groups of land animals to dominate during the Induan Stage. Other animals, such as the ammonoids, insects, and the
tetrapods Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids (reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids ( pelycosaurs, extinct therapsi ...
( cynodonts, amphibians, reptiles, etc.) remained rare and terrestrial ecosystems did not recover for some 30 million years. Both the seas and much of the freshwater during the Induan were
anoxic The term anoxia means a total depletion in the level of oxygen, an extreme form of hypoxia or "low oxygen". The terms anoxia and hypoxia are used in various contexts: * Anoxic waters, sea water, fresh water or groundwater that are depleted of diss ...
, predominantly during the
Dienerian The Induan is the first age of the Early Triassic epoch in the geologic timescale, or the lowest stage of the Lower Triassic series in chronostratigraphy. It spans the time between 251.902 Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Induan is sometime ...
subage. Microbial reefs were common, possibly due to lack of competition with
metazoan Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...
builders as a result of the extinction.
Ray-finned fishes Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...
largely remained unaffected by the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Many genera show a cosmopolitan (worldwide) distribution during the Induan and
Olenekian In the geologic timescale, the Olenekian is an age in the Early Triassic epoch; in chronostratigraphy, it is a stage in the Lower Triassic series. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Olenekian is sometimes divided i ...
(e.g. '' Australosomus'', ''
Birgeria ''Birgeria'' is a genus of carnivorous marine ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. ''Birgeria'' had a global distribution. Fossils were found in Madagascar, Spitsbergen, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, China, Russia, Canada and N ...
'', Parasemionotidae, '' Pteronisculus'', Ptycholepidae, ''
Saurichthys ''Saurichthys'' (from el, σαῦρος , 'lizard' and el, ἰχθῦς 'fish') is an extinct genus of predatory ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. It type genus family Saurichthyidae (Changhsingian- Middle Jurassic), and the larges ...
''). This is well exemplified in the
Griesbachian The Induan is the first age of the Early Triassic epoch in the geologic timescale, or the lowest stage of the Lower Triassic series in chronostratigraphy. It spans the time between 251.902 Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Induan is sometime ...
aged fish assemblages of the
Wordie Creek Formation The Wordie Creek Formation is a geologic formation in Greenland. The Triassic Sediments from the region were first discovered in 1926 and preserve fossils dating back to the Triassic period. The temnospondyl '' Selenocara'' is from this formatio ...
(East
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
), the
Dienerian The Induan is the first age of the Early Triassic epoch in the geologic timescale, or the lowest stage of the Lower Triassic series in chronostratigraphy. It spans the time between 251.902 Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Induan is sometime ...
aged assemblages of the
Sakamena Formation Sakamena is a village near Betroka in the region of Anosy in Madagascar. Sakamena is also the name of a Permian sedimentary geological formation that has yielded many vertebrate fossil, including Triadobatrachus (the first lissamphibian), Claudios ...
(
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
), Candelaria Formation (
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
), and Mikin Formation (
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
), and the Smithian (
Olenekian In the geologic timescale, the Olenekian is an age in the Early Triassic epoch; in chronostratigraphy, it is a stage in the Lower Triassic series. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Olenekian is sometimes divided i ...
) aged assemblages of the Vikinghøgda Formation ( Spitsbergen,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
), Thaynes Formation (western
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
), and Helongshan Formation (
Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
, China). Induan
Chondrichthyans Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fishes'', which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. C ...
include
hybodonts Hybodontiformes, commonly called hybodonts, are an extinct group of shark-like chondrichthyans, which existed from the late Devonian to the Late Cretaceous. They form the group of Elasmobranchii closest to neoselachians, the clade of modern sh ...
, neoselachians and a few surviving lineages of eugeneodontid
holocephali Holocephali ("complete heads"), sometimes given the term Euchondrocephali, is a subclass of cartilaginous fish in the class Chondrichthyes. The earliest fossils are of teeth and come from the Devonian period. Little is known about these primitiv ...
ans, a mainly Palaeozoic group. Cartilaginous fishes were seemingly rare during the Induan. Crocodile-shaped, marine
temnospondyl Temnospondyli (from Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') is a diverse order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carbo ...
amphibians (e.g. ''
Aphaneramma ''Aphaneramma'' is an extinct genus of marine temnospondyl amphibian. It lived during the Early Triassic epoch. Fossils have been found in the Mianwali Formation of Pakistan, Madagascar, the Zhitkov Formation of Russia,
'', ''
Wantzosaurus ''Wantzosaurus'' was a genus of temnospondyl amphibian of the Trematosauridae family. Fossils have been found in the Early Triassic Middle Sakamena Formation (Sakamena Group) of what is now Madagascar. It showed adaptations for an almost complete ...
'') were geographically widespread during the Induan and
Olenekian In the geologic timescale, the Olenekian is an age in the Early Triassic epoch; in chronostratigraphy, it is a stage in the Lower Triassic series. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Olenekian is sometimes divided i ...
ages. Their fossils are found in
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
, Spitsbergen,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
and
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
. The bivalve '' Claraia'' was widespread and common in the
Panthalassa Panthalassa, also known as the Panthalassic Ocean or Panthalassan Ocean (from Greek "all" and "sea"), was the superocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea, the latest in a series of supercontinents in the history of Earth. During th ...
and Tethys oceans. The geologically oldest
oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...
s ('' Liostrea'') are known from the Induan. They grew on the shells of living
ammonoids Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...
.Hautmann et al. (2017): Geologically oldest oysters were epizoans on Early Triassic ammonoids. Journal of Molluscan Studies 83:253-260 https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eyx018


See also

*


References


Sources

*; 2005: ''The Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Ladinian Stage (Middle Triassic) at Bagolino (Southern Alps, Northern Italy) and its implications for the Triassic time scale'', Episodes 28(4), pp. 233–244. *; 2004: ''A Geologic Time Scale 2004'',
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...
. *; 1956: ''Расчленение нижнего отдела триасовой системы на ярусы (Subdivision of the lower series of the Triassic System into stages)'',
Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR The ''Proceedings of the USSR Academy of Sciences'' (russian: Доклады Академии Наук СССР, ''Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR'' (''DAN SSSR''), french: Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de l'URSS) was a Soviet journal that ...
109(4), pp 842–845 .


External links


GeoWhen Database - InduanLower Triassic timescale
at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS
Lower Triassic timescale
at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy. {{coord, 31.0797, N, 119.7058, E, source:wikidata, display=title *01 Geological ages Triassic geochronology