Global Events and Event Stratigraphy in the Phanerozoic : Results of the International Interdisciplinary Cooperation in the IGCP-Project 216 “Global Biological Events in Earth History”

The existence of rapid and even catastrophic turnovers within the Phanerozoic ecosystems has been discussed controversially for more than 170 years. Since 1980 this discussion has become even more intensive after the hypothesis of Alvarez, explaining the end-Cretaceous mass extinction as the result of a huge asteroid impact on the Earth. This theory stimulated several thousand papers and is still controversial. The international research programme on "Global Biological Events in Earth History" attempts to bring the discussion back to the facts by using multidisciplinary investigations of the major Phanerozoic events. The results of an international group of experts are presented giving a wealth of information and a thorough discussion of the causes of the various global events. Front Matter....Pages I-VIII The Idea of Global Events....Pages 1-5 Patterns and Causes of Global Events....Pages 7-19 Evaluating Paleontologic Data Relating to Bio-Events....Pages 21-34 Patterns of Phanerozoic Extinction: a Perspective from Global Data Bases....Pages 35-51 Phanerozoic Development of Selected Global Environmental Features....Pages 53-61 Global Isotopic Events....Pages 63-88 Geobiological Trends and Events in the Precambrian Biosphere....Pages 89-112 The Basal Cambrian Transition and Cambrian Bio-Events (From Terminal Proterozoic Extinctions to Cambrian Biomeres)....Pages 113-138 The Pattern of Global Bio-Events During the Ordovician Period....Pages 139-172 Silurian Bio-Events....Pages 173-224 Global Events in the Devonian and Carboniferous....Pages 225-250 Permian Global Bio-Events....Pages 251-264 Major Bio-Events in the Triassic and Jurassic....Pages 265-283 Cretaceous Bio-Events....Pages 285-312 The Man-Made Global Disaster An Epilogue to the Subject of Global Bio-Events....Pages 313-318 Global Event Stratigraphy....Pages 319-333 Back Matter....Pages 335-335