en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthalassa
1 correction found
A significant sea-level drop at the end of the Permian led to the end-Capitanian extinction event.
This mixes up two different extinction horizons. The end-Capitanian extinction occurred around 259.5–260 million years ago, while the end of the Permian was about 251.9–252.2 million years ago.
Full reasoning
The sentence is incorrect because it places the end-Capitanian extinction event at the end of the Permian, but those are not the same point in geologic time.
According to the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), the Capitanian Stage ended at 259.51 ± 0.21 Ma, when the Wuchiapingian began. The same ICS source places the Permian–Triassic boundary (the end of the Permian) at 251.902 ± 0.024 Ma. That means the end-Capitanian extinction predates the end of the Permian by roughly 7.6 million years.
A USGS overview likewise describes the end of the Permian as the time of the largest mass extinction, at about 252 million years ago. So the article's wording conflates the mid-/late Permian end-Capitanian crisis with the distinct end-Permian mass extinction.
In short: an event at the end of the Capitanian cannot be accurately described as occurring at the end of the Permian.
2 sources
- International Commission on Stratigraphy — Subcommission on Permian Stratigraphy: GSSPs
Wuchiapingian Stage 259.51 ± 0.21 ... Capitanian Stage 264.28 ± 0.16 ... Changhsingian Stage PTB=251.902±0.024
- Paleozoic | U.S. Geological Survey
The Permian Period: 299 to 252 million years ago ... The LARGEST MASS EXTINCTION of life on our planet occurred at the end of the Permian