252 Million B.C.T. - A Mysterious Coal Gap Appears

At the beginning of the Triassic period around 252 million years ago, a mysterious coal gap appeared.

At the start of the Triassic period coal is noticeable by geologists today as being absent throughout the world. This is known as the "coal gap" and can be seen as part of the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Sharp drops in sea level across the Permo Triassic boundary may be the proper explanation for the coal gap. However, theories are still speculative as to why it is missing. During the preceding Permian period the arid desert conditions contributed to the evaporation of many inland seas and the inundation of these seas, perhaps by a number of tsunami events that may have been responsible for the drop in sea level. This due to the finding of large salt basins in the southwest United States and a very large basin in central Canada.

Immediately above the boundary the glossopteris flora was suddenly largely displaced by an Australia wide coniferous flora containing few species and containing a lycopod herbaceous under story. Conifers also became common in Eurasia. These groups of conifers arose from endemic species because of the ocean barriers that prevented seed crossing for over one hundred million years. For instance, Podocarpis was located south and Pines, Junipers, and Sequoias were located north. The dividing line ran through the Amazon Valley, across the Sahara, and north of Arabia, India, Thailand, and Australia. It has been suggested that there was a climate barrier for the conifers.  Although water barriers are more plausible. If so, something that can cross at least short water barriers must have been involved in producing the coal hiatus. Hot climate could have been an important auxiliary factor across Antarctica or the Bering Strait, however. There was a spike of fern and lycopod spores immediately after the close of the Permian. In addition there was also a spike of fungal spores immediately after the Permian-Triassic boundary. This spike may have lasted 50,000 years in Italy and 200,000 years in China and must have contributed to the climate warmth.

An event excluding a catastrophe must have been involved to cause the coal hiatus due to the fact that fungi would have removed all dead vegetation and coal forming detritus in a few decades in most tropical places. In addition, fungal spores rose gradually and declined similarly along with a prevalence of woody debris. Each phenomenon would hint at widespread vegetative death. Whatever the cause of the coal hiatus must have started in North America approximately 25 million years sooner.