No link between the Panjal Traps (Kashmir) and the Late Permian

Abstract

Voluminous Late Permian flood basalt eruptions are contemporaneous with the mid-Capitanian (260 Ma) and end-Permian (251 Ma) mass extinction events. The Panjal Traps of Kashmir are thought to be correlative to the mid-Capitanian mass extinction however no radiometric age has been determined. We report a single zircon U-Pb laser ablation ICP-MS date of a rhyolite from the lower-middle part of the volcanic sequence. Twenty-four individual zircon crystals yield a mean U-206/Pb-238 age of 289 +/- 3 Ma. The results show that the Panjal Traps are considerably older than previously interpreted and not correlative to post-Neo-Tethys rifting of the Gondwanan margin or the mid-Capitanian mass extinction and are, in fact, correlative to the opening of the Neo-Tethys Ocean. In contrast to other similarly size large igneous provinces, the Panjal Traps are not coincident with a mass extinction event and therefore casts doubt on the direct relationship between continental flood basalt volcanism and ecosystem collapse. Citation: Shellnutt, J. G., G. M. Bhat, M. E. Brookfield, and B.-M. Jahn (2011), No link between the Panjal Traps (Kashmir) and the Late Permian mass extinctions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L19308, doi: 10.1029/2011GL049032.

Full text

No link between the Panjal Traps (Kashmir) and the Late Permian
mass extinctions
J. G. Shellnutt,
1,2
G. M. Bhat,
3
M. E. Brookfield,
4
and B.‐M. Jahn
5
Received 25 July 2011; revised 9 September 2011; accepted 13 September 2011; published 14 October 2011.
[1] Voluminous Late Permian flood basalt eruptions are
contemporaneous with the mid‐Capitanian (260 Ma) and
end‐Permian (251 Ma) mass extinction events. The Panjal
Traps of Kashmir are thought to be correlative to the mid‐
Capitanian mass extinction however no radiometric age
has been determined. We report a single zircon U‐Pb laser
ablation ICP‐MS date of a rhyolite from the l ower‐middle
part of the volcanic sequence. Twenty‐four individual zircon
crystals yield a mean
206
U/
238
Pb age of 289 ± 3 Ma. The
results show that the Panjal Traps are considerably older than
previously interpreted and not correlative to post ‐Neo‐Tethys
rifting of the Gondwanan margin or the mid‐Capitanian mass
extinction and are, in fact , correlative to the opening of the
Neo‐Tethys Ocean. In contrast to other similarly size large
igneous provinces, the Panjal Traps are not coincident with
a mass extin ction event and therefore cas ts doubt on the
direct relationship between continental flood basalt volcanism
and ecosystem collapse.
Citation: Shellnutt, J. G., G. M. Bhat,
M. E. Brookfield, and B.‐M. Jahn (2011), No link betwe en the
Panjal Traps (Kashmir) and the Lat e Permian mass extinctions ,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L19308, doi:10.1029/2011GL049032.
1. Introduction
[2] Voluminous and rapid outpourings of regionally con-
tiguous flood basalts occur on the order of once every
20 million years since the Mesozoic and are considered to be
important contributors to mass extinctions, precursors to
continental break‐up and the formation of new crust [Coffin
and Eldholm, 1994; Ernstetal., 2005; Racki and Wignall,
2005; Campbell, 2007; Bryan and Ernst, 2008]. Spatially
and temporally associated volcanic and plutonic rocks cov-
ering vast areas of the Earth’s crust are referred to as large
igneous provinces (LIPs) and, in many cases, are interpreted
to represent the physical manifestation of a mantle plume or
super plume [Campbell, 2007]. LIPs offer an opportunity to
study the complex transfer of mass between the mantle and
crust, the petrological evolution of magmatic rocks and also
the formation of magmatic ore deposits.
[
3] The regular occurrences of LIPs in the geologic record
and their probable association with mantle plumes suggest
that they are evidence for advective heat transfer during
convention of the mantle throughout geological time [Ernst
and Buchan, 2003]. It is suggested that there is a correlation
between mass extinctions and the formation of LIPs since
the Carboniferous [Rampino and Stothers, 1988; Courtillot
et al., 1999; Courtillot and Renne, 2003; White and
Saunders, 2005; Wignall, 2005] and has led to speculation
that there is a, direct or indirect, link between the two. The
emission of greenhouse gases (e.g., CO
2
,SO
2
, halogens),
CO
2
degassing from magma‐country rock interactions and
oceanic anoxia are some of the conditions which LIPs are
thought to influence [Wignall, 2001; Racki and Wignall ,
2005; Ganino and Arndt, 2009; Wignall et al., 2009]. How-
ever, the LIP‐mass extinction connection is controversial and
not universally accepted [Wignall, 2001, 2005].
[
4] The Permian, although relatively short in duration,
witnessed many global geological events including the for-
mation of the largest continental LIP (i.e., the Siberian Traps),
the most wide‐spread mass extinction (∼251 Ma) and possi-
bly the largest supercontinent in Earth history (i.e., Pangaea).
Prior to the end‐Permian eruption of the Siberian Traps
(251 Ma) there are numerous episodes of continental mag-
matism throughout the Permian including the Emeishan flood
basalts (260 Ma), which may have contributed to the mid‐
Capitanian mass extinction, Central Asian Orogenic Belt
(300–250 Ma), Tarim flood basalts (275 Ma), Mino‐Tamba
flood basalts (280 Ma), Northwest Europe (305–290 Ma)
and eastern Australia (305–270 Ma) to list a few [Veevers
and Tewari, 1995; Jahn et al., 2000; Zhou et al., 2002;
Timmerman, 2004; Menning et al., 2006; Zhang et al.,
2010]. The voluminous magmatism that occurred during
the Permian is attributed, in some cases, to individual mantle
plumes or a super plume [Racki and Wignall, 2005; Isozaki,
2009].
[
5] The Panjal Traps represent a well known Permian
continental flood basalt province located in the western
Himalaya of Kashmir and its origin and age are debated.
There are very few studies which have examined the origin
of the Panjal Traps but there are none which addressed the
eruption age, consequently, they have remained one of the
most contested correlations of the Permian [Nakazawa et al.,
1975; Veevers and Tewari, 1995; Wignall, 2001; White and
Saunders, 2005]. The Panjal Traps are considered to have
erupted at anytime from Late Carboniferous to Early Triassic
but more recently they are thought to have contributed to the
mid‐Capitanian (260 Ma) mass extinction and/or related to
post‐Neo‐Tethys magmatism along the northern portion of
the Gondwana margin [Wadia, 1961; Pareek, 1976; Veevers
and Tewari, 1995; Wignall, 2001; White and Saunders, 2005;
1
Department of Earth Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University,
Taipei, Taiwan.
2
Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taiwan.
3
Department of Geology, University of Jammu, Jammu, India.
4
Department of Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences,
University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
5
Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei,
Taiwan.
Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.
0094‐8276/11/2011GL049032
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 38, L19308, doi:10.1029/2011GL049032, 2011
L19308 1of5

Menning et al., 2006; Wopfner and Jin, 2009]. Therefore the
age of the Panjal Traps is very important for constraining
the geodynamic evolution of Pangaea and its possible con-
tribution to Late Permian ecosystem collapse.
2. Background Geology
[6] The Panjal Traps are primarily exposed along the Pir
Panjal and Zanskar mountain ranges within the state of
Jammu and Kashmir, northern India and are continuous into
Kashmir of Pakistan (Figure 1). The Traps are predomi-
nantly basaltic in composition with minor amounts of felsic
volcanic rocks [Ganju, 1944; Bhat and Zainuddin, 1979].
Ultramafic rocks have been reported within the Karakorum
Range and tentatively correlated with the Panjal Traps [Rao
and Rai, 2007]. The volcanic rocks are interpreted to have
erupted after the deposition of the Late to Middle Carbon-
iferous Fenestella Shale but before the deposition of the Late
Permian Gangamopteris Beds which contain lower Gondwana
flora [Nakazawa et al., 1975; Wopfner and Jin, 2009]. There
are suggestions that volcanism continued until the Early
Triassic however those rocks are considered to be a separate
unit [Nakazawa et al., 1975]. The reported total thickness
of the volcanic rocks is between ∼3000 m in the Pir Panjal
Range (western Kashmir) to ≤300 m in the Zanskar Range
(eastern Kashmir) with individual flows around 30 m
[Middlemiss, 1910; Wadia, 1934; Fuchs, 1987; Chauvet et al.,
2008; Wopfner and Jin, 2009]. It was therefore suggested that
the volcanic centre was probably located in western Kashmir
[Nakazawa and Kapoor, 1973]. There is evidence of both
subaerial and subaqueous volcanic eruptions as pillow basalts
and columnar jointed flows are observed and suggest that
the volcanic rocks erupted within a near‐shore, transgressive
shallow marine environment. The felsic volcanic rocks are
comprised of dacites, trachytes, rhyolites and acidic tuffs
and are considered to be the differentiation products of the
basaltic rocks although, in many cases, they are below the
basalts and preliminary isotopic results suggest separate source
origins [Ganju, 1944; Nakazawa et al., 1975; Shellnutt et al.,
2011].
[
7] The observation that the Panjal Traps erupted before
the deposition of the Gangamopteris beds (containing
Gangamopteris kasmirensis) was interpreted to constrain
their emplacement to Late Carboniferous however, in some
localities the traps were underlain by the Gangamopteris
beds [Nakazawa and Kapoor, 1973; Nakazawa et al., 1975;
Pareek, 1976]. Nakazawa et al. [1975], supported by
observations of Wopfner and Jin [2009], suggested that
Panjal Traps are constrained to the Early‐Middle Permian
(Sakmarian‐Artinskian) and that the reports of Early Triassic
volcanic rocks are incorrect. Complicating the matter further,
several papers interpret the Panjal Traps to be Middle to
Late Permian and that they possibly contributed to the mid‐
Capitanian mass extinction at ∼260 Ma [White and Saunders,
2005; Chauvet et al., 2008]. Other tectonic models suggest
the Panjal Traps are correlative to Permian volcanic rocks
within the Himalaya which may or may not have been related
to the opening of the Neo‐Tethys Ocean [Bhat et al., 1981;
Bhat, 1984; Veevers and Tewari, 1995; Garzanti et al., 1999;
Zhu et al., 2010]. Veevers and Tewari [1995] suggest the
Panjal Traps are related to Late Permian (∼250 Ma) mag-
matism along the Gondwana margin after the opening of the
Neo‐Tethys whereas Zhu et al. [2010] suggest they were part
of a larger volcanic belt which includes the Bhote Kosi basalts
and Abor volcanic rocks of India and the Jilong Formation
and Selong Group basalts of Tibet and related to the Early
Permian rifting of the Neo‐Tethys.
[
8] The current exposed area of the Panjal Traps is ∼0.01 ×
10
6
km
2
however the original total extent of the volcanic
rocks is unknown as the region was deformed during the
Indo‐Eurasian collision [Wignall, 2001]. Ernst and Buchan
[2001] estimated the total area of Panjal Traps and other
related Permian volcanic rocks of the Himalaya to be ∼0.2 ×
10
6
km
2
. If the estimate is correct, then Panjal‐related mag-
matism is similar in size to the Emeishan large igneous
province (ELIP) of southwestern China and the Columbia
River basalts of the northwestern United States.
3. Methods and Results
[9] Zircons were separated from one rhyolite sample (PJ1‐
044) collected from the lower‐middle flows of the Panjal
Traps at 34°02′34.8″N, 74°53′01.6″E. The separated zircons
were mounted in epoxy and photographed in backscattered
and cathodoluminescence imagery. Some of the zircon
crystals are euhedral with oscillary zonation typical of an
igneous origin although there are many which are either
anhedral or fragmented. The cores of the zircons are com-
monly darker than the rims giving an appearance of a relic
core and younger rim (Figure 2). Zircon U‐Pb isotopic
analyses were performed by laser ablation inductively
Figure 1. Location map of the Panjal Traps in northern
India and Pakistan (modified from Chauvet et al. [2008]).
SHELLNUTT ET AL.: AGE OF THE PANJAL TRAPS L19308L19308
2of5

coupledplasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) at National
Taiwan University in Taipei. The full set‐up and methods are
described by Chiu et al. [2009]. The laser ablation was pre-
formed using a He gas carrier to improve material transport
efficiency. Standard blanks were measured for ∼1 minute
and calibration was performed using GJ‐1 zircon standard,
Harvard reference zircon 91500 and Australian Mud Tank
carbonitite zircon. Data processing was completed using
GLITTER 4.0 for the U‐Th‐Pb isotope ratios and common
lead. Isoplot v. 3.0 was used to plot the Concordia diagram
and to calculate the weighted mean U‐Pb age [Ludwig,
2003]. Analyses of twenty four individual zircon crystals
form a single concordant age group and yield a mean
206
U/
238
Pb age of 289 ± 3 Ma with a mean square of
weighted deviates (MSWD) of 0.75 (Table 1 and Figure 3).
4. Conclusions
[10] The 289 ± 3 Ma age from sample PJ1‐044 is the first
radiometric age date reported for rocks from the Panjal
Traps and has significant implications on the geodynamic
development of the Neo‐Tethys and the correlations with
other volcanic rocks in the Himalaya. Firstly, the age is
somewhat similar to Carboniferous‐Permian magmatic rocks
such as the Malakand (294 Ma), Ambela (297 ± 4 Ma) and
Yunam (284 ± 1 Ma) granitoids of the Himalaya [Spring
et al., 1993]. Further to the east, Zhu et al. [2010] sug-
gested that the Jilong Formation and the Selong Group
basalts in Tibet may be an extension of the Panjal Traps.
Figure 2. Cathodoluminesce nce photomicrograph of zircons from PJ1‐044 showing the individual zircon age and spot
location (white circle).
Table 1. Zircon LA‐ICP‐MS
206
U/
238
Pb Age Results for a
Rhyolite (PJ1‐044) From the Panjal Traps
a
Point
Age (Ma)
206
Pb/
238
U1s
207
Pb/
235
U1s
206
Pb/
238
U1s
PJ1R‐01 285 ±6 0.30063 0.01143 0.04527 0.00098
PJ1R‐02 286 ±6 0.33659 0.01119 0.04544 0.00101
PJ1R‐03 291 ±6 0.31914 0.01180 0.04612 0.00100
PJ1R‐04 275 ±6 0.34964 0.01196 0.04354 0.00092
PJ1R‐05 293 ±7 0.34695 0.01357 0.04648 0.00107
PJ1R‐06 283 ±6 0.34303 0.01158 0.04491 0.00094
PJ1R‐07 299 ±6 0.37103 0.01059 0.0474 0.00101
PJ1R‐08 291 ±6 0.38526 0.01265 0.04612 0.00104
PJ1R‐09 293 ±7 0.34168 0.01376 0.04657 0.00108
PJ1R‐10 289 ±6 0.33332 0.00980 0.04586 0.00099
PJ1R‐11 289 ±6 0.32581 0.00988 0.04578 0.00098
PJ1R‐12 282 ±6 0.33223 0.01077 0.04467 0.00099
PJ1R‐13 291 ±6 0.29089 0.00969 0.04612 0.00099
PJ1R‐14 289 ±6 0.33982 0.00992 0.04583 0.00098
PJ1R‐15 284 ±6 0.33720 0.01029 0.04503 0.00097
PJ1R‐16 288 ±6 0.33402 0.00944 0.04574 0.00098
PJ1R‐17 297 ±7 0.35733 0.01196 0.04722 0.00109
PJ1R‐18 290 ±6 0.32351 0.01021 0.04597 0.00099
PJ1R‐19 284 ±6 0.31950 0.00887 0.04505 0.00096
PJ1R‐20 292 ±8 0.30972 0.01644 0.04636 0.00122
PJ1R‐21 293 ±6 0.34055 0.01551 0.04652 0.00103
PJ1R‐22 292 ±6 0.32847 0.00982 0.04628 0.00102
PJ1R‐23 296 ±6 0.33724 0.00957 0.04696 0.00101
PJ1R‐24 289 ±6 0.32287 0.01170 0.04592 0.00104
a
Standard blanks were measured for ∼1 minute and calibrat ion was
performed using GJ‐1 zircon standard, Harvard reference zircon 91500
and Australian Mud Tank carbonitite zircon. Data processing was
completed using GLITTER 4.0 for the U‐ Th‐ Pb isotope ratios and
common lead. Isoplot v. 3.0 was used to plot the Concord ia diagram and
to calculate the weighted mean U‐Pb age.
SHELLNUTT ET AL.: AGE OF THE PANJAL TRAPS L19308L19308
3of5

However, whole rock elemental and isotopic data from the
Panjal Traps at Guryal Ravine and Pahalgam in Kashmir are
different from the Jilong and Selong basalts and, although
they may be contemporaneous, their petrogenetic relation-
ship is yet to be established [Shellnutt et al., 2011].
[
11] Secondly, the Panjal Traps cannot be related to the Late
Permian (∼250 Ma) post Neo‐Tethys rifting of Gondwana
[Veevers and Tewari, 1995] and are likely related to the
initial opening of the Neo‐Tethys Ocean during the Early
Permian (Figure 4). Furthermore the interpretation that rifting
of the Neo‐Tethys began in eastern Gondwana and propa-
gated westward seems unlikely as the Panjal Traps are con-
temporaneous with rhyodacitic tuffs from eastern Australia
[Veevers and Tewari, 1995]. The Panjal Traps could, in fact,
be the initial rift zone which propagated linearly eastward and
northward and led to the separation of Cimmeria from
Gondwana [Metcalfe, 2006]. It is likely that the Early Permian
(>270 Ma) rocks in the Himalaya are related to each other in
the sense that they are part of a contemporaneous regional
tectonic rifting regime which developed over the course of
20 Ma or so along the Tethyan margin of Gondwana but
not necessarily petrogenetically related.
[
12] Thirdly, the Panjal Traps are not Middle‐Late Permian
and therefore could not be a factor in the mid‐Capitanian or
end‐Permian mass extinctions because most continental flood
basalt eruptions last ≤10 Ma [White and Saunders, 2005;
Bryan and Ernst, 2008]. The absence of a recorded mass
extinction [Raup and Sepkoski, 1982] during the Early
Permian and the fact that the estimated original area (i.e.,
∼0.2 × 10
6
km
2
) of Panjal‐related magmatism is similar to
the ELIP (i.e., ∼0.3 × 10
6
km
2
) suggests that either LIPs do
not necessarily contribute to mass extinctions or that LIPs
must be of a minimum size in order to adversely affect a
thriving ecosystem. Considering the Ethiopian flood basalts
(i.e., 0.5 × 10
6
km
2
) have a larger area than the ELIP and
that there was no corresponding mass extinction, coupled
with the absence of a mass extinction synchronous with the
Panjal Traps, it seems that flood basalt eruptions, strictly
speaking, do not directly cause ecosystem collapse but rather
some other indirect mechanism or mechanisms (e.g., country
rock degassing, bolide impact) are required [Wignall, 2001,
2005; Racki and Wignall, 2005; Ganino and Arndt, 2009;
Wignall et al., 2009].
[
13] Acknowledgments. This paper benefitted from the constructive
comments of two anonymou s reviewers and Micha el Wysession. The
authors would like to thank Ghulam‐ud‐Din Bhat and G.M. Zaki for their
field assistance and Sun‐Lin Chung and Emily Lin for their assistance with
laboratory work at National Taiwan University.
[14] The Editor thanks Jason Ali and Michael Rampino for their assis-
tance in evaluating this paper.
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G. M. Bhat, Department of Geology, University of Jammu, Jammu
180 006, India.
M. E. Brookfield, Department of Environmental, Earth a nd O cean
Sciences, University of Massachusetts Bosto n, 100 Morrissey Blvd.,
Boston, MA 02125, USA.
B.‐M. Jahn, Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University,
PO Box 13‐318, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
J. G. Shellnutt, Department of Earth Sciences, National Taiwan Normal
University, 88 Tingzhou Rd., Section 4, Taipei 11677, Taiwan. (jgshelln@
ntnu.edu.tw)
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