Sudden productivity collapse associated with the Triassic-Jurassic boundary mass extinction

The end-Triassic mass extinction is one of the five most catastrophic in Ph anerozoic Earth history. Here we report carbon isotope evidence of a pronou nced productivity collapse at the boundary, coincident with a sudden extinc tion among marine plankton, from stratigraphic sections on the Queen Charlo tte Islands, British Columbia, Canada. This signal is similar to (though sm aller than) the carbon isotope excursions associated with the Permian-Trias sic and Cretaceous-Tertiary events.