Siberian Traps

The Siberian Traps (Russian: Сибирские траппы, romanized: Sibirskiye trappy) are a big area of volcanic rock in Siberia, Russia. They are part of something called a large igneous province.

These traps formed when huge amounts of basaltic lava burst out in a big flood basalt event. It was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the last 500 million years. The eruptions lasted for about two million years and ended around 251.9 million years ago.

Scientists believe the Siberian Traps helped cause the Permian–Triassic extinction event. This was a time when many plants and animals, including most sea species, disappeared. Later eruptions from the same area may have also caused smaller changes in the years that followed.

Today, the Siberian Traps cover about 7 million square kilometers of Russia. They hold a lot of solid rock—around 4 million cubic kilometers. These ancient rocks help us learn about Earth's past and how big natural events can change life on our planet.

Etymology

The word "trap" comes from an old Swedish word that means "stairs." People who study rocks started using this name in the late 1700s for certain kinds of rock shapes. In Siberia, these rocks make hills that look like steps, so they are called traps.

Formation

The Siberian Traps are a large area of volcanic rock in Siberia, Russia. They were created by a deep mantle plume that moved upward and caused many volcanic eruptions. These eruptions mostly happened during the Permian and Triassic periods, spreading layers of basalt across the land.

The rocks in the Siberian Traps are mainly basalt, but they also include other types of rock from many eruptions over about one million years. Below these traps is a large basin with old layers of carbonate, evaporite, and coal-bearing rocks. When heated by the volcanic activity, these rocks can release harmful and greenhouse gases.

Effects on prehistoric life

Main article: Permian–Triassic extinction event

The Siberian Traps are linked to the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the worst mass extinction in Earth's history. The huge volcanic eruptions released gases like CO2 and SO2. These gases caused the climate to warm up quickly. This made big changes in the oceans and on land. Many plants and animals found it hard to survive. Because of these changes, many species disappeared. This changed life on Earth forever. Scientists still discuss why this extinction was so severe, but the eruptions from the Siberian Traps played a major role.

Dating

The volcanic eruptions that made the Siberian Traps sent out huge amounts of magma. This left rocks behind that scientists can study today. One type of mineral in these rocks is called zircon. Scientists used a special method called the CA-TIMS technique to learn how old the zircons are. This helps them know when the big eruptions happened.

Researchers also studied other events from that time, like changes in sea level and meteor impacts. By comparing rocks from the Siberian Traps to rocks from other places, they discovered that most of the volcanic activity happened about 250 million years ago. This time matches a big event when many plants and animals died out.

Mineral deposits

The huge Norilsk–Talnakh nickel–copper–palladium deposit formed inside the magma channels in the Siberian Traps. Scientists think this deposit is connected to the Permian–Triassic extinction event. They found large amounts of nickel and other elements in rock layers from after the extinction. By comparing when the volcanic activity happened in the traps to when the extinction happened, they made this link. Before this discovery, people thought the mass extinction and the volcanic activity happened around the same time because the rocks looked similar.