First Workshop on the Carnian Pluvial Episode (Late Triassic): a Report

In the late early Carnian (Late Triassic) an important, but yet poorly understood, phase of global climate change occurred. This is roughly coincident with a time of major biological turnover. Many important groups diversified or spread during the Carnian, e.g., dinosaurs, calcareous nannofossils, and modern conifers. Abrupt environmental changes are observed in the geological record worldwide during this interval. These phenomena were roughly synchronous with a carbon-cycle perturbation and could be linked to Large Igneous Province volcanism. Palaeoclimatologists, stratigraphers, geochemists, carbonate sedimentologists, palaeontologists, and modellers met at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Institute for Advanced Study in Delmenhorst (Germany), to discuss this intriguing episode of climate change, and the associated effects on the environments and biota. The main aims of the workshop was to summarise the current understanding of the Carnian Pluvial Episode, and discuss future research directions.