Paul Wignall

Paul Barry Wignall
Born1964 (age 61–62)
Bradford, England
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Oxford (BA), University of Birmingham (PhD)
Academic work
DisciplinePalaeontology, Sedimentology
InstitutionsUniversity of Leeds

Paul Barry Wignall is a British palaeontologist and sedimentologist. He is best known for his research on mass extinctions in the marine realm., particularly via the interpretation of black shales.

Biography

Wignall obtained an undergraduate degree in geology from Worcester College at the University of Oxford in 1985. He then completed a PhD in Palaeoecology at the University of Birmingham in 1988, supervised by Anthony Hallam. He spent a year as a postdoctoral researcher with John Hudson at the University of Leicester before gaining employment in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds in 1989, where he is currently Professor of Palaeoenvironments.

Research

Wignall is well known for his research on extinction in the fossil record, particularly the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. He has published extensively on the importance of oceanic anoxia and high temperatures as kill mechanisms during this event. He also has an interest in understanding the coincidence of supercontinents, large igneous provinces and mass extinction events in Earth history.

Publications

Wignall has published over 200 research articles and books, including Mass Extinctions and Their Aftermath, The Worst of Times: How Life on Earth Survived Eighty Million Years of Extinctions and Extinction: A Very Short Introduction.

Media

Wignall has featured in several television programs, including BBC Horizon episode The Day the Earth Nearly Died.

Awards

Other

Wignall co-founded the Craven and Pendle Geological Society in 1990. He was President of the Leeds Geological Association in 2007–2008, and President of the Yorkshire Geological Society in 2009–2010. He was also a member of the Research Excellence Framework review panel for Earth Sciences in 2014.

See also

Paul Wignall's profile at University of Leeds: https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/see/staff/1607/professor-paul-wignall

References

  1. 1 2 Wignall, Paul B. (2001-03-01). "Large igneous provinces and mass extinctions". Earth-Science Reviews. 53 (1): 1–33. Bibcode:2001ESRv...53....1W. doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(00)00037-4. ISSN 0012-8252.
  2. 1 2 3 Wignall, Paul B.; Twitchett, Richard J. (1996-05-24). "Oceanic Anoxia and the End Permian Mass Extinction". Science. 272 (5265): 1155–1158. Bibcode:1996Sci...272.1155W. doi:10.1126/science.272.5265.1155. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 8662450. S2CID 35032406.
  3. 1 2 Hallam, Anthony; Wignall, Paul B. (1999). "Mass extinctions and sea-level changes". Earth-Science Reviews. 48 (4): 217–250. Bibcode:1999ESRv...48..217H. doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(99)00055-0.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Wignall, Paul B. (1994). Black Shales. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854038-8. OCLC 29469074.
  5. ↑ Wignall, Paul B.; Myers, Keith J. (1988-05-01). "Interpreting benthic oxygen levels in mudrocks: A new approach". Geology. 16 (5): 452–455. Bibcode:1988Geo....16..452W. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1988)016<0452:IBOLIM>2.3.CO;2. ISSN 0091-7613.
  6. ↑ Wignall, P. B.; Newton, R. (1998-09-01). "Pyrite framboid diameter as a measure of oxygen deficiency in ancient mudrocks". American Journal of Science. 298 (7): 537–552. Bibcode:1998AmJS..298..537W. doi:10.2475/ajs.298.7.537. ISSN 0002-9599.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal". European Geosciences Union (EGU). Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  8. 1 2 Extinctions in the history of life. Paul D. Taylor. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. 2004. ISBN 0-521-84224-7. OCLC 54529268.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ↑ Wignall, Paul B.; Benton, Michael J. (May 1999). "Lazarus taxa and fossil abundance at times of biotic crisis". Journal of the Geological Society. 156 (3): 453–456. Bibcode:1999JGSoc.156..453W. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.156.3.0453. ISSN 0016-7649. S2CID 130746408.
  10. ↑ "The Permian Extinction—When Life Nearly Came to an End | National Geographic Society". education.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  11. ↑ Twitchett, Richard J.; Looy, Cindy V.; Morante, Ric; Visscher, Henk; Wignall, Paul B. (2001-04-01). "Rapid and synchronous collapse of marine and terrestrial ecosystems during the end-Permian biotic crisis". Geology. 29 (4): 351–354. Bibcode:2001Geo....29..351T. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0351:RASCOM>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0091-7613.
  12. ↑ Wignall, P. B. (December 2007). "The End-Permian mass extinction – how bad did it get?". Geobiology. 5 (4): 303–309. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4669.2007.00130.x. ISSN 1472-4677. S2CID 130274539.
  13. ↑ Wignall, Paul B., Twitchett, Richard J. (2002). "Extent, duration, and nature of the Permian-Triassic superanoxic event". Geological Society of America Special Papers. 356: 395–413.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ Sun, Yadong; Joachimski, Michael M.; Wignall, Paul B.; Yan, Chunbo; Chen, Yanlong; Jiang, Haishui; Wang, Lina; Lai, Xulong (2012-10-19). "Lethally Hot Temperatures During the Early Triassic Greenhouse". Science. 338 (6105): 366–370. Bibcode:2012Sci...338..366S. doi:10.1126/science.1224126. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 23087244. S2CID 41302171.
  15. ↑ Song, Haijun; Wignall, Paul B.; Chu, Daoliang; Tong, Jinnan; Sun, Yadong; Song, Huyue; He, Weihong; Tian, Li (May 2015). "Anoxia/high temperature double whammy during the Permian-Triassic marine crisis and its aftermath". Scientific Reports. 4 (1): 4132. doi:10.1038/srep04132. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 3928575. PMID 24549265.
  16. 1 2 Wignall, Paul B. (2017). The Worst of Times: How Life on Earth Survived Eighty Million Years of Extinctions. Princeton University Press. pp. 1–224. ISBN 978-0691176024.
  17. ↑ Bond, David P.G.; Wignall, Paul B. (2014), "Large igneous provinces and mass extinctions: An update", Volcanism, Impacts, and Mass Extinctions: Causes and Effects, Geological Society of America, doi:10.1130/2014.2505(02), ISBN 978-0-8137-2505-5, retrieved 2022-07-18
  18. ↑ Wignall, P. (2005-12-01). "The Link between Large Igneous Province Eruptions and Mass Extinctions". Elements. 1 (5): 293–297. doi:10.2113/gselements.1.5.293. ISSN 1811-5209.
  19. ↑ Hallam, Anthony; Wignall, Paul B. (1997). Mass Extinctions and Their Aftermath. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198549161.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ Wignall, Paul B. (2019). Extinction: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. pp. 1–144. ISBN 978-0198807285.
  21. ↑ "BBC - Science & Nature - Horizon - The Day The Earth Nearly Died". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  22. ↑ "Yorkshire Geological Society: Medals, Honours and Grants" (PDF).
  23. ↑ "The Geological Society of London - President's Awards". www.geolsoc.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  24. ↑ "Geology Awards - The Clough Medal and Clough Memorial Award Winners". Edinburgh Geological Society. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  25. ↑ "Past Science Awards Winners". sepm.org. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  26. ↑ "Yorkshire Geological Society: Past Presidents" (PDF).