Paul Wignall

Paul Wignall is a British paleontologist and geologist at the University of Leeds, best known for linking marine anoxia and carbon cycle disruptions to major Phanerozoic mass extinction events. His work particularly focuses on the Permian-Triassic extinction, the largest known mass die-off in Earth history. He uses field stratigraphy across multiple continents to test these hypotheses.

Wignall's research helped establish that widespread oceanic anoxia, or oxygen depletion, was a major kill mechanism during the Permian-Triassic extinction roughly 252 million years ago. He linked volcanic CO₂ emissions from the Siberian Traps to ocean chemistry changes. This work drew on field sites in Greenland, China, and elsewhere.

Paul Wignall is a professor at the University of Leeds in the School of Earth and Environment. He has been affiliated with Leeds for much of his academic career. His fieldwork has taken him to China, Russia, Europe, and North America.

Beyond the Permian-Triassic, Wignall has published extensively on the end-Triassic, Toarcian, and Late Devonian extinction events. He has investigated the roles of flood basalt volcanism, sea-level change, and ocean anoxia in these crises. His work spans much of the Phanerozoic Eon.