© D. Bonadonna/ MUSE, Trento
Summary of major extinction events through time, highlighting the new, Carnian Pluvial Episode at 233 million years ago.
In a new paper, published today in
Science Advances,
an international team has identified a major extinction of life 233 million years ago that triggered the dinosaur takeover of the world. The crisis has been called the Carnian Pluvial Episode.
The team of 17 researchers, led by Jacopo Dal Corso of the
China University of Geosciences at Wuhan and
Mike Benton of the University of Bristol's
School of Earth Sciences, reviewed all the geological and palaeontological evidence and determined what had happened.
The cause was most likely massive volcanic eruptions in the Wrangellia Province of western Canada, where huge volumes of volcanic basalt was poured out and forms much of the western coast of North America.
"The eruptions peaked in the Carnian," says Jacopo Dal Corso. "I was studying the geochemical signature of the eruptions a few years ago and identified some massive effects on the atmosphere worldwide. The eruptions were so huge, they pumped vast amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, and there were spikes of global warming".
Comment: Additional info translated via Google: See also: Mystery surrounds death of 137 sea lions washed up on beach in Baja California Sur, Mexico