Extinctions: Massive eruptions (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, August 24, 2016, 18:55 (3013 days ago) @ David Turell

The cause of the Permian-Triassic extinction event about 252 million years ago was due to extreme heat on the Earth which damaged nutrition supply in the oceans. This came from massive eruptions in Siberia:-https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160824111100.htm-"After an extreme global warming 252 million years ago, a severe mass extinction of life took place on Earth. A new study in the Arctic has been seeking clues as to what limited return of life to world´s oceans after this event.-"96 percent of marine species, and 70 percent of terrestrial life died off in the Permian-Triassic extinction event, as geologists know it. It is also known as The Great Dying Event for obvious reasons.-"'The mass extinction was likely triggered by a explosive event of volcanic eruptions in what is now Siberia. These eruptions lasted for a million years and emitted enormous amounts of volatiles, such as carbon dioxide and methane, which made our planet unbearably hot." says Jochen Knies-***-"Our oceans are not a single body of water. They are comprised of layers and boundaries based on temperature (thermocline) and nutrients (nutricline) among others.-"'The high temperatures caused deepening of the thermocline and nutricline in the ocean so that upwelling of nutrients from the bottom to the surface of ocean ceased. With that the marine algae productivity was stalled," according to Knies.-"And without algae, which are the base of the food chain, the life in the ocean did not thrive.-"Once oceans finally started cooling 6-7 million years after the extinction, nutrient rich waters returned.-"'The boundaries that kept the nutrients from reaching the surface were weakened and the ocean waters were mixed. This caused the upwelling of nutrients, resuscitating the oceans, and leading to an explosion of life. The ecosystem voids created by the worst mass extinction in Earth history were finally filled." states Jochen Knies."-"In many ways the Permian-Triassic mass extinction reset the evolution of life, and paved the way for evolution of dinosaurs. They, in turn, died off in another mass extinction 66 million years ago." -Comment: This study shows the balance of nature is so important and current environment is part of that balance. Most extinctions are bad luck, described in previous entries.