Earth has experienced five major mass extinction events over the past 500 million years. Massive volcanic eruptions have been identified as the major driver of the environmental changes that precipitated at least three of these extinction events. The fifth and most recent event—the end-Cretaceous mass extinction—occurred 66 million years ago and was responsible for wiping out dinosaurs. Researchers have long debated whether gas emissions from volcanic eruptions from the Deccan Traps (an enormous volcanic province located in India) or the impact of a large asteroid is most responsible for causing the climate changes that triggered that event. Now, a multi-institutional research team led by scientists from The Graduate Center, CUNY has analyzed the amount and timing of CO2 outgassing (one of the main gases released by the Deccan Traps) to further determine the role that volcanism played in climate shifts around the time of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.
Click here for original story, Scientists zero in on the role of volcanoes in the demise of dinosaurs
Source: Phys.org