Huge and widespread volcanic eruptions triggered the end-Triassic extinction

Thursday, March 21, 2013 - 17:30 in Earth & Climate

Palisade Sill on the Hudson River at Alpine, N.J. This 80 kilometer long intrusion forming the western edge of the Hudson River represents less than 0.2 percent of the total volume of magma erupted during the 201-million-year-old Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). Photo courtesy of the researchers More than 200 million years ago, a massive extinction decimated 76 percent of marine and terrestrial species, marking the end of the Triassic period and the onset of the Jurassic. This devastating event cleared the way for dinosaurs to dominate Earth for the next 135 million years, taking over ecological niches formerly occupied by other marine and terrestrial species. It’s not entirely clear what caused the end-Triassic extinction, although most scientists agree on a likely scenario: Over a relatively short period of time, massive volcanic eruptions from a large region known as the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) spewed forth huge amounts of...

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