The Permian-Triassic extinction event, also known as The Great Dying, was the largest of the five major extinctions in the geological age. Scientists have discovered that plants on Earth have been devastated as early as 400,000 years before the spread of animals and marine life.

There is a view that the Extinction event was caused by a collision between the continental crust and the supercontinent named Pangaea, which led to the eruption of volcanoes in Siberia today. For about two million years, volcanoes continue to inject carbon and methane into the atmosphere, and eventually, 96% of marine life and 70% of terrestrial vertebrates have become extinct, becoming the worst mass extinction event in Earth’s history.

New research shows that nearly 400,000 years before the disappearance of most marine life, nickel, a by-product of volcanic eruptions, began to destroy some of Australia’s plant life. “This is big news,” said Christopher Fielding, the lead author at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “Some people have raised such a conjecture, but no one can be sure. Now we have scheduled.”

The researchers analyzed the chemical composition and age of pollen fossils and rocks near the cliffs in southeastern Australia, as well as the stratification of sediments. Surprisingly, they found high levels of nickel in the mudstones of the Sydney Basin, and there is no source of this element in the area.

The researchers concluded that the source of these nickels points to magma eruptions that pass through Siberian nickel deposits. Tracy Frank, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, said that volcanic activity may have converted nickel into an aerosol form, and after thousands of kilometers to the south, it eventually landed in this area of Australia and was poisoned. The plants there. She also said that similar increases in nickel have been observed in other parts of the world.

“So this is a combination of multiple environmental factors,” Fielding said. “And this is a recurring theme in all five major extinctions in Earth’s history.”

If this is the case, then this phenomenon is likely to trigger a series of other consequences: the disappearance of plants causes the death of herbivores, which in turn leads to the extinction of carnivores; moreover, toxic sediments eventually flow into the ocean, where the organisms are already carbon dioxide A large number of deaths occur as the concentration increases, the acidification increases, and the temperature rises.

Although the “Great Dying” event surpassed the current ecological crisis on Earth in terms of time scale and scale, Frank said that more and more similarities—especially the dramatic increase in greenhouse gases and the continued extinction of species—have It has become a subject worth studying.

“Recalling these extinctions in Earth’s history is useful because we can see what is going on,” Frank said. “How was the Earth system disrupted in the past? What happened? What happened to these changes? This provides a background for research that has happened to us today.”

A study last year explored how the so-called “Flood Basalts” eruption eliminated such a large proportion of Earth’s life in “great dying” because species of volcanic activity of this size were far less extinct. It has been suggested that the eruption caused the earth to cover a thick layer of dust and fog, blocking the sun from reaching the surface of the earth.

However, a new study reveals that the eruption released a large number of deadly chemicals into the atmosphere, destroying the Earth’s ozone layer. The ozone layer is the only protection against the damage of the Earth’s life from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Its absence has led to a sharp rise in the number of extinct organisms, far exceeding other volcanic eruptions.

Scientists at the French Institute of Cretaceous and Geochemical Research have identified the causes by analyzing the mantle rocks on Earth. They analyzed the chemical composition of the mantle-carrying scorpion in the lithosphere, which was captured by the lava that passed through and erupted to the surface of the Earth. The lithosphere is located between the crust and the mantle. By analyzing some ancient samples, the researchers tried to determine the exact composition of the lithosphere.

What is the “Great Dying” incident?

About 248 million Years Ago, the Permian came to the end, and the Earth is about to open the Triassic era. It is the Permian-Triassic extinction event that marks the boundary of these two geological times, also known as The Great Dying.

This catastrophe has almost wiped out all life on earth. Scientists believe that about 95% of marine life disappeared in this mass extinction, and less than one-third of land creatures survived. Overall, 90% of life on Earth is extinct.

Today all life on earth is evolved from the only 10% of the animals, plants, and microbes that exist. Previously, researchers believed that a violent volcanic eruption occurred on the earth, which covered the earth with a thick layer of dust and fog, blocking the sun. However, new findings show that in a large volcanic eruption that lasted nearly 1 million years, a large number of toxic chemicals were released into the atmosphere, destroying the ozone layer.

After the destruction of the ozone layer, which protects the Earth’s life from ultraviolet rays, the earth’s life has died in large numbers, and the number of extinct species far exceeds other mass extinctions.

Five mass extinctions on Earth

Five mass extinctions in the usual sense, including the famous event that was triggered by an asteroid collision 66 million years ago and eventually led to the extinction of dinosaurs. However, the causes of the following other major extinction events are entirely from the Earth itself. Although the visibility of these events is not so high, it can also provide a reference for the environmental crisis we are currently facing.

Ordovician-Silitary extinction event: This ancient event occurred about 445 million years ago and witnessed two major wave of extinctions due to climate change associated with the advancement and retreat of the southern hemisphere. This is the only major extinction event related to global cooling.

Extinction in the late Devonian: Scientists now believe that this period began 380 million years ago, lasted more than 20 million years, and there have been many extinction peaks. The extinction was associated with severe climate change and may have been caused by volcanic eruptions in the Viluy Traps area (in Siberia today). A large-scale eruption can cause sea level changes and a dramatic decrease in oxygen content in seawater.

The mid-Permian extinction event: Scientists recently discovered that an extinction event that occurred 262 million years ago is comparable in scale to the traditional “top five extinction events”. The incident was the same time as the Emeishan eruption (in China today) and caused a large number of species extinctions at the same time in the tropics and higher latitudes.

Permian-Triassic extinction event: This mass extinction occurred 252 million years ago, and the scale is large, which dwarfs other events. About 96% of the species were extinct in the event. The large-scale basalt eruption in Siberia and its many environmental effects are considered to be the main cause of the incident.

The Triassic-Jurassic extinction event: The incident occurred 201 million years ago and has much in common with the Permian-Triassic extinction. This time, a large-scale eruption of the extinction of the masses of the present mid-Atlantic igneous rock region, foreshadowed the division of the Pangu continent and the subsequent formation of the Atlantic.

The post Facts on Permian-Triassic extinction, mass extinction, and great dying appeared first on Sandip Ghimire.