Extinction Caused
by Lava Flow

Lava Flow Linked to Extinction

Magma Flow 'led to mass extinctions'

How Lava Ended
Earth Life

More Headlines From
This Research

EXTINCTION CAUSED BY LAVA FLOW

News generated from:
Reichow, M.K. et al., 2002. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar Dates from the West Siberian Basin: Siberian Flood Basalt Province Doubled. Science 296, 1846.

The Siberian Traps are the world's largest flood basalt province, considered by some as a possible cause for the largest extinction event in Earth's history, the end Permian crisis. High precision ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data confirms that the West Siberian Basin basalts, located West of the Siberian Traps, are actually part of the Siberian Traps and therefore at least double the confirmed area of the volcanic province as a whole. These results strengthen the link between the Siberian flood basalts and the end Permian crisis.

Lava Flow Linked to Extinction
By Rob Stein, Science Notebook, Washington Post, 10/06/02

A gigantic flood of molten rock that gushed out of the Earth 250million years ago appears to have gone on much longer than have been thought, and might have been responsible for the largest extinction of life that has ever occurred on the planet, according to new research.

The Permian-Triassic extinction killed at least 90 percent of all ocean life and 70 percent of land animals, setting the stage for the dominance of the dinosaurs. Some researchers have speculated that an asteroid collision like the one that killed the dinosaurs may have also caused that extinction. But a British-Russian team of scientists led by Andrew D. Saunders of the University of Leicester in Britain studied the Siberian Traps, a huge deposit of molten rock in Russia. Samples extracted from deep below the traps show the same type and age of lava that formed the traps was at least twice as massive - covering nearly 1.6 million square miles - and lasted perhaps twice as long as had been thought.

A lava flow that large over hundreds of thousands of years would release millions of tons of chemicals into the atmosphere, causing devastating changes in the climate and ecology, the researchers speculated. "The larger area of volcanism strengthens the link between the volcanism and the end-Permian mass extinction," the researchers wrote in the June 7 Science.

Magma flow 'led to mass extinctions'
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor, The Daily Telegraph, 07/06/02

A vast flood of magma that gushed out of the ground 250 million years ago was at least twice as extensive as previously thought. The finding backs the suggestion that this helped trigger the biggest loss of life in history. The gases this "flood volcanism" released have often been considered responsible for the "Permo-Triassic extinction" that led to the demise of 90 per cent of species in the oceans and 70 per cent on land. Today, in the journal Science, Marc Reichow of the University of Leicester and colleagues report a study of the "Siberian Traps", volcanic rocks found across a region of Russia called the Siberian Platform. The team studied volcanic rock from deep boreholes in the Western Siberian Basin, about 600 miles west of the Siberian Platform. The researchers determined that they were also part of the Siberian Traps and now suggest that the total extent of the Traps covered an area equivalent to about three or four times that of Britain, more than double previous estimates."It now seems more than likely that this is a major contributor to the extinction," he said, adding that the ultimate cause was still open to question.

A huge flow of molten rock may have killed 90 per cent of all animal life 250million years ago. The mile-deep flood of lava which bubbled from the Earth's core to the surface spread over an area half the size of Australia, a study suggests.

The British and Russian scientists researching the key event say it choked the air with sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and other gases that made it impossible for most species to survive. Trilobites, plankton, gastropods, bivalves and insects all but vanished though fish like sharks lived through the Permian-Triassic extinction.

The period was followed by the rise of the dinosaurs until they too were wiped out by an asteroid hit 65millions years ago. But the lava outpouring lasted hundreds of thousands of years was twice as big as previously thought, says lead report author Marc Reichow, of the University of Leicester, in the journal Science.

Problems Finding Information?
Email US TO LET US KNOW