Molten Eruptions & Volcanic Winters May Have Led to the Rise of the Dinosaurs

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As a seasoned gamer with a penchant for science-fiction and historical facts, I find myself captivated by this intriguing revelation about the extinction event that preceded the age of dinosaurs. For years, I’ve been fascinated by tales of Isla Nublar and the Jurassic era, and the notion that volcanic eruptions could have triggered not one but two global cataclysms is nothing short of exhilarating.

In Universal’s “Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom,” a catastrophic volcanic explosion looms over Isla Nublar, potentially engulfing it in flames and dooming the dinosaurs once more. This scenario would have been fitting, as 200 million years prior, volcanic eruptions sparked a mass extinction that paved the way for the dinosaur era. The end-Triassic extinction wiped out roughly three-quarters of life on Earth. However, the exact cause of this event is being reconsidered following a recent study published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Over many years, scientists have linked the end-Triassic extinction event to an extended series of massive volcanic eruptions in a region known as the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). At that time, the Earth’s landmasses were joined together as the supercontinent Pangaea, and early dinosaurs were just beginning to establish themselves. The volcanic activity in the CAMP area persisted for approximately 600,000 years and played a role in splitting the continent apart.

A traditional perspective portrays prolonged eruptions spanning thousands of years, releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. The accumulation of these greenhouse gases would have intensified temperatures and potentially driven life to its limits. However, recent findings indicate that the extinction of Triassic life was not caused by fire, but by ice.

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The recent research concentrated on CAMP deposits in Morocco, the Bay of Fundy in the Eastern parts of Canada and the United States, as well as the Newark Basin in New Jersey. It was discovered that these eruptions were shorter and more powerful than earlier assumptions suggested.

Over a span of approximately 40,000 years, there were five separate and relatively brief volcanic outbursts. Each burst occurred in less than 100 years, and their distinct magnetic signatures suggest this timing. This quick succession is notable because if the eruptions had lasted longer, the shifting Earth’s magnetic poles would have affected the magnetic properties of the deposit layers.

From a volcano enthusiast’s perspective, if eruptions are prolonged and gradual, it results in a gradual increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, leading to a warming trend that could potentially trigger an extinction event. However, if eruptions are intense but short-lived, a different scenario unfolds. Instead of building up quickly, carbon dioxide levels rise at a slower pace, and sulfate particles take center stage. These particles function like countless mini mirrors, bouncing sunlight back into space, thus cooling the Earth’s temperature. Unlike carbon dioxide, these sulfates start working immediately upon release into the atmosphere, and if enough of them are released all at once, they can cause a significant drop in global temperatures over the course of several years or decades.

At a certain point in history, the CAMP volcanic eruptions led to global warming. Yet, as per the latest research, this heating didn’t occur until 75% of all life had already turned into frozen food (metaphorically speaking). Despite the sequence of events, these devastating volcanic explosions nearly wiped out all life forms completely, paving the way for dinosaurs – which had recently evolved – to occupy new ecological spaces.

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2024-10-31 23:31