research was funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council...What a huge surprise that the results were against impact extinction.
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Posted on 05/05/2009 6:13:30 AM PDT by decimon
Were major extinction events real biological catastrophes or were they merely the result of gaps in the fossil record? Research by a team of geologists from the Universities of Bristol, Plymouth, and Saratov State in Russia, has shed new light on a debate that has divided scientists of late and was recognised as far back as Darwin’s Origin of Species.
The team has uncovered evidence in the Russian Urals that demonstrates the presence of the world’s single most severe mass extinction event which took place at the end of the Permian and start of the Triassic ages, some 250 million years ago. The extinction event, thought to be the result of runaway global warming, wiped out between 80-95 per cent of the planet’s species.
This highly significant research disproves the currently accepted idea that in Russia this mass extinction event was not recorded and the apparent disappearance in species during this time was in fact due to a gap in the fossil record. Lead researcher, Dr Graeme Taylor of the University of Plymouth explains: “Leading authorities including the authors of the International Timescale suggested that ten million years worth of rock was missing in Russia and that the rocks present were thought to be ten million years older than they are. This would mean that the fossil disappearance in Russia would then pre-date that of everywhere else, seriously undermining the idea of a single mass extinction event.”
The scientists matched the magnetic record fossilised within the disputed Russian rocks with those from the rest of the globe, demonstrating that the Russian rocks do indeed record the run-up to the event and the Permian - Triassic period and therefore the fossil losses in these rocks are part of the mass extinction. Explaining the significance of the findings, Dr Taylor said: “There is in fact no Permian-Triassic gap. The record is complete and the mass extinction event is further strengthened as being a major turning point in the history of life on Earth and as the most catastrophic event to have, so far, affected our planet.”
The research was funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council, Royal Society and National Geographic and was recently published in the journal, Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Russia rocks the gap ping.
Global Warming Junk Science Ping
If nothing else, this shows the earth can survive a 90% species extinction “event” and still thrive.
BTTT
That's cool if you're in the ten percent.
I love how the other throws the “due to runaway global warming” line in there, as if that is the scientific consensus.
Wikipedia, however says: “There are several proposed mechanisms for the extinctions; the earlier peak was likely due to gradualistic environmental change, while the latter was probably due to a catastrophic event. Possible mechanisms for the latter include large or multiple bolide impact events, increased volcanism, or sudden release of methane hydrates from the sea floor; gradual changes include sea-level change, anoxia, increasing aridity,[10] and a shift in ocean circulation driven by climate change.”
Sounds like the debate is really over on this one too!
The interesting question is, have mass extinction events been periodic?
Global Warming, Caveman Bush’s fault.
Is that when god hits the reset button?
Darn! I thought this article was gonna be about senior adult dating.
“The interesting question is, have mass extinction events been periodic?”
I think a 400 million year cycle has been identified.
The solar system oscillates “up” and “down” through the galactic plane on an approximately 400 MY cycle. Thus, every 400 MY the earth passes through a denser segment of the galactic arm in which it lies.
Theories say that this increased density may spawn an increase in extraterrestrial comet and asteroid activity in the solar system.
Theories.
“Wife, I can't sleep thinking about that Russian mass extinction and paying the electric”.
And she says,
“Solly, you're on the blue bottles. Worrying about electricity when 85 to 90% of life went blotto during the Pregnant-Triangular Age. You really needs to rationalize these things, you really do.”
I think the old girl is ready for her own Permanant-Tricycle Extinction. What does she know about stuff what happened when she was in nappies?
I think the Permian-Triassic gap might cover that.
Keep this up and the wife may find you to be redundant. ;-)
Well, it’s possible, I guess. A woman what can down two pints a bitters in sixty seconds probably has her choice at the pubs, I should think.
research was funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council...What a huge surprise that the results were against impact extinction.
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Scientists Find Signs of Meteor Crash That Led to Extinctions in Era Before DinosaursDr. Becker, Dr. Poreda and their colleagues had previously found buckyballs at an impact crater in Sudbury, Canada, and in two meteorites. They have also found buckyballs containing similar types of gases in sediments dating from the dinosaur extinctions.
by Kenneth Chang
February 23, 2001
In the experiments, the scientists extracted buckyballs -- not just the typical sphere consisting of 60 carbon atoms, but also larger versions with up to 160 atoms -- from the sediments with organic solvents.
They then opened the buckyballs to release the helium and argon inside them. The nuclei of most helium atoms consist of two protons and two neutrons. A few -- one out of 700,000 helium atoms in the atmosphere -- are a lighter version, with only one neutron. For the helium in the buckyballs, a much larger fraction -- one out of 5,000 -- was the lighter version, similar to the ratio produced by fusion in stars.
The argon indicated a similar story, with low concentrations of a version that is commonly produced on Earth from the radioactive decay of potassium.
"I think the argon isotope ratio measurement is very convincing," said Dr. Kenneth A. Farley, a professor of geochemistry at the California Institute of Technology. "That's very hard to understand if it's not extraterrestrial."
Asteroid 'destroyed life 250m years ago'Earth's biggest mass extinction 251 million years ago was triggered by a collision with a comet or asteroid, US scientists say. They have reached this conclusion by looking at atoms from a star trapped inside molecular cages of carbon...
by Dr David Whitehouse
Friday, February 23, 2001
In rock layers laid down at the time, there is a much higher concentration of complex carbon molecules called fullerenes that have different types, or isotopes, of helium and argon trapped inside them. These molecules could only have been delivered from space, the researchers say...
The researchers believe these particular fullerenes are extraterrestrial because the gases trapped inside have an unusual ratio of isotopes that indicate they were made in the atmosphere of a star that exploded before our Sun was born...
The telltale fullerenes were extracted from sites in Japan, China and Hungary, where the sedimentary layer at the boundary between the Permian and Triassic periods had been exposed...
The research was made difficult because there are few 251-million-year-old rocks left on Earth. Most rocks of that age have been recycled through the planet's tectonic processes...
Researchers estimate the comet or asteroid was six to 12 km (3.7 - 7.4 miles) across, or about the size of the asteroid believed responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs 67 million years ago...
The mass extinction of 251 million years ago was the greatest on record.
My guess is, Dawn Stover went to Penn State and studied volcanology for a while. ;')
The Suspect The Theory The Evidence The Proponents The Holes Asteroid impact A space rock strikes in the tropics, spews debris into the air and triggers lethal climate change Scientists found 250 million year old rocks from Antarctica and China said to contain meteorite fragments Researchers at the University of Rochester, Harvard, and UC Santa Barbara Scientists have yet to find the ultimate smoking gun, a crater Sudden methane explosion A massive cloud of methane gas abruptly bursts from the ocean, cataclysmic flooding and fires ensue Great Dying fossils show a sudden sharp rise in carbon-12 isotopes, best explained by a methane belch Chemical engineer Gregory Ryskin at Northwestern University The explosion requires an improbable 10,000 gigatons of methane Slow methane leak Volcanoes of frozen deposits leak methane over thousands of years, depleting oxygen The burrowing reptile Lystrosaurus, adapted for low-oxygen conditions, thrived during this period Researchers at the University of Oregon, the South African Museum, and the University of Washington The leak could not deplete enought oxygen to cause global death, critics say Hydrogen sulfide stink bomb Lethal levels of hydrogen sulfide, emitted by anaerobic bacteria, are expelled from the ocean into the air Proponents are searching for signs of sulfur bacteria in Japanese sediments dated to the extinction Scientists at Penn State, the University of Colorado, and the University of Tokyo There's no proof that the upper layers of ancient oceans were devoid of oxygen
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