Unusually, scientists were able to pinpoint the exact timing of the eruption and directly link it to a mass extinction event in the study published in Science. This is because the eruptions occurred in a shallow sea – meaning that the lava appears today as a distinctive layer of igneous rock sandwiched between layers of sedimentary rock containing easily datable fossilised marine life. Oh, man I love igneous rock! I once got a very pretty girl to go out with me because I dazzled her talking about igneous rock! The things you remember as you get old!:)