Scientists examine the history of the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. During the period of the Permian mass extinction 540 million years ago, the Earth lost almost half of the living creatures in the sea or on land.
As reported by LiveScience, on Tuesday, February 11, 2014, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reveals several factors that cause the death of the ancient animals in the Permian period.
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| Illustration of the Permian mass extinction 540 million years ago. (Picture from: http://www.lpi.usra.edu//) |
Scientists say, mass extinctions that have occurred this marks the end of the Permian geological period 252 million years ago. More than 96 percent of marine life and 70 percent of land species died.
In comparison, 85 percent of all living things die at the end of the era of the dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago. "This is one of the points of inflection (change) in the fundamental crossing of life on Earth. This set the stage for the rest of evolution," said Seth Burgess, head researcher and member of geochemistry at MIT.
Studies also show, more than 90 percent of life on Earth disappear within 60 thousand years in the Permian mass extinction. These findings are reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
Scientists think a number of factors such as volcanic eruptions in Siberia, causing the dispersion of species in massive killing. Important for researchers to know the duration of 'Judgement' which caused the death of this mass to be able to help clarify potential triggers.
"Whatever it is that caused the extinction of really fast or biosphere reach some critical threshold. Having an accurate timeline for the creation of a mass extinction and intervalnya is important, because it gives us an idea of how the biosphere responds," he explained.
Scientists also uncover other factors that could potentially cause a mass extinction, which is a greenhouse gas. Also predicted sea temperature rises about 10 degrees Celsius before extinction occurs and persists into the early Triassic period. Increased carbon dioxide to the ocean more acidic. This is also likely to cause the death of marine species.. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE | DAILY GALAXY]
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