PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Acid raid, ozone depletion contributed to ancient extinction

2013-11-23
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Linda Elkins-Tanton
ltelkins@dtm.ciw.edu
617-784-3817
Carnegie Institution
Acid raid, ozone depletion contributed to ancient extinction

Washington, D.C.— Around 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period, there was a mass extinction so severe that it remains the most traumatic known species die-off in Earth's history. Some researchers have suggested that this extinction was triggered by contemporaneous volcanic eruptions in Siberia. New results from a team including Director of Carnegie's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism Linda Elkins-Tanton show that the atmospheric effects of these eruptions could have been devastating. Their work is published in Geology.

The mass extinction included the sudden loss of more than 90 percent of marine species and more than 70 percent of terrestrial species and set the stage for the rise of the dinosaurs. The fossil record suggests that ecological diversity did not fully recover until several million years after the main pulse of the extinction. One leading candidate for the cause of this event is gas released from a large swath of volcanic rock in Russia called the Siberian Traps. Using advanced 3-D modeling techniques, the team, led by Benjamin Black of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was able to predict the impacts of gas released from the Siberian Traps on the end-Permian atmosphere.

Their results indicate that volcanic releases of both carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) could have created highly acidic rain, potentially leaching the soil of nutrients and damaging plants and other vulnerable terrestrial organisms. Releases of halogen-bearing compounds such as methyl chloride could also have resulted in global ozone collapse.

The volcanic activity was likely episodic, producing pulses of acid rain and ozone depletion. The team concluded that the resulting drastic fluctuations in pH and ultraviolet radiation, combined with an overall temperature increase from greenhouse gas emissions, could have contributed to the end-Permian mass extinction on land.

The team also included Jean-François Lamarque, Christine Shields, and Jeffrey Kiehl of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.



INFORMATION:

This study was funded by grant EAR-0807585 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Continental Dynamics program. The CESM project (which includes CAM-Chem) is supported by the NSF and the Office of Science (BER) of the U.S. Department of Energy. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is operated by the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research under sponsorship of the NSF.

The Carnegie Institution for Science is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Greenland's shrunken ice sheet: We've been here before

2013-11-23
Greenland's shrunken ice sheet: We've been here before Clues in the Arctic fossil record suggest that 3-5,000 years ago, the ice sheet was the smallest it has been in the past 10,000 years BUFFALO, N.Y. — Think Greenland's ice sheet is small today? It was smaller ...

'Wise chisels': Art, craftsmanship, and power tools

2013-11-23
'Wise chisels': Art, craftsmanship, and power tools CAMBRIDGE, MA -- It's often easy to tell at a glance the difference between a mass-produced object and one that has been handcrafted: The handmade item is likely to have distinctive imperfections and ...

NASA's solar observing fleet to watch Comet ISON's journey around the sun

2013-11-23
NASA's solar observing fleet to watch Comet ISON's journey around the sun It began in the Oort cloud, almost a light year away. It has traveled for over a million years. It has almost reached the star that has pulled it steadily forward for so ...

Study finds link between allergies and increased risk of blood cancers in women

2013-11-23
Study finds link between allergies and increased risk of blood cancers in women Gender may play a role in the association of chronic immune stimulation and development of hematologic cancers SEATTLE – A team of scientists looking into the interplay ...

Paths not taken: Notch signaling pathway keeps immature T cells on the right track

2013-11-23
Paths not taken: Notch signaling pathway keeps immature T cells on the right track Implications for fighting T-cell leukemias PHILADELPHIA - The lab of Avinash Bhandoola, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, has studied ...

Stuck on flu

2013-11-23
Stuck on flu How a sugar-rich mucus barrier traps the virus -- and it gets free to infect Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown for the first time how influenza A viruses snip through a protective mucus net ...

Evidence of jet of high-energy particles from Milky Way's black hole found by astronomers

2013-11-23
Evidence of jet of high-energy particles from Milky Way's black hole found by astronomers For decades, astronomers have sought strong evidence that the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy is producing a jet of ...

UCLA, Emory researchers find a chemical signature for 'fast' form of Parkinson's

2013-11-22
UCLA, Emory researchers find a chemical signature for 'fast' form of Parkinson's Earlier detection may provide more effective disease management The physical decline experienced by Parkinson's disease patients eventually leads to disability and ...

Pre-industrial rise in greenhouse gases had natural and anthropogenic causes

2013-11-22
Pre-industrial rise in greenhouse gases had natural and anthropogenic causes CORVALLIS, Ore. – For years scientists have intensely argued over whether increases of potent methane gas concentrations in the atmosphere – from about 5,000 years ago to the start ...

Preschoolers exposure to television can stall their cognitive development

2013-11-22
Preschoolers exposure to television can stall their cognitive development Children with TVs in the bedroom linked to weak understanding of mental states Washington, DC (November 19, 2013) – Television is a powerful agent of development for children, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Cercus electric stimulation enables cockroach with trajectory control and spatial cognition training

Day-long conference addresses difficult to diagnose lung disease

First-ever cardiogenic shock academy features simulation lab

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

[Press-News.org] Acid raid, ozone depletion contributed to ancient extinction