We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 September 2021
Up until this chapter, I have avoided discussion of what causes a mass extinction. Rather than a run-through of each mass extinction, I concentrate on two; the largest, the end-Permian; and the most controversial, the end-Cretaceous. Many (most) mass extinctions are linked to the environmental damage that results from the eruption of a Large Igneous Province (LIP) – that is certainly the case with both the end-Permian and end-Cretaceous. At the end of the Permian, the eruption of the Siberian Traps resulted in global warming and caused ocean waters to become both anoxic and acidic, resulting in the largest mass extinction seen on the planet.The situation of the end-Cretaceous is more complex. The eruption of the Deccan Traps placed significant environmental stress on the planet’s ecosystem which is recorded as shifts in the composition of the biota prior to the event. But the impact of a meteor is also involved in this extinction event, and it may have delivered the coup de grace.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
