Volcanic activity again linked to mass extinction

We have previously
covered research that has linked mass volcanic eruptions with
the onset of global- or continent-wide mass extinctions. Evidence is also mounting that the eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic
Province was closely tied to one of the biggest mass extinctions
ever, which occurred at the border between the Triassic and Jurassic geological periods. The
loss of marine biodiversity during this time period has been explained
by carbon dioxide fluxes and climate change, but their connection with the loss of biodiversity on
land is less well-understood.

During this period, northwest Europe saw a vast decline in its
population of gymnosperm forests, with a corresponding rise in ferns and
fern-like vegetation. To explore this transition, a
team of German, Swedish, and US researchers drilled a series of three cores in European locations; the result of this work has now been published. The Mingolsheim drill core from southern Germany,
the Marienthal core from Northern Germany and the Hollviken-2 drill
core from southern Sweden all cover a time period that spans the
late Triassic and early Jurassic. Each core comes from a region that ranged from coastal land to shallow marine settings.

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