The Great Dying
Nine in ten marine species vanish
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The Siberian Traps released colossal quantities of CO₂ and sulphur, amplified by lava burning through coal and salt deposits. The result was rapid warming, ocean acidification and widespread marine anoxia. Around 81 per cent of marine species and 70 per cent of land vertebrates disappeared. Ecosystems took an estimated ten million years to recover — and in that vacuum the archosaurs, ancestors of the dinosaurs, got their chance.
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Volcanoes in Siberia poured out lava across an area larger than all of Europe, for nearly a million years. The air filled with gases, the ocean turned hot and acidic, and almost all life died. This is the worst catastrophe Earth has ever suffered.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org