Ancient volcanoes could be key to predicting the impact of climate change
Just over 200 million years ago, long before the demise of the dinosaurs, a cataclysm killed off a significant chunk of the planet's animal life. The leading theory implicates massive volcanic eruptions, triggered when the supercontinent of Pangea was ripped apart into separate continents.
A new study co-authored by USC Dornsife researchers strengthens evidence for that theory and has wider implications for how rapid climate change can affect life on Earth. Along with lava flows, the volcanic eruptions released massive amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, creating havoc in the ecosystem.
The study, published April 6 in Nature Communications, charts the sharp escalation of the element mercury in samples of rock preserved from the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. It isn't the ordinary mercury you'd find on the surface of the planet: Isotopic data suggests it can be traced to the eruptions.
Frank Corsetti, professor of earth sciences, was a co-author on the study along with: David Bottjer, professor of earth sciences, biological sciences and environmental studies; Josh West, Wilford and Daris Zinsmeyer Early Career Chair in Marine Studies and associate professor of earth sciences and environmental studies; and William Berelson, professor of earth sciences and environmental studies and chair of earth sciences. Graduate student Joyce Yager and a host of current and past graduate students, including Kathleen Ritterbush, now an assistant professor at the University of Utah, and Yadira Ibarra, now a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University, were also authors.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-04-ancient-volcanoes-key-impact-climate.html#jCp
