New research confirms that volcanic activity was not the main reason for the extinction of dinosaurs.
This was reported by URA-Inform with reference to ScienceAdvances.
Scientists from North Dakota and Colorado studied lignite samples and found that temperature changes caused by volcanism could not have led to the catastrophe. The study adds a new level of understanding of the climate changes that occurred before the mass extinction.
Researchers have found that 100,000 years before the dinosaurs went extinct, there was a long-term warming period associated with carbon dioxide emissions gas from volcanic eruptions. This warming raised the temperature by three degrees.
However, 30 thousand years before the catastrophe, there was a sharp cooling caused by emissions of aerosol sulfur, which lowered the temperature by five degrees. These climate changes put stress on ecosystems, but they were not enough to cause mass extinction.
Scientists still believe that the main cause of the dinosaurs' demise was the Chicxulub asteroid impact. Its consequences, including the release of huge amounts of dust into the atmosphere, led to a global cooling and disruption of photosynthesis.
This was fatal for most species on the planet. Thus, the new study confirms that volcanism was only an additional stressor, and not the main culprit in the end of the era of dinosaurs.
In addition, scientists have found the most ancient ancestor of mammals.