Yorkshire Geology Month
Causes of mass extinctions
Tempest Anderson Hall, York, YO1 7FR
Event by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society
Professor Paul Wignall, Professor of Palaeoenvironments, University of Leeds
Mass extinctions are the major catastrophes that punctuate life’s history. They are marked by the loss of large numbers of species, up to 90% in some cases, from many environments in a short period of time. Just how short varies from extinction to extinction, although the wipeout of the dinosaurs was probably in a matter of weeks resulting from a giant meteorite impact. However, this event appears unique because all the other mass extinction coincide with giant-scale volcanism not impacts. The talk will look at this volcanism and the likely role that the voluminous emissions of gases play in the environmental changes that cause the extinctions. Latest research shows that the effects produce cascades of changes leading resulting in crises that have a different timing in the oceans and on land.
No booking necessary. For more information, check the YPS website below.