25 July 1998

Hot News : Scalding Lava Prompts New Dinousaur Extinction Theory

Researchers have now gained the clearest picture yet of catastrophic eruptions of the Earth's core by analyzing the chemical composition of lava disgorged in one such massive period of volcanism in Siberia 250 million years ago. The findings by geochemists Asish Basu, Robyn Hannigan, and Stein Jacobsen, published in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters, indicate that the lava that erupted at the time arose from the pristine lower mantle, material that harks back to the birth of our solar system.

Scientists believe this particular volcanic outpouring played a role in the greatest mass extinction the world has even seen. Up to 95 percent of all plant and animal species were wiped out; a similar series of eruptions 65 million years ago in India coincided precisely with the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs.

As big as India is though, we at Science à GoGo don't think a teeny eruption there is going to wipe out the dinosaurs of Wyoming. Refer to our previous offerings on this subject for elightenment.

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