A new mass extinction has been discovered that wiped out life on Earth over 233 million years ago

This extinction led to the rise of the dinosaurs who, however, disappeared 66 million years ago due to an asteroid hitting the Earth

Almost everyone knows that i dinosaurs disappeared due to a asteroid which hit Earth about 66 million years ago. According to a new study, a previous extinction, which occurred over 223 million years ago, paved the way for the dinosaurs.

The Carnian pluvial episode

here is the Southern Wrangellia, also known as Wrangell. Credit: Sensational Fame

The extinction occurred during what is called “Carnian pluvial episode (CPE)“. The climate changed during that time due to intense volcanic activity that it created Large Igneous Provinces, LIP (extremely large accumulations of intrusive, effusive, or mixed igneous rocks emerging on the earth’s crust). But now we know that there was a real one mass extinction. The western coast of North America is made up, in part, of volcanic basalt: the so-called “Wrangellia province“. The volcanic eruptions that played a fundamental role in the formation of this ‘province’ also caused enormous climate changes, paving the way for the dinosaurs.

Increase in precipitation

One evidence of climate change and extinction during the Carnian was a major increase in precipitation. There was a severe loss of biodiversity both on land and in the seas. Coniferous forests became predominant and other new types of plant life appeared, generating a food crisis for existing herbivores.

Dinosaurs Earth — This is a photograph of the Nikolai formation along the **Glacier Creek** in the Wrangell Mountains, Alaska. Credit: Greene et al, 2008

New species and changed environment

This led to the appearance of many new species (dinosaurs, turtles, crocodiles, lizards and mammals). The first ones were born in the oceans coral reefs and many modern groups of plankton. The changes lead Europe to become an area dominated by freshwater lagoons and lakes. In other areas of the world, large river systems were formed, with abundant freshwater lakes, extensive deltas and sedimentation. Extinctions also lead to renewal, as this study shows. The CPE may have “annihilated” many speciesbut “heralded” the appearance of more modern ecosystems, including the expansion of Earth’s coniferous forests, and dinosaurs proliferated.

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