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Volcanism

Eruptions and extinctions

Fossils from southern China provide evidence for a mass extinction during middle Permian time, 260 million years ago. The close association of this event with an outpouring of lava, initially into the sea, indicates that explosive volcanism may have been the cause.

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Figure 1: Explosions in the middle Permian.

INGRID UKSTINS PEATE

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Christie-Blick, N. Eruptions and extinctions. Nature Geosci 2, 539–540 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo598

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