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Violent supernovae 'triggered at least two Earth extinctions'
- docmechanic 2y ago'At least two mass extinction events in Earth's history were likely caused by the 'devastating' effects of nearby supernova explosions, a new study suggests. Researchers say these super-powerful blasts -- caused by the death of a massive star -- may have previously stripped our planet's atmosphere of its ozone, sparked acid rain and exposed life to harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. They believe a supernova explosion close to Earth could be to blame for both the late Devonian and Ordovician extinction events, which occurred 372 and 445 million years ago respectively.'
- mnky9800n 2y agodon't these also coincide with the emergence of large igneous provinces? [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_igneous_province https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_igneous_province
- docmechanic 2y agoThe wikipedia page for LIPs notes the correlation in time between LIPs and mass extinctions: 'The formation of LIPs is variously attributed to mantle plumes or to processes associated with divergent plate tectonics. The formation of some of the LIPs in the past 500 million years coincide in time with mass extinctions and rapid climatic changes, which has led to numerous hypotheses about causal relationships.’ However, those might not be the Devonian and Ordovician extinction events referred to in this article. Do we know if any LIPs formed at the time of those two events?