Food Webs During Mass Extinction

Food Webs During Mass Extinction
Charles Marshall's article "How Stable Are Food Webs During Mass Extinctions?" reflects on the current "human–driven mass extinction" occurring
today (Marshall). Researchers are wondering what will happen to the food web after the mass extinction humans are creating occurs and finishes. To
find out the effects that may occur, Marshall brings up the subject of prehistoric food webs and the changes brought upon them from mass
extinctions. Using prehistoric fossil records and devising these animals into guilds, either carnivores or herbivores, they made a food web for these
extinct creatures. Roopnarine and Angielczyk are examples of the people who work on creating these food webs that Marshall uses in his article.
These two people focus on the... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The fossil record is what is helping with these questions, however. So scientists are continuing to study earlier extinctions and how they happened and
the events following them. This article is not the best kind of article read, there are too many questions left that the reader feels left out. Also, the
article has many large words that do not make much sense to the average reader, causing greater confusion on what is actually being read and how it
relates to the lives of the reader. It needs a
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

Mastodonsaurus
Mastodonsaurus is the genus that derived from the middle Triassic period and is classified as Temnospondyl amphibian. Temnospondyli is often
referred to as the primitive amphibians which were prosperous during the Carboniferous, Permian, and Triassic periods . This diverse group order was
composed of a small to giant tetrapods. They go by several synonyms including Batrachosaurus,вЂ вЂ¬Labyrinthodon,вЂ вЂ¬Mastodonsaurus
acuminatus,вЂ вЂ¬Mastodonsaurus conicus,вЂ вЂ¬Mastodonsaurus maximusвЂ вЂ¬,вЂ вЂ¬Mastodonsaurus tantus, and Salamandroides.вЂ Their
classification is listed as Chordata,вЂ вЂ¬Amphibia,вЂ вЂ¬Temnospondyli,вЂ вЂ¬Stereospondyli,вЂ вЂ¬Capitosauria,вЂ вЂ¬Mastodonsauridae.
The Triassic group of temnospondyl is called Capitosauria, specifically characterized by their... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Moreover, Schoch also discusses how the history of reconstructing the Mastodonsaurus giganteus has been interesting suggested to be a huge
amphibian. To which he stated, "therefore reconstruction of the whole animal remained a subject of popular treatment to a large extent" (93).
Furthermore, other reconstructions of capitosaurs were based largely on the fundamental knowledge of tetrapods. And in fact, the trunk of
Mastodonsaurus giganteus is almost twice as large as the skull roof (151). Schoch concludes stating, "the general appearance of Mastodonsaurus
giganteus comes very close to that of other large capitosaurs and related genera" (152). While, a large number of species have been attributed to the
genus over the years, Schoch's reexamination of the genus by proposes only three of the species were determined to be valid. The type species M.
jaegeri, the best known species M.giganteus both from Europe, and M. torvus from

The End Permian Mass Extinction Essay
Introduction Think of a world which existed 290 million years ago. As you look out over the terane in front of you, you think that
you are on an alien planet. You see volcanoes spewing ash and lava. Beside them is the ocean which is swarming with many different species of
echinoderms, bryozoans and brachiopods. As you look down onto the sea floor you are amazed at the countless number of starfish and urchins.
Some animals leave you can't even describe and you have no idea even what phylum they belong to. This is a world at its height in diversity of
oceanic species. Millions of wonderous species existed at this time in the ocean and most of them will never appear again in earth's history. In the
geologic time scale, a million... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The concentration of Ir was at least an order of magnitude higher than the background values and this is characteristic of most Upper Permian and
Lower Triassic boundaries. The scientists go on to say that "the existence of a rich Ir anomaly on a global scale within the K/T boundary layers of
both marine and continental facies has been interpreted as highly impressive evidence for an impact origin. Another discovery that may serve as a
marker of an event is microspherules. A variety of microsherules have been discovered in the PTB layers of the Meishan section (Xu et al., 1989). The
origin of the microspherules could be multiple. They are small circular indentations in the rocks and the most abondent elements are Si or Si–Al.
Mircospherules are similar to cosmic dust. Since a large amount of microspherules occurs in a thin layer of PTB layer it can serve as another event
marker. Maxwell (1989) who got his information from Clark et al. (1986) said that The elemental in boundary clays across China
suggest that there is a remote possibility that the predominantly illite boundary clay is a remote possibility that the predomonantly illite boundary clay
resulted from the alteration of ejecta dust from a comet impact, but the most likely source was ash from a massive volcanic eruption. The
trace elements suggested that the dust was highly acidic and the ratios of TiO2 and AL2O3 are low enough to support the volcanic dust scenario

The Permian-Triassic Extinction
Life on Earth is what makes Earth, Earth. The planet of life almost became lifeless in
history that states back more than 200 million years ago, when 96% of life on Earth was wiped
out (Bagley, 2014). This was the closer of the Permian–Triassic period. This means that the rest
of 4% that survived this tragic event, which is also called the "Great Dying," makes up, and is
what made life today last up until this generation. Before this period, the Earth provided shelter
to many plants and animals on land and in the marine life. There were amphibians and reptiles
with sea creatures under water including the first appearance of corals and ancient squids
(Wignall, 2012). The pangea, which is the 'C' shaped supercontinent, was also beginning ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The plants that were supposed to keep the carbon level in the air
stable has now died, and the increase in temperature has made the carbon dioxide in the water to
evaporate back on land, making the plants living under water die from the lack of carbon dioxide
that they require to survive. The sea creatures that depends on feeding off of sea plants will now
die and decay due to the plants dying from the lack of carbon dioxide. A shower of meteorites
will fall, disrupting the life on land and the atmosphere with a disbalance of chemicals in the air

and the underwater life. Though this happened, the 4% that survived were mosses, therapsids,
which were mammal like reptiles, spiders, and beetles ( Bagley, 2014). These creature has soon
evolved, starting a new generation of life on planet Earth.
Life may have been extinguished 250 million years ago, but the 4% that survived through
this mass extinction is what brought us the jurassic period, and from the Jurassic period, or the
dinosaur age to the Cretaceous period, to the world we are living in today, where global warming
may affect this world today once again, possibly repeating history of a mass extinction

The Triassic Period
The triassic period lasted for 37 million years, from 245 to 208 million years ago. The Triassic started with a generally warm and wet atmosphere .
Be that as it may, fossilized sand found in later Triassic strata propose that the general atmosphere was hot and dry, albeit a few zones may have had
characterized stormy seasons. Fossils found in Triassic rocks propose this was a time of progress, in which more established types of plants and
creatures ceased to exist and new ones started to show up. A noteworthy eradication had happened toward the finish of the Paleozoic. More than 90
percent of marine invertebrate species wound up plainly wiped out, and also numerous different types of land plants and creatures. Researchers guess
that a mix... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Its legs were situated underneath its body as it strolled, which proposes that it had a mammalian–like stride. It had a jaw loaded with teeth that were
intended for nipping, tearing and biting, all of which signifies a predatory eating regimen. Furthermore, exactly what did they eat with every one of
those teeth? Probably, they went after their herbivorous reptile therapsid cousins.It additionally had a stomach, a muscle that upgrades lung work and is
normal for current warm blooded animals. Another mammalian trademark it presumably had: bristles. Did it have hide? There is no immediate fossil
proof, and albeit numerous imaginative propagations indicate it with a pleasant fur garment, that could be recently creative

The Global Warming That Took Place At Permian Triassic...
Introduction
One of the most devastating weather extremes happened 250 million years ago. A massive volcanic eruption (that occurred in an area now known as
Siberia) caused increase in carbon dioxide and methane levels resulting in the extreme global warming. Today, the remains of this volcanic activity are
called Siberian traps. The origin of Siberian traps is considered to be a mantle plume that burst through Earth's crust releasing large volumes of basalt
lava. Radiometric dating showed this volcanic event took place approximately from 251 to 250 million years ago (Reichow et al., 2009). Siberian
traps erupted over several vents releasing around 2.5 million km3 of basalt lava that covered up to 60% of Siberian craton (Fedorenko et al., ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Floating and swimming species, plankton and nekton, underwent significant extinctions. There was a large land animal and plant death, but it was not
as devastating as it was for marine species. Furthermore, the recovery of ecosystem took very long time, for example there were no reefs and no coal
beds for millions of years (EDIT+CITE). Seeing the extent to which global warming can affect biodiversity, it is clearly important to find main causes
of it.
Lines of evidence First line of evidence is that volcanic activity from Siberian traps lead to increased amount of carbon dioxide. The eruptions of basalt
lava were accompanied by large volume of CO2 (Self, Schmidt, & Mather, 2014). Accumulation of CO2 has long lasting effects on global
warming due to its long lifetime. Study conducted by Archer (2005) showed that 400 km3 of flood basalt would release 2 gigatonnes (Gt, 1 Gt =
1012 kg) of carbon. Overall, Siberian traps allowed up to 11 000 Gt of carbon to be released (assuming lava volume of 2.5 million km3). The CO2
degassed during the volcanic period equals total 5000 ppm rise in atmospheric CO2 levels. The volcanism lasted around couple of hundreds of
thousands of years, meaning the release of CO2 was prolonged. Thus, atmospheric CO2 was most likely doubled in levels during this eruptive period
(Berner, 2002). Doubling of CO2 levels in atmosphere is could have increased the global temperature for 1.5 – 4.5 C (Houghton et al., 2001).
Furthermore,

Cretaceous-Triassic Extinction Research Paper
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. It occurs when
the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation. Extinction occurs at an uneven rate.
The most recent and debatably best–known, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago (Ma), was
a large–scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time.
It is now generally believed that the K–Pg extinction was triggered by a massive comet or asteroid impact 66 million years ago and its catastrophic
effects on the global environment, including a lingering impact winter that made it impossible for plants and plankton to carry out photosynthesis. The
fact ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The sea floor is also completely recycled every 200 million years by the on–going process of plate tectonics and seafloor spreading, leaving no useful
indications beneath the ocean. The former group includes one or more large bolide impact events, increased volcanism, and sudden release of methane
from the sea floor, either due to dissociation of methane hydrate deposits or metabolism of organic carbon deposits by methanogenic microbes. The
latter group includes sea level change, increasing anoxia, and increasing aridity. Any hypothesis about the cause must explain the selectivity of the
event, which affected organisms with calcium carbonate skeletons most severely; the long period (4 to 6 million years) before recovery started, and the
minimal extent of biological mineralization (despite inorganic carbonates being deposited) once the recovery

Pangaea Research Paper
Pangaea, the colossal supercontinent, was the first land mass on the Earth. It is a panoramic, conglomerate of all the continents, which existed
during the Triassic and period. The word Triassic originates from a discovery made by the German paleontologist, Friedrich August von Alberti. In
his discovery he identified and dismantled, three different layers in the rock strata which are now called the Bunter, Muschelkalk and Keuper. The
original names for the rocks where the Trias, which later became the Triassic. The entire Triassic period occurred between 251 million and 199
million years ago, which is about 51 million year. It took 6 legacies of mass extinctions to get to the Triassic period. These extinctions led to the lives
of many new organisms on our planet.
Seeing that we are in the 8th grade, we know that dinosaurs existed, but how did these ostentatious creatures thrive and survive. Most prestigious
scientist accede that the first dinosaurs lived around 500 million years ago. Christians and scientist always have irksome clashes on this subject
because of different beliefs. The bible says that the world has only been here for about 6000 years, but it also says in 2 Peter 3:8, "One day is like a
thousand years in God's eyes." For this reason I believe that the earth might actually be billions of years old. Proof of this theory can be found ... Show
What's interesting is how long it took for the rock to shift on its side. After months of hard work paleontologist were able to carbon date the prints
back millions of years. It is estimated at about 30 million years around the Jurassic period. After doing further research I found out it happened because
of the continents shifting into the places where they are now. The theory originally was supposed to have 6 continents instead of 7 but they separated
Europe and Asia from each

Southern North Sea Basin Essay
Introduction The Southern North Sea basin is located between the UK and The Netherlands, being the main gas fields in the UK, with production
coming from Permian reservoirs, which are sealed by the upper Permian salt. The development of this basin is resulted of the subsidence, which has
been punctuated by discrete events of uplift and predominant erosion in several periods such as Late Carboniferous, Late Cretaceous, as well as at
several times during the mid–Cenozoic (Cameron et al. 1992, cited in Balson et al. 2001, p.10). Some of the episodes are not completely clear when
they occur, for instant, extensional events with different stress orientations in the Upper Jurassic. Thus, the aim of this report is to analyse the
structural and... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
1992). In the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic subsidence in the Sole Pit Basin was connected to reactivation of Variscan basement faults and these
movements stemmed from the earliest mid–Triassic halokinesis of the Upper Permian salts (Balson et al. 2002). However, In the early– mid Jurassic
times, differential subsidence of the Sole Pit Basin was more prominent by the development of growth faults along the western margin of the North
Sea, being that this faults account for the major thickness and facies changes of the Lower and Middle Jurassic sediments between the Sole Pit Basin
and the East Midlands Shelf (Balson et al. 2002). Moreover, during the Jurassic times the Sole Pit Trough and the Cleveland Basin were the principal
depocenters, accumulating high thickness of marine mudstones with subsidiary sandstones and limestones before undergoing erosion at the end of
this period, which followed by post Jurassic inversion (Cameron et al. 1992). Nevertheless, cretaceous sediments are dominantly argillaceous and are
more 800 thick adjacent to contemporary growth fault in the Dowsing Fault Zone. On the other hand, in the Upper Cretaceous pelagic carbonates of
the chalk sea are located more than 1000 thick, and following their deposition there was widespread uplift and regression prior to the deposition of up
to 800 m of mainly argillaceous marine sediments during the

The Triassic Era
The Mesozoic Era contains three geologic time periods including the Triassic Period ,from 252 million to 200 million years ago. The Triassic period
was named in 1834 by the German geologist Friedrich August Von Alberti (1795
–1878). It was originally named the "Trias". It got its name because
this period of geologic time is represented by a three–part division of rock types in Germany . It began 252 million years ago, at the close of the
Permian Period, and ended 201 million years ago. Jurassic Period, from about 200 million to 145 million years ago. During the Jurassic Period, the
supercontinent Pangaea split apart. The Jurassic was a golden age for the large herbivorous dinosaurs known as the sauropods–Camarasaurus,
Apatosaurus, Diplodocus,

Causes Of Mass Extinction
Mass extinctions occur when an extremely large amount of species go extinct, meaning most life on Earth dies out. However, there are always a
handful of lucky species who make it through. Although each mass extinction has a different cause, there are qualities in species that consistently allow
them to survive these events. What determines whether a species survives a mass extinction is its size, population distribution, and diet.
A species's size is an important factor in its survival during a mass extinction. Smaller species tend to have certain traits, such as shorter lifetimes,
needing less food, and burrowing. The article "How to Survive a Mass Extinction" on howstuffworks.com says that "They [small animals] tend to
reproduce more, which gives them a larger, more genetically varied population that can adapt more quickly and effectively to change." This is because
having a short lifetime means the species reaches adulthood earlier, which in turn creates more generations of animals. Combined with having more
offspring per animal, the many generations of animals leads to a wide genetic diversity, increasing the animal's chances of having a part of the species
that was adapted well enough to the conditions created by the extinction event. Many small animals (and a handful of medium–sized ones, such as the
Lystrosaurus) were burrowers, an important attribute that let them survive extinction events. "As any survivalist worth his or her salt can tell you,
underground is a

The Dinosaurs Of The Mesozoic Era
A traditional archeological dig, facilitated by new technological advancements uncovers raptor fossils by a team of researchers. This is how the
movie Jurassic park begins. It shows almost a foreshadowing of the events to come as the doctor looking at the technology shows weariness to the
usage of the machine to do the work they could have done by hand. Likewise, the Jurassic Park movie tells a story of an increased scientific presence in
the scientific study of the dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era. Due to the ardent work of dinosaur researchers, dinosaurs are brought back to life for the
purpose of education and entertainment. With this financier and developer of the program, Jeff Hammond brings together a team of scientists, a
lawyer and two of his grandchildren on an adventure to experience the park first hand. However, due to a series of unfortunate events the parks loses
functionality resulting in their team having to physical experience survival during the time of the dinosaur. While half of the team fights to stay alive
the developer his group of survivors must find a way to rescue the visitors and get back in control of the park. I found the movie to be more
entertaining than educational. It was more for the purposes of telling a story, which I believe was about the power that genetics has brought humans.
The story seems to warn against going too far with the use of genetic information.This, in my opinion, is greatly exemplified by one of the last scenes
in the movie.

The Triassic-Jurassic Extinction
The Triassic–Jurassic extinction occurred about 210 million years ago, killing about 80 percent of all living species ("End–Triassic Extinction"). Most
species were hit hard, but there were no major full–on extinctions. Still, cephalopods, sponges, corals, reptiles, and pollen and spore producing plants
were hit hard. The dinosaurs, however, were lucky and survived the extinction intact. This allowed them to reign supreme for the next geological epoch
("End–Triassic Extinction"). During the time of the Triassic–Jurassic extinction, Pangea was in the process of breaking apart. This caused major
volcanic activity to occur, one of the prevailing theories as to what caused this extinction ("End–Triassic Extinction"). Like during the Permian–Triassic
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The widely debated sixth extinction event, the Holocene extinction, is a man–made "weapon" of mass destruction that has caused over 1000 extinct
species in the past 500 years (Brannen). A mixture of deforestation, climate change, and other human–impacted effects has made species die off 10 to
100 times faster than the usual background species extinction (Brannen). Well known creatures such as the Dodo Bird, Passenger Pidgeon, Tasmanian
Wolf, and Golden Toad have all died due to the lack of care humans have shown for the natural world. Smithsonian paleontologist Doug Erwin,
however, still maintains that the Holocene extinction is fake. Though humans have accelerated the extinction of some species and negatively impacted
the environment, the actual amount of recent extinctions is almost insignificant. Compared to over half of all species dying off, a few thousand lost
animals make nearly no mark in the fossil record (Brannen). Most animals and plants are not, or do not die in ways, suitable for fossilization. This
makes the fossil record extremely incomplete. Some scientists estimate that the fossil record shows less than one percent of species that have actually
lived. This means that only a truly massive extinction could cause a noticeable change in the record, so the Holocene extinction is most likely not
occurring. Still, Erwin cautions us to watch our impact on the Earth and make sure

Causes Of Mass Extinction
Throughout the history of earth there have been five mass extinction events that have wiped out most life on earth. To go into detail the first mass
extinction event happened over 439 million years ago due to glaciation and falling sea levels were around 86% of the life on earth was wiped out.
The second happened around 364 million years ago killing around 75% of species. Giant plants were presumed responsible for this event because of
their deep roots that released nutrients into the ocean which, resulted in mass amounts of algal bloom that depleted the seas of oxygen. The worst mass
extinction occurred 251 million years ago, during the Permian – Triassic period that wiped out around 96% of species. A gigantic volcanic eruption
filled the air with carbon dioxide which fed different kinds of bacteria that began emitting large amounts of methane. As a result theearth warmed up
and the oceans became acidic. Afterwards the Triassic– Jurassic extinction happened between 199 million and 214 million years ago. The cause of this
extinction is thought to be an asteroid impact, climate change, and flood basalt eruptions. During this period dinosaurs came the rule over most of the
earth. Finally, the Cretaceous – Paleogene extinction happened around 65 million years ago. A combination of volcanic activity, climate change, and
asteroid impact effectively ended 76% of life on earth including the dinosaurs. And through these mass extinctions there has been few who have lived
through

Dinosaurs And The Past ( Triassic Period )
Dinosaurs were huge animals that existed in the past (Triassic period). Species came in different sizes and forms. Some had huge bodies while other
tiny bodies and shape. From historical evidence prevalent today, dinosaurs were found in all continents but differed in sizes and physical attributes. The
landmass prevalent in different regions denoted the type of species that existed within its boundaries. Some Dinosaurs were herbivores; therefore their
teeth and digestive systems were developed to handle the plants they consumed. The planet at the time was covered with green plantations that the
animals fed on. Their sprawling posture that Dinosaurs possessed depicted their ability to eat leaves on high branches and twigs. Other Dinosaurs
survived on meat from other animals. A famous example includes Tyrannosaurus Rex (Kays and Wilson). The animal jaws and muscles were very
strong with pointed teeth. This enhanced its hunting skills as well as helped with feeding. During this period there were a lot of herbivores roaming the
earth (Johnson). Africa, Asia and Europe were the major continents. Through splitting, other continents were formed. Water bodies, such as the
Mediterranean Sea that is found between Europe and Africa, separated these regions. Thus, dinosaurs were distributed sparingly within these
continents. There were many different species of dinosaurs, such as Megalosaurus, Herrerasaurus, and Tyrannosaurus rex. Evidence of existence and

Triassic Era Timeline
The Mesozoic Era spanned over 252 to 66 million years ago. This era is also known as the Age of Reptiles. The Mesozoic Era consisted of three
geological periods, the Triassic, Jurassic, and the Cretaceous periods. The first period of the Mesozoic Era is the Triassic. The Triassic Period
spanned over roughly 252 million years to 201 million years ago. The first portion of the Triassic Period a.k.a. the Early Triassic Period was
before the continents had even broke apart from the large mass called Pangaea. During this time most of the land was desert due to a mass
extinction prior time, where more than 90 percent of the inhabitants died off. The second portion of the Triassic Period is the Middle Triassic Period.
During this time Pangaea began to break apart and life began to flourish, many sea creatures began to recover, such as algae and corals, and on land
there vast amounts of pine forests. The late Triassic the third and final portion of the Triassic Period is the boom of reptilian evolution, with countless
heat spells and moderate precipitation. During this time there was another mass extinction call the Triassic–Jurassic extinction. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The Jurassic period consisted of 3 major epochs, the first being the Early Jurassic. During the first epoch it was very humid resulting in most of the
land mass to be tropical. Also began the major fight for the top of the food chain and the first crocodiles evolved, causing most of the larger
amphibians to near extinction. The next epoch was the peak for the reptilian family, due to the abundant predators that had come to be and the large
herds of other dinosaurs. The last epoch of the Jurassic Period wasn't very eventful. Most of the epoch consisted of the ocean rising, introducing more
diversification to the new legion of

Carolina Slate Belt
The Carolina Slate Belt The Carolina Slate Belt is a gold rich strip that runs from Virginia through both North and South Carolina and ends up in
Georgia. The slate is made up of low grade metamorphosed volcanic and slaty cleavages. The mountainous Piedmont of North Carolina isolates the
Triassic–Jurassic rift basin and the level Coastal Plain from the hilly Blue Ridge and Appalachians The Coastal Plain comprises of Mesozoic–Cenozoic
sediments created when the North Atlantic Ocean got to be more wider, and the Triassic–Jurassic rift basin was filled by sedimentary rocks washed
into the rift formed during the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. The Raleigh Belt and Eastern Slate Belt contain rocks like those of the Piedmont. These,
however, are... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Gold was first discovered in the United State in 1799 in the Little Meadow Creek in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Although this discovery did
not come with a lot of buzz as the California discovery, it attracted quite a number of miners albeit gradually. In fact most of the experienced gold
miners who moved to California, during the Californian gold rush had horned their skills on the Carolina slate belt. Following the first gold
discovery, several other discoveries were made on slate and thus developed several gold mines. Some of the major gold mines on the Carolina
Slate Belt include: Haile Gold Mine This mine developed from a gold deposit that was discovered in 1827 on the farm owned by Benjamin Haile in
eastern Lancaster County near Kershaw in South Carolina. The mined operated through to the early 20th century when the gold deposits ran out.
This mine was one of the most productive gold mines on the slate during its initial years. The Dorn Mine This is another great mine on the Carolina
slate Belt. The mine is located in McCormick County in South Carolina. Gold at the mine was first discovered by William Burkhakter Dorn in 1952.
The mining at the Dorn mine begun soon afterwards and lasted for over 120 years. Today there is much going on at the mine. The Slate has several
other mines produced quite a significant amount of gold. In fact most major gold mines in both North and South Carolina are located on the

What Is Ocean Chacterification
Ocean Acidification and the Permian–Triassic Extinction Event
Ocean Acidification
In current times, as we consider ways to inhibit CO2 emissions, we look towards the Earth's natural carbon sinks as possible solutions. Carbon sinks an
environment that can hold onto carbon chemicals for an indefinite time with the act of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere defined as carbon
sequestration. The Oceans are one of them. However, when the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide elevates in a short period of time, this can lead
to Ocean Acidification, the phenomena where the dissolution of excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere leads to the lowering of ocean pH
(Greene, et al., 2012).
When carbon dioxide reacts with water, becoming carbonic acid, it loses a proton to bicarbonate and then dissociates again resulting in two hydrogen
ions and a carbonate molecule. This increases the acidity of the ocean as the concentration of hydrogen is increasing, resulting in a lower pH. The
heightened concentration of hydrogen ions results in lowered seawater pH levels. In addition to elevated dissolved carbon ... Show more content on
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Proxy data is preserved physical characteristics of the environment that can stand in for direct measurements. Some of this data includes ice cores,
tree rings, coral reefs, and ocean sediments. For example, corals build their bodies with calcium carbonate that contains trace metals and isotopes of
oxygen that can be used to determine the temperature of the water the corals grew in. Therefore, Past Ocean Acidification is often inferred from a
decrease in the accumulation & preservation of Calcium Carbonate in marine sediments, possibly indicated by an increased degree of fragmentations
of foraminiferal shells because geochemical proxy observations are still lacking (Green, et al.,

Persuasive Essay On Climate Change
One topic that biologists are most interested in is the patterns of life on Earth. One of the ultimate questions for a biologist to answer is how do new
species arise, and for what reasons do they disappear? Biologists all over the world are searching for answers regarding the rapidly diminishing
amounts, and in some cases, extinction of many of Earth's species. Scientists are coming out with results that show current anthropogenic climate
change is the main culprit for Earth's continuing loss of biodiversity. With estimations showing future continuing rapid decreases and losses in
biodiversity, climate change is likely leading Earth into its sixth mass extinction. Across history there have been many cycles of change in Earth's
climate, whether it be cooling or warming, but today's climate change differs greatly. Humans have influenced the environment so greatly that we are
experiencing anthropogenic climate change. The combination of human activities such as habitat destruction, overfishing, and pollution has multiplied
the problem and is causing a startling decline in Earth's biodiversity. Biodiversity, the totality of Earth's species, ecosystems, and genetic diversity, is at
great risk if temperatures keep increasing. If global warming passes approximately 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the IPCC concludes that of the species
assessed, 20–30 percent will have a high risk of extinction during the next century (Pearson 19). Many of Earth's species will find it difficult to keep

The Triassic Period
Shifting from the end of the Permian period 250 million years ago into the next era, the Triassic period occurred between 250 and 199 million years
ago and was know for further diversifying life on land. After the Permian period, the Triassic period was largely successful in adapting and evolving,
as the world was going through many changes. The land mass known as Pangea began its separation, which would be completed in the Jurassic period.
The climate was relatively more severe during this time, with hotter summers and colder winters, but because of the warmer atmosphere, there were no
polar ice caps at this time. Towards the center of Pangea, it was mostly a dry desert climate. As for life onearth, most of the marine life had been wiped

Eons: The Evolutionary History Of The Phanerozoic Eon
Prehistoric Life is an interesting subject because we get to see the rise of life of multicellular creatures like dinosaurs from single–celled creatures,
their extinction, and dominance of mammals on the planet resulting in the evolution of smarter living beings– humans. The timeline of the
evolutionary history represents the current scientific theory briefly describing the major events during the development of life on planet Earth. There are
many scales to represent the timeline like Eons, Eras, or years.
In this speech, I will describe prehistoric life briefly so I have chosen eons as my time units. Eons usually span a billion years but it can always vary.
There are four Eons since the start of life on Earth. Hadean Eon (4000 million years ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The earliest ancestors roamed the earth in the Triassic period which spanned 50.9 million years. At the end of the Triassic another mass extinction
Triassic/Jurassic happened. This was followed by the Jurassic period in which large gymnosperm started growing leading to increased size of
herbivore dinosaurs. First blood sucking insects are evolved. The largest theropod, Spinosaurus appears in fossil record. In the Cretaceous, first ants
and snakes are evolved. The king of dinosaurs Tyrannosaurus Rex makes it to the fossil records. Cenozoic is the current Era in which we are living. It
started by the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event which eliminated most dinosaurs and marine predators like Mosasurs except birds. Mammals
evolved from small rat like creatures to dog sized predators later evolving to Mastodons. Mammoths evolved from small herbivore. First members of
genus Homo known as Homo Habillis appears on fossil record. Neanderthals, the human ancestors die out with other species like Dodo, Wooly Rhino.
Finally, all these resulted in evolution of modern day Humans. I tried finding a visual aid but all the cool species like dinosaurs and wooly mammoths
are already dead. Therefore, I present myself as we humans are the result of a very long course of evolution and a part of the geological

Directions to the Trail and Rock Formations
Directions To The Trail and Rock Formations
Starting from county road 550, drivers will take Junctions Creek road which is on county road 204, then they will take a right onto county road 205,
which goes around Turtle Lake and then Вј of a mile the road will turn left into Hidden Valley. Once in Hiding Valley drivers will see two different
mountains one of the left and one of the right side of the road. On the left side is a mountain that has a white band of rock (figure 12). This is
called the Wingate sandstone also known as the Wingate Formation. The Wingate Sandstone was deposited in the early Jurassic (figure 9a). The
Wingate Formation is estimated to be approximately 200 million years old (United States, 2014). On the right side of the road the Wingate is seen at
the top of a small mountain. Under the Wingate formation is the Chinle Formation. This formation is very recognizable based on the red color.
Additionally, this formation was named by a geologist by the name of Herbert E. Gregory who studied at Yale University. He was the first to name and
describe the upper Triassic including the Chinle Formation (figure 9b) (Uncompahgre, 2014).
The Chinle was formed in the Upper Triassic from fluvial (relating to rivers and streams), lacustrine (lake), palustrine (wetlands) to eolian (wind)
deposits (Dubiel, 2014). This formation is spread across several states such as Nevada, Utah, Northern Arizona, Western New Mexico, and Western
Colorado (Chinle Formation). Though the

Big 5 Mass Extinction Events In Research
Throughout the lifetime of the Earth, there have been various scientists who have hypothesized various extinction events. The following essay will
cover the five major extinction events, otherwise known as the "Big 5 Mass Extinction Events". According to Wikipedia (2016), a mass extinction is
"a widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of
multicellular organisms".
The first major extinction event is said to have been the Ordovician–Silurian mass extinction, 443 million years ago, which occurred during the end of
the Ordovician period, and the start of the Silurian period (bbc.co.uk, 2014). This is the third largest mass extinction in the Earth's history, and there
were two "peak" dying times during this period, separated my hundreds of thousands of years. The Ordovician is characterised by sea life, so creatures
such as brachiopods, graptolites and trilobite populations were severely diminished. An ice age is said to be responsible for the death
(endangerdspeciesinternational.org, 2011).
The Late Devonian mass extinction is well–known for having one of the most drastic extinction rates. During this extinction period, which spans over a
few million years, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
However, along with the dinosaurs there were many other creatures such as pterosaurs, ammonites and many flowering plants that were wiped out as
well. It is said that a combination of dropping sea levels and flood basalt eruptions were one of the causes (Murcia, 2015). The proverbial final nail in
the coffin was a meteorite strike, near the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, which caused the most significant damage. Thisextinction event is also known
as the K/T extinction (bbc.co.uk,

Turtles: Metamorphosis In The Late Triassic Tradition
About 20 million years after Pappochelys, we began to see a more similar looking ancestor to the turtle, the Odontochelys semitestacea.
O.semitestacea was roaming the planet in the Late Triassic era in modern day China. Odontochelys differed a lot from modern turtles. Modern day
turtles possess a horned like beak without any teeth present in their mouth, while Odontochelys fossils showed that teeth were found embedded in
their upper and lower jaws. One of the most interesting features of turtles, both modern and prehistoric, are their shells that formed an armored
protective casing over its body. Odontochelys only possessed the plastron (the bottom portion of a turtle's armor) and it had yet to develop a solid
carapace. Instead of a carapace,

The Permian-Triassic Period
Mesozoic Era:
The dinosaurs and the mammals appeared during the triassic period,Roughly 225 million years ago. The dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago.
The Mesozoic Era lasted about 180 million years, and is divided into three periods, the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous.
The Mesozoic Era is an interval of geological time from about 252 to 66 million years ago. It is also called the Age of Reptiles, a phrase introduced by
the 19th century paleontologist Gideon Mantell .
The Permian–Triassic boundary, at the start of the Mesozoic, is defined relative to a particular section of sediment in Meishan, China, where a type of
extinct, eel–like creature known as a conodont first appeared, according to the International commission on stratigraphy. Life and climate The
Mesozoic Era he Mesozoic Era began roughly around the time of the end–Permian extinction, which wiped out 96 percent of marine life and 70 percent
of all terrestrial species on the planet. Life slowly rebounded, eventually giving way to a flourishing diversity of animals, from massive lizards to
monstrous dinosaurs.
The Triassic period from 252 million to 200 million years ago, saw the rise of reptiles and the first dinosaurs, the Jurassic period , from about 200
million to 145 million years ago, ushered in birds and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The current locations of the continents and their modern–day inhabitants, including humans, can be traced to this period. The era began on a big down
note, catching the tail end of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event at the close of the Cretaceous period that wiped out the remaining non–avian
dinosaurs. The global climate of the early portion of the Cenozoic Period was much warmer than it is today, and the overall climate of the Earth was
much more consistent regardless of proximity to the

Summary: The Five Major Extinction Events In History
In the course of Earth's history, there have been five major extinction events: the Ordovician–Silurian, Late Devonian, Permian–Triassic,
Triassic–Jurassic, and Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction events. Now, according to Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Kolbert, we are entering
another one that is caused by a single species: ours. Human beings have decimated the rainforest, hunted animals like the great auk to extinction,
pumped billions of tons of pollution into our atmosphere and oceans, and almost completely reassembled the biosphere. Even more frighteningly,
these facts come from 2014, and in the four years since The Sixth Extinction's initial release, we haven't slowed down a bit. Kolbert closes her book
with a call to action, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
440–450 million years ago, the Ordovician and Silurian extinction events began, killing 60–70% of all the species alive at that time. These events, often
combined and referred to as the Ordovician–Silurian event, were the second largest of the five major extinction events, as measured by the
percentage of genera (57%) that disappeared. The next major event was a little under a hundred million years later, at the end of the Frasnian Age.
This event, referred to as the Late Devonian extinction, resulted in the elimination of 70% of all species and lasted for an estimated 20 million years.
252 million years ago, the most catastrophic extinction of all occurred, the Permian–Triassic event. It was estimated to have killed 90–96% of all
species, including 96% of all marine species and 70% of all land species; the recovery period before vertebrates evolved lasted 30 million years. Only
50 million years later, the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event came to pass, killing 70–75% of all the species that had only so recently developed. Finally,
there was the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which began about 66 million years ago. This is possibly the most famous extinction, as it is
the one responsible for killing the dinosaurs, as well as 75% of the other existing species. We have been safely in a recovery period for the last 66

Personal Narrative: My Trip To Chicago's Field Museum
My trip to the Chicago's Field Museum was very exhilarating. It was an amazing opportunity to visit a resourceful place that gave me a visual
understanding of some of the concepts we learn in Physical geography.The Grainger Hall of gems exhibit is a display of many minerals species,
also known as gems. They are arranged into specific categories across the exhibit. The categories are silicates, oxides, organic gems, elementals, and
phosphates. These categories are based on general traits of the gems.The second exhibit, The Evolving Planets was about the first species and how the
world's changes affected them before species of today existed. The Evolving Planet exhibit is grouped by six different mass extinctions that occurred
before there was

Using Paleomagnetic Data For The World 's Landmasses Of...
A supercontinent, known as Pangea, was formed by the aggregation of all the world's landmasses in the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic. This concept of a
supercontinent was originally proposed by Alfred Wegener (Wegener, 1915). He suggested that all continents assembled into a single supercontinent,
approximately 300 million years ago, and then according to the theory of plate tectonics, began to break apart 175 million years ago (Rogers et al.,
2004) Immense geologic and geophysical evidence have been presented, by Wegener and others, to support this theory for the Late Triassic–Early
Jurassic. However when analyzing the paleomagnetic data for the Late Paleozoic time, inconsistencies are present which suggest a very different
Pangea construction. These inconsistencies are seen in Late Paleozoic paleomagnetic data apparent polar wander paths (APWPs) for Laurussia and
Gondwana. To fit Wegner's Pangea reconstruction, the APWPs suggest a substantial crustal overlap and shearing (Domeier et al., 2012). This paper
looks to review proposed alternative reconstructions for Pangea, using paleomagnetic data as the quantifiable method for determining the
supercontinent's location.
Paleomagnetic data as evidence for Plate Tectonics
Paleomagnetism is the study of earth's magnetic field as preserved in the magnetic orientation of certain minerals. For example, when igneous rocks are
formed, during cooling, certain minerals align themselves with the earth's magnetic field and

The Great Dying: The Permian-Triassic Death
The dinosaurs appeared after the greatest mass extinction event occurred. This is known as the Permian–Triassic extinction. It has been estimated to
have occurred around two hundred and fifty million years ago. (6) It is also known as the Great Dying with over ninety percent of species dying off,
leaving the Earth essentially a wasteland. It led to the extinction of "57% of all families, 83% of all genera and 90% to 96% of all species. 53% of
marine families, 84% of marine genera, about 96% of all marine species and an estimated 70% of land species, including insects."(7) By the
late–Permian, global temperatures were very hot, with them being the highest ever on the planet. The Great Dying, as it is known to scientists, resulted
in

The Presentation The 6th Mass Extinction Essay
From the presentation the 6th mass extinction:
1. Describe what biodiversity is and why biodiversity is so important.
Biodiversity is the variety of spices within plants and animals in the environment, it is an indicator of ecosystem health. The importance of biodiversity:
Biodiversity provides humans with food and materials (like wood) that benefiting the economy.
Biodiversity performs a variety of ecological services: from absorbing chemicals to cleaning water and providing oxygen. Some types of animals work
as fertilizers (earthworm) and water filters (jello fish).
Biodiversity also makes it easier for the environment to adapt to changes. If specific types of animals extinct, similar types can take their place in the
environment., serve as a source of food for another animal or be predators themselves.
Protects climate stability.
Cultural importance. A lot of extinct animals were playing huge role in religious believes in some civilizations
Gives more medical and pharmaceutical resources. For example, some amphibians are resistant to cancer and etc.
Scientific importance. 2. Give 3 examples of biodiversity from my presentation (what does it include)?
Earth has a large variety of ecosystems: hot and humid
Depending on the climate and the environment and physical settings, spices biodiversity will differ greatly. For example, hot humid climate allows a
lot of insects. 3. What are some of the "ecosystem services" that a healthy and diverse ecosystem provide?

The Triassic Period: The Evolution Of Dinosaurs
The Triassic Period was the first period of the Mesozoic Era. A lot happened to Earth and its life–forms during the Triassic but the most celebrated
event was the evolution of dinosaurs. The Triassic Period was the first period of the Mesozoic Era, and ran from 248 to 200 million years
ago.Scientists first began studying dinosaurs during the 1820s, when they discovered the bones of a large land reptile buried in the English
countryside. In 1842, Sir Richard Owen, first made the term "dinosaur." Owen had examined bones from three different creatures. Each of them lived
on land, was larger than any living reptile, walked with their legs directly beneath their bodies instead of out to the sides and had three more vertebrae
in their hips than other known ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Some dinosaurs were covered with a type of body armor, and some probably had feathers, like their modern bird relatives. Some moved quickly, while
others were lumbering and slow. Most dinosaurs were herbivores, or plant–eaters, but some were carnivorous and hunted or scavenged other dinosaurs
in order to survive.At the time the dinosaurs arose, all of the Earth's continents were connected together in one land mass, now known as Pangaea, and
surrounded by one enormous ocean. Pangaea began to break apart into separate continents during the Early Jurassic Period (around 200 million years
ago), and dinosaurs would have seen great changes in the world in which they lived over the course of their existence. Dinosaurs mysteriously
disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous Period, around 65 million years ago. Many other types of animals, as well as many species of plants, died out
around the same time, and numerous competing theories exist as to what caused this mass extinction. In addition to the great volcanic or tectonic
activity that was occurring around that time, scientists have also discovered that a giant asteroid hit Earth

The Mesozoic Era
Introduction
The Mesozoic Era began around 250 million years ago and ended 65 million years ago. It is divided into three different periods, The Triassic, The
Jurassic and The Cretaceous. In the Mesozoic Era Earth was extraordinaly different from what it is now. The climate was humid and tropical, the sea
levels were constantly changing and even the shape of the Earth 's continents were different (Benson et al, 2010). The land was dominant by the
dinosaurs but the oceans were populated by more rich and diverse marine reptiles. There were more than a dozen different groups of marine reptiles in
the Mesozoic era, these groups contained pelagic and coastal predators and coastal herbivores. The three main predators of the oceans were the ... Show
During the Late Triassic period they reached their highest diversity, they became more advanced and specalized, making them one of the top Marine
predators. Ichthyosaurs over time evolved to have streamlined, fish–shaped bodies and large heads. They also evolved to have thicker bodies and a
thicker backbone which meant they swam more with a convergent motion (Callway, 1997). They had the largest eyeballs (up to 264mm in
diameter), of all vertebrates which were supported by a ring of sclerotic bones, these eyes were adapted to help them find prey in low light
environments (Motani, 2009). Ichthyosaurus also had large ear bones, scientists believe this was an adaptation that allowed them to locate their
prey by listening for their arrival through the water . This adapation was also a useful way for them to listen for predators that may be approaching
(Fisher et al, 2016). The most distinguishable feature of their body plan was the presence of the caudal fin and the dorsal fin which was formed of
stiff tissue, not bone. The first whole fossil of an Ichytosaur was discovered 200 years ago by Mary Anning on the Jurassic coast of Dorset at Lyme
Regis. Mary Annnings brother, Joseph found the skull of anIchthyosaur in 1811 between the cliffs at Lyme Regis and Charmouth but failed to find
the rest of it. Mary went out found the remainings of this fossil a year later, she found the rest of the fossil at Lyme Regis. This fossils skull was
around 1 meters long and the whole

Majestic Dinosaurs
The title of the article I chose is Paleontologists probe the majestic reptiles' origin and rise writen by Alenxandra Witze. This article talks about
paleontologists excavating ancient fossils, giving them more information about the common ancestor of dinosaurs, and how they came to rule the
earth for millions of years. The author gives us an example of what the ancestor of dinosaurs may have looked like, by telling us that it "probably
looked something like a chicken". Just as there was a mass extinction that wiped out most dinosaurs, there was a mass extinction millions years before,
that gave the dinosaurs an opportunity to rise and evolve. 252 millions years ago, between the Permian and Triassic periods a mass extinction wiped
out most life on Earth. This gave the opportunity for new groups to ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The oldest piece of evidence showing that the first dinosaurs showed up during the Triassic time period, are the fossil footprints found that date back
250 million years, although not everyone is convinced that the footprints are definite evidence. Scientists are not sure how to classify some of the
earliest species found between the three main branches of the dinosaur family tree: Theropods( two–legged meat eaters),
Sauropodomorphs(four–legged, long neck plant eaters), and Ornithiscians ( "bird hipped" dinosaurs). Although these fossils help paleontologists
discover new information, new findings also come from close relatives of dinosaurs, just like "a long talk with an estranged cousin can help fill in
family history, these discoveries are illuminating how dinosaurs evolved alongside other animals". One of the relatives that helped with this process are
the silesaurids. Their bones help illuminate crucial differences between dinosaurs and their relatives deep in the

The Cause Of The Triassic Jurassic Extinction Is High...
Toxic Compounds Another theory that some proposed as the cause of the Triassic–Jurassic mass extinction is high levels of toxic compounds released
from volcanic activity. Directly around volcanic activity in the rift zone, there perhaps would have been high levels of Fluorine and Chlorine, both of
which could have directly poisoned organisms. These large ejections of Chlorine and Fluorine could have led to ozone depletion and acid rain
(McHone 2003). However, due to the fact that high levels of either of these compounds would have caused extinction without prejudice, the actual role
that toxic compounds played during the Triassic–Jurassic extinction is hard to predict and study (Hautmann 2012). Sea–level Changes There is another
theory proposed that posits that rapid sea level regression followed quickly by transgression caused the mass extinction, at least in the marine realm.
According to Schoene and Geux (2010), Оґ18O values from fossil oysters suggest cool ocean temperatures immediately following the negative Оґ13C
excursion followed by a period of warming. As shown in figure 2, during a time spanning approximately 300,000 years there was a positive carbon
isotope anomaly (corresponding with a decrease in sea level along with cooling and glaciation) followed by a period of higher sea levels and a negative
carbon isotope anomaly. These findings are consistent with rapid sea level regression–transgression lasting only approximately 290,000 years, which
can only be explained

The Mesozoic Era
Jurassic is a period of time with Dinosaurs, rodents and birds. There were also island seas consisting of sharks, sea monsters and blood–red planktons.
The existing plants in that period were cycads, ferns and conifers. The Mesozoic era was about 245 million years ago to 65 years ago, so it almost
lasted about 180 years in total. The Mesozoic era is divided into three periods of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Mesozoic era means middle animals
and it is the era, which the word's fauna has changed from what is in the Paleozoic era and the most famous organisms of this era are dinosaurs. In the
Mesozoic era, the extinction of more than 90 percent of species in the earth was observed and the reason behind it was mostly volcanic eruptions and
climate changes. On the other hand, this era had massive changes that represented ecological niches and rise to new creatures such as rodent–size
mammals and first dinosaurs. In Triassic, which was the first period of Mesozoic, the mammals and first dinosaurs existed. Later than that, the second
period was Jurassic, which giant shaped dinosaurs and other kinds of dinosaurs were developed. Besides that the first flowering plants and primitive
birds, with long teeth appeared in that era as well.
Atmosphere
In Mesozoic era, there were only two continents present in the world. Mesozoic era's climate compares to the Paleozoic era is more uniform and
there were no trace of glacial isotopes observed in that period. That is because of the

Cretaceous-Paleogene: The Most Well-Known Mass Extinction
There have been 5 mass extinctions in Earth's existence. The names of these are (from most recent to least recent): Cretaceous–Paleogene,
Triassic–Jurassic, Permian–Triassic, Late Devonian, and Ordovician–Silurian. The most well known mass extinction, Cretaceous–Paleogene, was
theorized to have occurred through a massive comet or asteroid impact. A cold winter created by the impacting object forbid any plants and plankton to
carry out photosynthesis. During this time, about three quarters of all life went extinct. This happened approximately 66 million years ago. Most life
forms went extinct, with some ectothermic species and tetrapods weighing less than 25 pounds. Although everything seemed to look hopeless, adaptive
radiation caused evolution

Petrified Forest History
The Petrified Forest National Park is located in East Central Arizona. The address of the Park is P.O. Box 2217 Petrified Forest National Park, AZ
95028. It is 218,533 acres, after being expended in 2004. It was first proclaimed a National Monument on December 8, 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt.
It was later established as a National Park on December 9, 1962. The Park is also located near the southern edge of the Colorado Plateaus, and is
southeast of the Grand Canyon National Park. The Petrified Forest National Park is notably famous for its logs that have been turned to stone. The
topography of the area is composed of rivers, washes, mesas, forests, and various other components. The washes that are in the Park include the Digger
Wash, Wildhorse... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
One piece of this history is the subsurface Paleozoic rocks. Paleozoic rocks are for the most part hidden in the Park despite being in the Colorado
Plateau, which is likely due to both erosion, and it being buried in other various rocks. Next is the deposition of the Moenkopi Formation during the
early Triassic time period. When North America was still apart of Pangea, the area that was the Colorado Plateau was located within close range of the
Equator. 300–600 feet of sand and mud were accumulated during this time, with marine life being included which tells Geologists that the sea
sometimes was in the area. The climate at the time was warm, with varying times of humid and dry spells. There is very few beds of the Moenkopi
Formation left in the area once again due to erosion. Third is the deposition of the Shinarump Member of the Chinle Formation. This basal
conglomerate was deposited on top of the Moenkopi Formation. It is made up of gravel and sand, which indicates that there was water depositing it.
The Shinarump Member also averages between 35–50 feet thick. Next in the geological history is the deposition of Chinle beds later in the Triassic
time period. When the sea regressed to the west of the area, a large plain was left behind. As the climate changed, so did the environment. Soon
grasslands and marshes began to form in the area. During this time hundreds of feet of shaly material accumulated which formed both the Lower
Petrified Forest Member and the Upper Petrified Forest Member. In some parts, these two members are separated by the Sonsela Sandstone Member,
composed of the most petrified wood compared to all other rock units featured in the Park. The Owl Rock Member is at the top of the Chinle
Formation, and completes it. Near the end of the Triassic time period, tectonic activity was occurring heavily in the Arizona basin. In the western sea at
this time a chain of volcanoes erupted,

Dinosaurs: The Juurassic Period
Dinosaurs lived over 65 million years ago, part of their existence was in pangea which broke up 200 million years ago. There were three periods. The
triassic period, the jurassic period, and the cretaceous period.
The triassic period was the first period of the mesozoic era and happened between 251 and 199 million years ago. The triassic period was when other
animals started to form that could walk on land and not in water.
The jurassic period was the second period of the mesozoic era and happened between 199 and 145 million years ago. The jurassic period is when the
gigantic continent ( pangea ) split apart and into the other continents. This period is when the herbivores (plant eaters) came to existence. oceans full of
fish, squid, and

Permian and Cretaceous Mass Extinctions Essay
Assess the different hypotheses put forward for the mass extinctions at the end of the Permian and Cretaceous (KT) Periods.
A mass extinction is an event in which at least 25–75% of species in the global environment are eradicated in a short period of time. Where as a
regional extinction event is when the extinction is confined to a specific zone. Five mass extinctions have occurred throughout time, two of the most
well known of these are the Permian and Cretaceous extinction events.
There are several hypotheses that are used to explain the causes of mass extinctions. Climate change, the warming or cooling of global environments
over a short period of time, can lead to other occurrences. Shifts in climate can cause extinction by ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
A crater, the Bedout crater, in Australia has been discovered. A bolide impact would have lead to mass death of marine and terrestrial organisms. The
force of the impact could have released methane from stored organic matter and large earthquakes. These earthquakes would have triggered the
volcanism in the Siberian traps, leading to the release of large amounts of CO2 and sulfur dioxide. These gases combined with methane previously
released would have created a noxious atmosphere, combined with climate change that killed a large scale of life.
It is most likely that a simultaneous occurrence of the different global environmental changes was responsible for ending the Permian period, and the
lives of 96% of species. Each environmental issue is a major geological event, and amplified the other events, leading to catastrophic environmental
situation, in which barely any life could survive.
The Cretaceous – Tertiary mass extinction, commonly referred to as the KT extinction, occurred 65 million years ago. As the most recantextinction
event it is more easily studied as more evidence has been preserved than for the earlier extinctions. This extinction is the most commonly known, as it is
the extinction of the dinosaurs, but the smallest scale mass extinction with only 76% of species dying out.
Evidence for catastrophism at the KT boundary can be found in a layer of greenish

Food Webs During Mass Extinction

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