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Headline News
January 28, 2002
"The Great Dying"
What happened on Earth 250 million years ago, has to be THE Greatest Mystery ever known to Man. Finding the solutions for solving this mystery, has been the quest of many Astronomers and
Scientists the world over. Now, we may have clues and the evidence is exciting!
We are spoiled rotten, like no other culture in history. In developed countries on Earth, information
can be transmitted in a matter of seconds. We watch history being made, at the time of the actual event. This wasn't the case, 250 million years ago and as a result, getting to the source of
"The Great Dying" has not been easy or speedy.
"The Great Dying" deals with the loss of life here on this Planet, to the degree that 9 out of 10
Marine species vanished. 7 out of 10 Land species also bit the dust. In other words, life on Earth was nearly brought to a screeching halt.
Approximately 65 million years ago, another catastrophe enveloped the Earth. Known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary Period, signaling the demise of the Dinosaur. Although significant, it pales in
comparison to "The Great Dying."
Needless to say, when life on Earth almost perished completely, there was no one to document it's
cause. Over the years, scientists have presented many theories including volcanic activity, possible changes in the environment due to formation of a super continent, and possibly the
impact of an asteroid, or a combination of all of these factors.
Today, thanks to funding from NASA, a professional team of Sherlock Holmes type detection work
may in fact, have most of the answers. These teams led by "Luann Becker," a geologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara searched areas of the world where some of the rocks from
250 million years ago still exist and are exposed for research. This involved trips to Hungary, China and Japan.
Upon investigation of these ancient relics of the past, it was found that certain 'fingerprints' exist
to trace all that has transpired over the millions of years. A pattern has evolved in the fossilized rock that is quite amazing. It seems that up to a point, signs of ancient life existed. Then, as if a
door was closed, those same signs of life all but disappear.
Although prior investigations have dismissed the possibility of an asteroid hitting our planet and
generating this immense loss of life, new technology has provided the ability to analyze more in-depth and the conclusion reached is as follows.
Apparently, over a period of 8,000 to 100,000 years (just the blink of an eye in terms of geological study) life abruptly altered.
This is where the rubber meets the road. Inside those rocks examined, evidence of unusual soccer ball shaped molecules exist. Not your ordinary molecules, however. These contain traces of helium
and argon gas trapped inside. Why is this so important? Known as 'fullerenes' the amount of helium and argon gas is indicative of isotopes MORE common in space, than on Earth. Conclusion?
Something like a comet or an asteroid must have brought these elements to Earth.
The evidence points to an asteroid, as big or bigger than Mount Everest collided with Earth.
Of course an asteroid, even of that size, more than likely was not the sole cause of life being almost eliminated. There are other factors involved as well. At the time of the collision, Earth was
ever changing. Volcanic activity, the details of which will make you gasp in unbelief, was affecting our planet as well. In fact, in the land known as Siberia today, lava flowed in huge amounts, so
much so that large areas of land were burned, greenhouse gases released and the atmosphere would have been clouded with dust.
Also, continents were being thrown around like baseballs. Weather patterns changed, ocean
currents shifted and ocean levels dropped.
Add to the mix, an asteroid of great magnitude and it is much easier to understand why 250 million years ago, this planet was close to extinction.
Why is NASA funding projects such as this? To learn from the past so that history will not be repeated.
If only rocks could talk, and if only we could listen.
Nancy, Director of Operations, Editor
The Great Dying
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/28jan_extinction.htm?aol534646.html