A new study indicates that when the dinosaur-killing asteroid struck with Earth 66 million years ago, vast amounts of sulfur were hurled into the stratosphere volumes far greater than previously imagined.
According to a new research, tiny bacteria emitting harmful gas played a role in causing - and prolonging - the largest mass extinction in Earth's history.
Jian Xu; Xiao-Ping Xia; Qiang Wang; Christopher J. Spencer; Bin He .
Abstract:
The mechanisms and processes by which subducted slab interacted with mantle
plume remain controversial, as direct observation of such interaction is
difficult to impossible. Compositional heterogeneity of large igneous
provinces (LIPs) additionally makes plume-slab interaction hard to detect.
Oxygen isotopes are sensitive enough to trace the source of magmas. Here we
provide evidence for plume-slab interaction mainly based on in situ zircon
Hf-O isotope analyses, as well as whole-rock elemental and Sr-Nd-Hf isotope
analyses, on the Late Permian and Early Triassic A-type granites on the
margin of the Emeishan LIP in SW China. These granites show typical A-type