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volcanism triggered the late Devonian extinction

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07-05-2018 10:17am

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Capt'n Midnight

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https://phys.org/news/2018-05-mercury-evidence-volcanism-triggered-late.html

The late Devonian extinction, about 370 million years ago, is one of the 'Big Five.' It killed up to 80 percent of species, obliterating the lavish Devonian coral reef ecosystem. The final pulse in this multi-step crisis, called the Frasnian-Famennian event, was its most devastating.
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In other mass extinctions, elevated mercury has been closely linked to big-time volcanic episodes. In fact, points out Racki, mercury has become to Earth-based catastrophes what iridium is to extraterrestrial-based ones. "Mercury as a geochemical fingerprint of volcanism appears decisive in the new stage of mass extinction studies," he says.

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