Volcanoes are often painted as harbingers of destruction—and for good reason. But sometimes, they can help life survive, by feeding energy-starved ecosystems elemental carbon.
That’s exactly what researchers now think happened 252 million years ago, when the Earth was rocked by the most devastating mass extinction in its history. At the end of the Permian period, a series of events precipitated the death of over 90% of all terrestrial and marine species. No one knows exactly how things went down, but it’s possible that volcanic eruptions, runaway climate change, and perhaps even an extraterrestrial impact or two, all helped to kickstart the apocalypse.
Now, scientists think volcanoes may have partially mitigated the damage they wrought, by helping tiny, bottom-dwelling sea creatures such as foraminifera, ostracodes, and worm tubes survive.
via Gizmodo
Image: Wikimedia
