Sea die out blamed on volcanoes


	Sea die out blamed on volcanoes

valann 47

7-17-2008 2:09 AM

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tags:

sea, cretaceous period

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/24bb16fb-7d15-4dce-abd3-7a40ad42b93f/49F2B151-5F0B-4EF0-AFA8-28CFBA66C4FC/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7510541.stm" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7510541.stm" style="font-size: 11px;">news.bbc.co.uk</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7510541.stm"><P class="first"><B>Undersea volcanic activity has been blamed for a mass extinction in the seas 93 million years ago.</B>
</P><P>
In the so-called "anoxic event" of the late Cretaceous Period, the ocean depths became starved of oxygen, wiping out swathes of marine organisms.
</P><P>
Researchers from the University of Alberta, Canada, found a tell-tale signature of underwater volcanism in rocks dating to the period.
</P><P>
Their findings have been published in the journal Nature.
</P><P>
At the time of the anoxic event, the average temperature was nearly twice that of today, researchers say.
</P><P>
Palm trees grew in what would later become Alaska and large reptiles roamed northern Canada. The Arctic Ocean was ice-free and scientists think it would have had a temperature we might describe today as lukewarm.
</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7510541.stm">However, the oceans were also hit by a mass extinction which wiped out a type of large clam common at the time as well as tiny ocean creatures known as foraminifera, which live on the sea floor.
</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7510541.stm"><div align="center"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/news.bbc.co.uk/img/AF8D9913-FD33-46F3-99CB-3006A2F28BEB" alt="Contessa quarry, Italy (Steve Turgeon)" /></div></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/49F2B151-5F0B-4EF0-AFA8-28CFBA66C4FC/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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