A day of apocalypse far more terrifying than any movie occurred during the Triassic period, triggering the emergence of the most horrifying monstrous lineage in history, which dominated for the next two geological periods.
Even more frightening is that it was the Earth itself that made the choice: to “freeze” itself, resulting in a mass extinction at the end of the Triassic, paving the way for the rise of dinosaurs to evolve and “reign” in the subsequent Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, according to a recent study cited by SciTech Daily.
An ancient mammal caught by dinosaurs – (Photo: Larry Felder/SCITECH DAILY)
This fascinating work, led by geologist Paul Olsen from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in the USA, analyzed specimens from recent excavations in the remote deserts of the Junggar Basin in Northwest China.
Previously, dinosaurs were believed to have appeared approximately 231 million years ago at temperate latitudes of the supercontinent Pangaea – the only supercontinent on Earth at that time – before moving toward the North Pole around 214 million years ago.
Throughout the Triassic and much of the Jurassic period, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were five times higher than present, causing the planet to be enveloped in an “eternal summer.” However, climate models indicated intermittent winters at higher latitudes.
This new research delved into the secrets of those mysterious winters through geological remnants mixed with fossils, revealing that they were longer and more dreadful than previously imagined.
In other words, there was a horrifying winter that triggered the mass extinction at the end of the Triassic, wiping out three-quarters of species on Earth—primarily mammals, including our ancestors and many animals today. This mass extinction paved the way for dinosaurs to “explode” in the subsequent Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
This mysterious winter was caused by a mysterious rise from the Earth: a series of volcanic eruptions that produced enough sulfur aerosols to scatter sunlight, as well as causing carbon dioxide and ash clouds to block sunlight to such an extent that it led to a cooling effect instead of warming: plunging the Earth into a seemingly endless “volcanic winter.”
Evidence suggests that many areas across the supercontinent, including tropical regions, experienced freezing conditions for decades. This process formed sandstone and a type of fine-grained powder, which remains evident today in the sediments of the mysterious desert.
Fortunately, at the end of the Cretaceous period (66 million years ago), the arrival of Chicxulub – the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs – once again disrupted the global environment and wiped out this monstrous lineage, allowing our tiny ancestors to “make a comeback” and evolve robustly.
This study was recently published in the scientific journal Science Advances.
