Demise of the Permian- Triassic Period Essay examples -- Exploratory E

Demise of the Permian- Triassic Period It is well known that there was a mass extinction killing the dinosaurs. However 185 million years before their demise, almost all life on earth was destroyed.1[1] There has long been theories that meteorites are the cause the of the mass extinctions and professor Asish Basu believes he may have found clues that point to space as the cause of the extinction in the Permian- Triassic period.2[2] The Triassic period is during a time when the earth was divided in a giant land mass: pangea, and water. Here there was no separation of continents. The Triassic is when the dinosaurs first started to appear, but long before the notorious Tyrannosaurus Rex dominated the terrain. At this time the dinosaurs were just a small part of the many animals that wandered the earth and were by no means, the large dominant, creatures that come to ones mind today. However the marker of this period is an extinction of the animals in the Permian period. The Permian period is known for the abundance of flora and the major changes in landscape including the formation of the Appalachian Mountains.3[3] Most notably is the giant fern: glossopteris. However at the end of the period, during the time of the extinction, it too disappeared.4[4] Professor Basu and his colleagues found fragments of chondritic minerals with mineral compositions that do not occur on earth, in Antarictica. These minerals have very similar chemical composition to minerals found in Meishan China. Because such similar extra-terrestrial minerals have been discovered in two geographically distant places, there is evidence that a meteor struck the earth and the dust that covered the land was significant enough to co... ... If it was a meteor it could give new insight to what kind of meteor it was and how it killed almost an entire planet’s living organisms. Either way, this evidence should not be taken lightly and is a crucial to the world of science. Notes: 1[1] Basu, Asish; Petaev, Michail I.; Poreda, Robert J.; Jacobsen, Stein B.; Becker, Luann, Science: â€Å"Chondritic Meteorite Fragments Associated with the Permian-Triassic Boundary in Antarctica†, Vol 302, Issue 5649, 1388-1392 , 21 November 2003 2[2] Basu 3[3] Encyclopedia. http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/Permianp_HistoricalGeologyofthePeriod.asp 4[4] Associate Press. CNN: â€Å"Ancient Meteorite Wiped Out Life† Washington, Nov. 20, 2003 5[5] Basu, 6[6] Associated Press 7[7] Basu, 8[8] Britt, Robert Roy, Science: â€Å"Controversial New Claim in Death-by-Meteor Case†, 20 November 2003 9[9] Britt 10[10] Britt