[Geology2] Re: World's Largest Extinction Explained by World's Largest Volcanic Eru

I've always wondered if the 'cause' (so to speak) of the Siberian and
Deccan traps were due to a asteroid/meteor strike.. Hard to find any
evidence as far as a crater due to subduction.. but it seems
something happened to cause the mantle to crack and all that magma to
flow into such a massive area.

Canie

>There is widespread belief that the impact of a meteorite was at least the
>partial cause for the end of the dinosaur era, 65 million years ago. But it
>had been unclear what caused the late Permian extinction. Previous research
>had suggested massive volcanic eruptions through coal beds in Siberia would
>generate significant greenhouse gases causing run away global warming, but
>there was no direct evidence of such events.
>
>The volcanoes, known as the Siberian Traps, are found in northern Russia,
>centered around the Siberian city of Tura and also encompassing Yakutsk,
>Noril'sk and Irkutsk. They cover an area just under two million square
>kilometers, a size greater than that of Europe. The ash plumes from the
>eruption of the immense chain of volcanoes traveled to Canada's arctic where
>Grasby and his colleagues found the coal-ash layers.

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