For this quater of the book I read chapters 3 and 4, pages 61-106. Originally I was going to read 3 through 5, but since I'm already behind I'm going to read chapters 8 and 9 for my 4th quarter of the book, instead of just chapter 9.
Main Topics
Chapter 3 the author discussed his journey toBethulie, South Africa to examine fossils of the Permian era, and from the Triassic period.Peter Ward, and his crew were finding many fossils from both of these periods, such as the Lystrosaurus and Dicynodon. The Permian Rocks were below and the Triassic rocks were right above, creating the P-T boundary. The Permian extinction was the largest exctinction there ever has been. About 90% of all the species disappeared. Ward believed that this extinction was caused by an asteroid impact, just like the previous extinction I had talked about. However, there was also possible evidence of global warming, and Siberian lava eruptions at the same time of the extinction.Then in 2001, with new technology, a new, strange substance was discovered called buckminsterfullerenes. Long story-short this proved that there had been an impact on Earth, and that the comet or asteroid that hit Earth was about 6 to 12 kilometers in diameter. This wouldn't have been big enough to cause a mass extinction. The book went on to talk about a couple different possible hypothesis as to why the Permian extinction took place, such as a possible rise in methane, a greenhouse gas, that would have made the temperatures on Earth greatly increase. But no for sure answer as to why the Permian extinction took place has been discovered. Or not yet anyway.
Terminology
This book is full of new terminology and scientific information that is new to me. I'm going to give information about the most relevant terminology.
Buckminsterfullerenes: or "Buckyballs" were most likely filled with mostly helium-3, where as most terrestrial helium is filled with helium-2 with only small traces of helium-3. Therefore, "all of this star stuff" would of been brought by an comet that hit the Earth, spreading these buckyballs.
Permian Era: this era had been diverse species and experienced the largest mass extinction ever known. The Triassic Era followed the Permian Era.
Implications
Since an asteroid most likely hit Earth again during the Permian Era could affect society today because this seems to be something that has repeated in Earths history. Even if it hasn't been proven that an impact is what caused this extinction I have been currently talking about, it is something that worrys me to think it could happen again. The book also discussed briefly that greenhouse gases may have played a role in the extinction during the Permian era. This is almost a bigger concern for society since global warming is an obvious problem facing us today.
Implications
Since an asteroid most likely hit Earth again during the Permian Era could affect society today because this seems to be something that has repeated in Earths history. Even if it hasn't been proven that an impact is what caused this extinction I have been currently talking about, it is something that worrys me to think it could happen again. The book also discussed briefly that greenhouse gases may have played a role in the extinction during the Permian era. This is almost a bigger concern for society since global warming is an obvious problem facing us today.
Posts
Sorry to hear you were so sick! I like reading about your book, since it is so different from mine. I have learned about the permian era and the triassic era before, but I didn't really remember what they were about, so reading your terminology section has been a learning experience for sure!
ReplyDeleteI dont know anything about this era so your book sounds really interesting to me. I like all the new info and facts I can get from your posts!
ReplyDeleteVery Interesting! I knew nothing about your terminology before reading this post.
ReplyDelete