In the 1970s and 80s, geologists noticed unusual layers deposited in ancient rocks, dating to around 232-4 million years ago.
In the Eastern Alps,
In fact, since the discovery, there has been growing evidence that the wet period
The period, known as the Carnian pluvial event, or even the Carnian crisis, has since been seen in rocks from around the world. The cause of the unusual amount of rainfall appears to be the result of a massive increase in humidity, possibly due to a gigantic
“The eruptions peaked in the Carnian,” Jacopo Dal Corso, involved in research into the eruption, told
Pangea – the supercontinent on Earth at the time – was already prone to monsoons. They are caused when moisture-heavy air from the seas are blown towards land, where it cools and falls as heavy rains. As the seas heated during this period – reaching the temperature of hot soup, paleoenvironments researcher Paul Wignall told
The humid, wet period was not great for life. One study published in the
Species were wiped out by the event. But after it was over, there were clear winners.
“In the wake of wide extinctions of plants and key herbivores on land, the dinosaurs were seemingly the main beneficiaries in the time of recovery, expanding rapidly in diversity, ecological impact (relative abundance) and regional distribution, from South America initially, to all continents,” the team wrote in their paper.
“It may have been one of the most important [rapid events] in the history of life in terms of its role in allowing not only the ‘age of dinosaurs’, but also the origins of most key clades that form the modern fauna of terrestrial tetrapods, namely the lissamphibians, turtles, crocodiles, lizards and mammals.”
An earlier version of this article was published in