There have been five Mass Extinction events in the history of Earth's biodiversity, all caused
by dramatic but natural phenomena. It has been claimed that the Sixth Mass Extinction may …

The existence of mantle plumes was first proposed in the 1970s to explain intra-plate,
hotspot volcanism, yet owing to difficulties in resolving mantle upwellings with geophysical …

Much of our understanding of Earth's past climate comes from the measurement of oxygen
and carbon isotope variations in deep-sea benthic foraminifera. Yet, long intervals in …

The end-Cretaceous event was catastrophic for terrestrial communities worldwide, yet its
long-lasting effect on tropical forests remains largely unknown. We quantified plant …

The Cretaceous/Paleogene mass extinction, 66 Ma, included the demise of non-avian
dinosaurs. Intense debate has focused on the relative roles of Deccan volcanism and the …

Theory regarding the causation of mass extinctions is in need of systematization, which is
the focus of this contribution. Every mass extinction has both an ultimate cause, ie the trigger …

One popular view of Venus' climate history describes a world that has spent much of its life
with surface liquid water, plate tectonics, and a stable temperate climate. Part of the basis for …

Birds and mammals independently evolved the highest metabolic rates among living
animals. Their metabolism generates heat that enables active thermoregulation, sha** the …

The extinction of the dinosaurs and around three-quarters of all living species was almost
certainly caused by a large asteroid impact 66 million years ago. Seismic data acquired …

The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction is marked globally by elevated
concentrations of iridium, emplaced by a hypervelocity impact event 66 million years ago …