New research offers insight into what fueled the dawn of dinosaurs

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

The rise of dinosaurs was fueled by massive volcanic eruptions over 230 million years ago, according to new research.

Tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases spewed into the atmosphere - causing global warming.

It triggered the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE), a previously unknown mass extinction.

Around half animal species were wiped out, clearing a path for the largest creatures that ever lived.

Co-author, Professor Jason Hilton, of the University of Birmingham, said: "Within the space of two million years the world's animal and plant life underwent major changes including selective extinctions in the marine realm and diversification of plant and animal groups on land.

"These events coincide with a remarkable interval of intense rainfall known as the Carnian Pluvial Episode."

An international team scanned sediments and fossilized remains collected in a drilling expedition at a lake in northern China's Jiyuan Basin.

They matched pulses of volcanic activity with dramatic weather changes 234 to 232 million years ago, including 'mega monsoons'.

The increased rainfall helped conifers thrive, providing a future food source for the giant plant-eating dinosaurs.

They included Argentinosaurus which reached up to 131 feet long and weighed more than 70 tons.

The study traced four distinct eruption episodes to a mountain range stretching from Alaska to western Canada.

Lava rained down from the Wrangellia Large Igneous Province and formed a thick layer of basalt over the west coast of North America, remnants of which are preserved today.

Hilton said: "Our research shows, in a detailed record from a lake in North China, that this period can actually be resolved into four distinct events, each one driven by discrete pulses of powerful volcanic activity associated with enormous releases of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

"These triggered an increase in global temperature and humidity.”

The heat ignited coal beds that threw even more ash and particulates into the air.

The cataclysm blotted out the sun, acidified the oceans and even reduced oxygen levels in the air and water.

Geological events from a similar time frame during the Late Triassic have been identified in Central Europe, East Greenland, Morocco, North America and Argentina.

They indicate increased rainfall resulted in widespread expansion of drainage basins converging into lakes or swamps, rather than rivers or oceans.

Co-author Dr. Sarah Greene, also from Birmingham, said: "Our results show large volcanic eruptions can occur in multiple, discrete pulses - demonstrating their powerful ability to alter the global carbon cycle, cause climate and hydrological disruption and drive evolutionary processes."

Mass extinctions have helped kickstart evolution and pave the way for the creation of new life throughout history.

Hilton said: "In addition to dinosaurs, this remarkable period in Earth history was also important for the rise of modern conifer groups and had a major impact on the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems and animal and plant life - including ferns, crocodiles, turtles, insects and the first mammals."

Dinosaurs are perhaps best known for the asteroid strike that snuffed them out 66 million years ago.

Less is known about how they came to dominate the planet for 150 million years.

Earlier prehistoric habitats had been rife with strange animals called synapsids: primitive mammals that filled nearly every ecological niche.

They ranged from apex predators to hulking herbivores and meek insect-eaters.

Dr. Emma Dunne, a paleobiologist at Birmingham who was not involved in the study, said: "This relatively long period of volcanic activity and environmental change would have had considerable consequences for animals on land.

"At this time, the dinosaurs had just begun to diversify, and it's likely without this event, they would never have reached their ecological dominance we see over the next 150 million years."

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.