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Science 18 August 2000:
Vol. 289. no. 5482, pp. 1130 - 1131
DOI: 10.1126/science.289.5482.1130
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EARTH SCIENCE:
Did Volcanoes Drive Ancient Extinctions?

Richard A. Kerr

With the publication in recent weeks of two papers on a mass extinction 183 million years ago, researchers can add five suggestive cases to the list of extinctions with known causes. These extinctions coincide with massive outpourings of lava, accompanied by signs that global warming threw the ocean-atmosphere system out of whack. Although no one can yet pin any of these mass extinctions with certainty on the volcanic eruptions, scientists say it's unlikely that they're all coincidences.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)