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News Release 12-019
Global Extinction: Gradual Doom as Bad as Abrupt
In "The Great Dying" 250 million years ago, the end came slowly
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![Photo of Griesbach Creek in the Arctic.](/news/mmg/media/images/permian_extinct1_f1.jpg)
The geology of Griesbach Creek in the Arctic tells an ancient tale of slow extinction.
Credit: C.M. Henderson
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![Map showing paleogeography during the Permian-Triassic boundary 252 million years ago.](/news/mmg/media/images/permian_extinct2_f1.jpg)
Paleogeography during the Permian-Triassic boundary extinction 252 million years ago.
Credit: Thomas Algeo
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![Photo showing the barren arctic landscape of Ellesmere Island.](/news/mmg/media/images/permian_extinct3_f.jpg)
The barren arctic landscape of Ellesmere Island was the site of the scientists' research.
Credit: C.M. Henderson
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![Putorana Plateau, a UNESCO World Heritage Area, contains 500 million years of history.](/news/mmg/media/images/permian_extinct4_f.jpg)
Putorana Plateau, a UNESCO World Heritage Area, contains 500 million years of history.
Credit: Thomas Algeo
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![Graph of Phanerozoic marine biodiversity plotting number of families versus geolgoic time.](/news/mmg/media/images/permian_extinct5_f.jpg)
Marine biodiversity changed significantly in hundreds of millions of years of Earth history.
Credit: Thomas Algeo
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![Photo of the geologists' West Blind Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Canada, study site.](/news/mmg/media/images/permian_extinct6_f.jpg)
Close-up of the geologists' West Blind Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Canada, study site.
Credit: C.M. Henderson
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