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News Release 13-046
Before Dinosaurs' Era, Volcanic Eruptions Triggered Mass Extinction
Increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, global warming, ocean acidification killed 76 percent of species on Earth
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![Road passing through snow covered ancient rocks in Hartford Basin, Conn.](/news/mmg/media/images/volcanic_eruptions1_f.jpg)
Back to the future? Ancient rocks in Hartford Basin, Conn., offer a look into geologic time.
Credit: Terrence Blackburn and Paul Olsen
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![View of Palisade Sill near Alpine, N.J., from across a river.](/news/mmg/media/images/volcanic_eruptions2_f.jpg)
Palisade Sill near Alpine, N.J., has geologic remnants of the end-Triassic extinction event.
Credit: Terrence Blackburn and Paul Olsen
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![Mud stones and rocks in a basin near Newark, N.J.](/news/mmg/media/images/volcanic_eruptions3_f.jpg)
In a rock basin near Newark, N.J., the extinction is preserved in sandstone and mudstone.
Credit: Terrence Blackburn and Paul Olsen
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![Photo of rocks in a mountenous ancient extinction research site in Nova Scotia.](/news/mmg/media/images/volcanic_eruptions4_f.jpg)
Red Head, Five Island Provincial Park, Nova Scotia: ancient extinction research site.
Credit: Terrence Blackburn and Paul Olsen
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![Crystals in sheet-like basalt compared to the size of a quarter, near Rapidan, Va.](/news/mmg/media/images/volcanic_eruptions5_f.jpg)
Coarse grain segregation in sheet-like basalt near Rapidan, Va.; elements have crystallized.
Credit: Terrence Blackburn and Paul Olsen
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![cover of Science magazine](/news/mmg/media/images/science_cover_0322_f.jpg)
The researchers' findings are described in the March 22nd issue of the journal Science.
Credit: Copyright AAAS 2013
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