Bacterial discovery is the culprit of the end of the Permian disaster

(Scientists have recently discovered that the cause has led to extinction on a global scale, leading to the elimination of about 60% of all species on Earth that take place. about 252 million years ago.

A group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had enough evidence to conclude, but you will need a microscope to see these perpetrators.

This study has demonstrated that the culprit leading to the genocide mentioned above is not due to an asteroid impact, not because of volcanic activity or intense burning of coal, instead It is a strain of bacteria that produces methane gas called methanosarcina that explodes in the oceans, generating huge amounts of methane into the atmosphere leading to climate change and Chemical composition of the oceans.

Volcano is not completely impersonal, but according to this new hypothesis, it is classified as a secondary cause . The reason for the sudden explosive growth of methane bacteria may be the new ability to use a rich source of organic carbon, provided by a flow of nutrients necessary for the growth of these bacteria: nickel elements, emitted from giant volcanoes exactly at that time.

The results of the new study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by MIT geophysicist Dr. Gregory Fournier and five other researchers at MIT and China.

The researchers' situation builds on 3 independent sets of evidence.First , geochemical evidence shows an exponential increase (or even faster than the exponential level) of CO ₂ in the oceans at the time coinciding with the so-called great period. end of the Permian. Second , genetic evidence shows a change in methanosarcina at that time, allowing the bacterium to become an important methane producer from the accumulation of CO ₂ and water.

And finally , it is the sediment that shows a sudden increase in the amount of nickel deposited at the right time.

Carbon deposits show that something has caused a significant increase in the total amount of gas containing carbon - CO2 or methane - emitted during the mass extinction period. Some researchers argue that these gases can be erupted from volcanic eruptions that created Siberi traps , a volcanic rock formation formed by the most extensive eruptions in records. Earth's geology. But the calculations made by the MIT team showed that the eruptions were almost inadequate to explain the amount of carbon found in sediments. Even more importantly, the observed changes in carbon volume over time are not consistent with the volcanic model.

'An initial stream of CO2 emitted from a volcano will then gradually diminish,' Fournier said. 'Instead, we see the opposite: continue to increase rapidly'. 'That shows an expansion of microorganisms', he added:' The growth of the biota is one of the few phenomena that is capable of exponentially increasing carbon production, or even faster '.

But if living organisms spew out all that methane, what creatures are they, and why do they choose to do so at that time?

This genetic analysis helps clarify: Genetic analyzes indicate that methanosarcina has a special way to rapidly produce methane, through the exchange of genes from other bacteria - and the establishment of Detailed maps of the research team on the history of organisms have shown that this exchange occurred around the time of extinction at the end of the Permian. (Previous studies have only identified this event around 400 million years ago.) With the right conditions, the acquisition of this gene has set the stage for bacteria to undergo a surge. Strong leader, quickly consumes a huge amount of organic carbon reserves in ocean sediments.

But there is still one final piece to the puzzle: Those creatures cannot flourish too extraordinarily if they do not have enough and the right minerals.For these particular bacteria, the limited nutrient is nickel , a substance that a new analysis of sediment in China has shown, surprisingly increased after Siberian volcanic eruptions (already knows to create one of the largest nickel mines in the world). That's what fueled the explosive growth of Methanosarcina.

The resulting methane explosion produced effects similar to those predicted by current global climate change models: a strong and unexpected temperature rise, combined with the process. acidify the oceans. In the case of extinction at the end of the Permian, most shellfish organisms were wiped out - in accordance with the fact that such shells could not form in acidic waters.

'Much of this is based on carbon isotope analysis , ' says Rothman, which is very strong and clear in this part of the geological record. 'If it is not an unusual sign, it will be much harder to eliminate other possibilities'.

While no single method can prove exactly what happened in the aforementioned mass genocide event, Rothman, MIT's Lorenz Center director, said: 'cumulative impact of all these factors is much stronger than that of each individual factor ' . 'While no conclusions prove that bacteria are the culprit, it does not rule out some alternative theories and creates a strong and consistent situation,' he said.