The Earth's crust shifted, causing many animal species to disappear

Geological and fossil evidence more than half a million years old has shown that the Earth itself may be the culprit of mass extinctions.

The research team led by sedimentologist Paul Myrow from the University of Colorado (USA) shows that the Earth's plate tectonics process can contribute to nurturing life but can also destroy life.

Cambrian fossils unearthed in the Transantarctic Mountains reveal that Earth itself is the "Cambrian killer" - (Photo: SICENCE ADVANCE).

According to Live Science, the authors focused on the Sinsk Event , which was an extinction event that occurred during the Cambrian period (540-485 million years ago).

It was a geological period that saw an explosion of life on Earth, with a series of strange, complex creatures being born in the biggest evolutionary leap of fauna on the planet.

In the meantime, the Sinsk Event occurred suddenly, killing many large groups of oceanic animals including Hyolith cone-shelled animals and Archaeocyathids sponges , which were once part of reef ecosystems. global coral.

Now, scientists have identified the Gondwana Formation , which formed about 600-540 million years ago, as the culprit.

Gondwana was the name of the supercontinent that dominated the Southern Hemisphere during that period, parallel to another supercontinent named Laurasia in the North.

According to the article published in the journal Science Advances , clues to the events were found in rock layers in the Transantarctic Mountains on the Antarctic continent and on Australia's Kangaroo Island.

That's where they collected many fossils of creatures that arose and disappeared during the Cambrian period.

Among them, fossil trilobites are believed to be the key. They evolve rapidly, so their shape can indicate the time they died, thereby knowing their age as well as the rocks that encase them.

These fossils date to about 514-512 million years ago, or the middle of the Cambrian period, coinciding with the Sinsk Event.

At that time, Oceania and Antarctica were both part of the supercontinent Gondwana.

The tectonic activity associated with this landmass caused massive mountain-building events, along with causing the seafloor of shallow oceans to sink.

The sea suddenly became deeper, pulling coral reefs lower, making it impossible for creatures accustomed to living in shallow water to adapt. Additionally, erosion from new mountain ranges dumps pebbles and gravel onto coral reefs. Thus, coral reef ecosystems "drown".

Mountain building activities also cause the Earth's crust to expand in other places , magma rises and forms large basalt areas, in parallel with the release of large amounts of greenhouse gases that make the atmosphere hot. should.

This warming, like today's climate change, slowed the ocean's circulation, causing oxygen-rich water to sink, the water above to become anoxic, and a host of more creatures to die.

Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that explains the movement of tectonic plates - which can be understood as pieces of the Earth's crust. These plates move continuously, interacting with each other and creating geological phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanoes, the formation of continents.

Plate tectonics also contributes to the chemical balance of the Earth, helping to stabilize the planet's climate and atmosphere so that life can continue to exist and can contribute significantly to the reactions that give rise to life. primitive.