New research uncovers that Earth’s geological history is intertwined with astronomical movements, not just terrestrial processes.
A team of scientists, studying events over the past 260 million years, linked mass extinctions to massive volcanic eruptions and ensuing environmental crises, according to scitechdaily.
Published in Earth-Science Reviews, their analysis shows that these eruptions released large amounts of carbon dioxide into Earth’s atmosphere, causing severe global warming and near-fatal or fatal conditions for the planet.
Astronomical Cycles and Earth’s Climate
Remarkably, the researchers found that these phenomena, occurring every 26 to 33 million years, coincided with critical changes in the planet’s orbit in the solar system following the same cyclical patterns.
Professor Michael Rampino from New York University’s Department of Sciences stated, “Earth’s geological processes, long considered strictly driven by events within the planet, may be controlled by astronomical cycles in the solar system and the Milky Way galaxy.”
The researchers, including Ken Caldeira from the Carnegie Institution for Science and Sedelia Rodriguez, a geologist at Barnard College, cautioned that their findings do not impact climate change in the 20th and 21st centuries, which has been driven by human activity. The last pulses of the studied volcanic eruptions occurred around 16 million years ago.
However, they add that the analysis supports the established effect of carbon dioxide emissions on global warming.
Volcanic Eruptions and Geological Phenomena
The scientists focused on Continental Flood Basalt (CFB) eruptions – Earth’s largest lava eruptions covering nearly half a million square miles – and other major geological events over the last 260 million years.
This included oceanic anoxic events – periods when Earth’s oceans were depleted of oxygen, leading to toxic waters – and hyperthermal climate pulses or rapid increases in global temperatures resulting in mass extinctions of marine and non-marine life.
They found that CFB eruptions often coincided with these other deadly geological phenomena, highlighting the broader impact of volcanic activity.
The relationship with astronomy is evident through the commonalities between millions of years-long cycles of volcanism and harsh climates with the known cycles of Earth’s orbit in our solar system and the Milky Way galaxy.
The researchers noted that the close agreement between the geological and astronomical physical cycles is too coincidental, adding that the primary remaining question is how the planet’s astronomical movements impact Earth’s internal geological engines.
