Older volcanoes more destructive than current ones

2001/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Geologia

According to the French researcher Paul Wignall, from the University of Leeds, volcanic eruptions in the past produced major disasters because the carbon oxide (IV) they emitted lasted longer in the atmosphere. To defend this theory he has given two main reasons.

On the one hand, the new life forms are able to withstand _{more CO2 than the} old ones. On the other hand, the fragmentation of the supercontinents caused a greater formation of coasts, which caused a greater meteorization of siliceous rocks and a greater formation of phytoplankton that absorbs carbon dioxide in the sea.