Name: The Catastrophe That Killed 90% Of Earth’s Species
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NOVA

252 million years ago, the most devastating mass extinction of all time wiped out around 90% of all species on Earth. The culprit? Liquid magma beneath Pangea’s northern surface that split open the crust and tore apart the landscape, spewing curtains of lava and fire.

An ancient catastrophe killed nearly all life on Earth - and an asteroid wasn’t to blame.

The Catastrophe That Killed 90% Of Earth’s Species

Catastrophe That Killed 90% Of Earth’s Species

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252 million years ago, the most devastating mass extinction of all time wiped out around 90% of all species on Earth. The culprit? Liquid magma beneath Pangea’s northern surface that split open the crust and tore apart the landscape, spewing curtains of lava and fire.

An ancient catastrophe killed nearly all life on Earth—and an asteroid wasn’t to blame.

Rutgers University

An ancient catastrophe killed nearly all life on Earth—and an asteroid wasn’t to blame.

Planet Earth

Speaker 1:252 million years ago, a catastrophe killed nearly all life on Earth.Speaker 2:This is the closest our planet has ever been to going back to square one.Speaker 3:As many as 90% of species across the Earth died.Speaker 4:This extinction was much greater than the one that ended the age of the dinosaurs.Speaker 1:But an asteroid wasn't to blame, the culprit was lurking just beneath the surface. Deep beneath Northern Pangaea, superheated liquid rock, magma, is rising. It pushes up against the Earth's rigid upper layer, the crust, until it can take no more.The crust splits open. Within hours the local landscape is torn apart. Cracks grow forming great curtains of fire. As lava floods onto the surface, the insides of Earth spew out.

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The Catastrophe That Killed 90% Of Earth’s Species

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Support Provided By

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Ancient Earth: Inferno

Ancient Earth: Life Rising

Ancient Earth: Frozen