A new study pinpoints twin triggers of Triassic era extinction event

Curtin University led research has revealed an increase in levels of both acid and hydrogen sulfide in the ocean was the double whammy that wiped out marine life during a mass extinction event 201 million years ago.

Lead author, Curtin PhD graduate Dr Calum Peter Fox, from the WA-Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC) in Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the research revealed the twin processes that combined to end the Triassic era, paving the way for the emergence of dinosaurs in the Jurassic period.

Dr Fox chats with Fiona Bartholomaeus.

OTR_DrCalumPeterFox