ArticleBody:Earth has endured multiple mass extinctions during its existence—the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event , for example, decimated the planet’s marine ecosystems. But according to a new study from international researchers at Caltech, George Mason University, the University of Naples, and elsewhere, the T-OAE’s destructive fallout over 300,000-to-500,00 years may pale in comparison to what humanity can accomplish in a fraction of the time.
Uranium generally remains soluble in water when oceans are oxygen-rich, but precipitate and settle into the ocean floor during periods of anoxia. By examining how much uranium is in ocean sediment dated from the T-OAE, experts can estimate how bad things truly got during the extinction event. A quarry illustrating bands of stratified limestone from the ancient seafloor in what is now Mercato San Severino in Italy.