The world was going through a period of rapid global warming.
Scientists have looked at a volcanic eruption in Siberia that released huge volumes of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.
The climate was already changing before this.
Sea surface temperatures increased in the hundreds of thousands of years leading up to the Siberian eruption. 85% of all living species went extinct after the temperatures increased again.
The eruption in Siberia made a mark on the planet, but experts remained puzzled about what caused the initial warming before it.
Australia's own ancient volcanoes played a big role. There were eruptions in northern New South Wales that caused volcanic ash to fall across the east coast.
The evidence for which is hidden deep in Australia's thick piles of silt is from these eruptions, which were so large they initiated the world's biggest ever climate catastrophe.
The study published today in Nature confirms that eastern Australia was shook by repeated eruptions between 250 and 250 million years ago.
The more active Siberia event has a different type of eruptions. Massive amounts of ash and gasses were released into the atmosphere.
There are light-colored layers of volcanic ash in the rock. These layers are found all over the state of New South Wales and the state ofQueensland.
There are multiple light-colored ash layers through dark coal. Ian Metcalfe is a person.
Our study found the source of the ash in the New England region, where the eroded remnants of volcanoes are preserved.
The rocks are our record of terrifying eruptions, even though erosion has removed much of the evidence. The ash produced is consistent with some of the largest volcanic eruptions.
Over 4 million years, material erupted from the northernNSW volcanoes. They are similar to the supervolcanoes of the United States and New Zealand.
The eruption of Mt Vesuvius, which destroyed the Italian city of Pompeii, produced just 3-4 km of rock and ash. The deadly Mt St Helens eruption took place in 1980.
The Australian eruptions covered the entire east coast in ash. A lot of greenhouse gases would have caused global climate change.
The environmental damage caused by the eruptions can be seen in the ancient rocks. Coal measures contain the evidence.
Coal deposits in eastern Australia show ancient forests that used to cover a lot of the land. The forests were terminated in a series of fires over half a million years ago.
The plant matter was buried in the swamps. The conversion of the plant matter into coal was made possible by the heat and pressure provided by the burial process.
There was no plant matter left to accumulate. Most animals became extinct when the ecosystems collapsed.
The eruptions in Siberia exaggerated the damage done by Australia's supervolcanoes.
The collapse of the ecosystems was not limited to Australia. The ancient continents were affected by the catastrophic event. The rise of the dinosaurs was due to the influence it had on the evolution of life.
The ancient world was marked by Australia's super eruptions. Who knew that the clues to environmental catastrophe lay beneath our feet?
We would like to thank Phil from the Geological Survey of New South Wales for his contribution to this work.
The University of New England has three professors: Timothy Chapman, Ian Metcalfe and Luke Milan.
This article is free to use under a Creative Commons license. The original article is worth a read.
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