jjares reviewed The Permian Period: The History and Legacy of the Era with the Largest Mass Extinction Event on + 3275 more book reviews
Since I started reading Charles Rivers' books on the early geochronology of the Earth, I've been fascinated by what these books share with their readers. This one is about the Permian Age, the most extreme period in the planet's history.
The Permian Age lasted 47 million years, began with an ice age, then a warming period, and ended with cataclysmic volcanic activity. Almost all life was obliterated immediately, and it took 10 to 30 million years for animals to emerge into the Age of Dinosaurs.
It is fascinating to learn that coal came from dying vegetation in equatorial and temperate rainforests millions of years ago. Yet, amazingly, cockroaches emerged more than 320 million years ago. They did not die from volcanic actions. That indicates my roach bombs aren't doing too much damage to the species.
The drawings provided in this book are extraordinary; I wish there were more. I had to google to see some of the species mentioned. During the kill-off, 95% of all species died. Only animals that were "pre-adapted" to low oxygen conditions survived. Oceans became barren of oxygen.
The book describes volcanic action that laid down six million cubic kilometers of magma, enough to cover the continental US -- one mile deep! In addition, this book discusses various theories about the causes of the kill-off -- fascinating. Overall score = 4.5 stars.
The Permian Age lasted 47 million years, began with an ice age, then a warming period, and ended with cataclysmic volcanic activity. Almost all life was obliterated immediately, and it took 10 to 30 million years for animals to emerge into the Age of Dinosaurs.
It is fascinating to learn that coal came from dying vegetation in equatorial and temperate rainforests millions of years ago. Yet, amazingly, cockroaches emerged more than 320 million years ago. They did not die from volcanic actions. That indicates my roach bombs aren't doing too much damage to the species.
The drawings provided in this book are extraordinary; I wish there were more. I had to google to see some of the species mentioned. During the kill-off, 95% of all species died. Only animals that were "pre-adapted" to low oxygen conditions survived. Oceans became barren of oxygen.
The book describes volcanic action that laid down six million cubic kilometers of magma, enough to cover the continental US -- one mile deep! In addition, this book discusses various theories about the causes of the kill-off -- fascinating. Overall score = 4.5 stars.
