Extinction Author:Steven M. Stanley Since the rise of multicellular life on earth, a handful of mysterious cataclysms has swept our plane t-geologically brief outbreaks of mass extinction that have eliminated tens of thousands of thriving species. In 'Extinction', distinguished paleobiologist Steven M. Stanley presents an authoritative analysis of these dramatic global disasters, ... more »investigating what the rich storehouse of rock and fossil clues can tell us about their origins, progress, and implications.
Stanley lucidly describes the common traits of mass extinctions-their rapid course, worldwide reach, major effect on tropical life, and possible regularity-and explains how they differ from the background extinctions that are a continuous force in nature. Relating the revolutionary findings of plate tectonics to the immense scale of mass extinction, he evaluates the evidence that continental drift has triggered lethal changes in ocean circulation, sea level, and climatic patterns. Moreover, he examines the recent, highly publicized hypothesis that a meteor, comet, or other extraterrestrial object might have served as an agent of catastrophe.
At the heart of the book, Stanley reconstructs each of the mass extinctions-from the crisis that struck the primordial algae of the Precambrian interval more than half a billion years ago to the continuing cycles of glaciation that have victimized the animals of our current Neogene Period. He devotes special attention to the dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era and considers possible sources for the uncharacteristic concentrations of iridium-an element far more common to meteorites than to earth-deposited toward the end of their reign. Ultimately, Stanley concludes that while meteor impacts or other extraterrestrial effects remain conjectural causes for any mass extinction, strong geologic evidence points to global climatic change as the most vital single factor behind these rare, devastating, and seemingly inevitable events.« less
A very good book. I've read several and they come down to meteors . He goes into details of most all major extinction events and find that climate change vulcanism, and many other factors and down plays the meteors. really worth reading