• Question: Do you think the eruption of one single volcano on Earth could cause a mass extinction event?

    Asked by anon-285408 to Ben on 5 Mar 2021.
    • Photo: Ben Esse

      Ben Esse answered on 5 Mar 2021:

      This is a really interesting question! It kind of depends on what you define a volcano as. Throughout the Earth’s history there have been a number of volcanic events which lead to what are known as Large Igneous Provence’s (or LIPs for short) which are the results of massive outpourings of lava that last for thousands of years. Several of these LIP events have coincided with mass extinctions in Earth’s history, but it is difficult to determine if they are directly responsible – this is part of ongoing research!

      But these aren’t really a single volcano, more a whole region that is erupting. So I would say that no, a single volcano couldn’t cause a mass extinction event.

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