Dinosaurs took over Earth after one million years of continuous rain on planet

An international team of scientists discovered evidence of a major extinction event after the period of rain called the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE), which lasted for one million years.

As per the researchers, this extinction event led to the dinosaurs emerging as the dominant creatures on Earth.

Professor Mike Benton from theUniversity of Bristol and Dr Jacopo Dal Corso from theChina University of Geosciencesat Wuhan carried out this research.

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What was Carnian Pluvial Episode?

In theLate Triassic period, the continents were joined with each other in a supercontinent called Pangea which was surrounded by the Panthalassa Ocean.

Pangea's interior was dry and arid and rainfall occurred close to the coastal regions.

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A dramatic turn came in the dry spell when geologists Schlager and Schollnberger found a layer of dark grey rock in the Northern Limestone Alps of Australia in the 1970s.

The layer hinted at wet conditions getting sandwiched between arid periods which suggested the occurrence of the Carnian Pluvial Episode.

What led to the shift towards a wetter climate?

The massive volcanic eruptions which occurred in Wrangellia Province, an area which included parts of Alaska and British Columbia, are believed to have led to climate change.

Huge amounts ofcarbon dioxide were released in these eruptionsinto the atmosphere.

“The eruptions peaked in the Carnian,” said DrJacopo Dal Corso. “They were so huge, they pumped vast amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, leading to spikes of global warming," he added.

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Because of the surge ingreenhouse gases, the global temperatures increased by fiveto sevendegrees Fahrenheit, which then increased evaporation from the seas and led to increased rainfall across the Earth.

There was significant biodiversity loss because of this climate chaos. A lot of species failed to adapt to the environmental changes which led to mass extinction.

Some animals disappeared and new ones emerged in the ecosystem.

“The new floras probably provided slim pickings for the survivingherbivorous reptiles,” said Professor Mike Benton.

“We now know that dinosaurs originated some 20 million years before this event, but they remained quite rare and unimportant until the Carnian Pluvial Episode hit. It was the sudden arid conditions after the humid episode that gave dinosaurs their chance," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)