Evolutionary Catastrophes
The Science of Mass Extinction

Mass extinction and cataclysmic volcanic activity: will fascinate everyone interested in the history of life and death on our planet.

Vincent Courtillot (Author), Joe McClinton (Translated by)

9780521891189, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 March 2002

188 pages, 21 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1 cm, 0.26 kg

'… professionals … will read it with the same pleasure as non-specialists.' Zentralblatt fur Geologie und Palaontologie

Why did the dinosaurs and two-thirds of all living species vanish from the face of the Earth sixty-five million years ago? Throughout the history of life a small number of catastrophic events have caused mass extinction, and changed the path of evolution forever. Two main theories have emerged to account for these dramatic events: asteroid impact, and massive volcanic eruptions, both leading to nuclear-like winter. In recent years, the impact hypothesis has gained precedence, but Vincent Courtillot suggests that cataclysmic volcanic activity can be linked not only to the K-T mass extinction, but to most of the main mass extinction events in the history of the earth. Courtillot's book, first published in 1999, debunks some of the myths surrounding one of the most controversial arguments in science. This story will fascinate everyone interested in the history of life and death on our planet.

Foreword Claude Allège
Preface
Preface to the English translation
1. Mass extinctions
2. An asteroid impact
3. From the roof of the world to the Deccan traps
4. The volcanic scenario
5. Plumes and hotspots
6. A remarkable correlation
7. Nemesis or Shiva?
8. Chicxulub
9. Controversy and coincidence
10. Improbable catastrophes and the flukes of evolution
Index.

Subject Areas: Natural disasters [RNR], Endangered species & extinction of species [RNKH1], Palaeontology [RBX], Evolution [PSAJ], Popular science [PDZ]