15 THE “GREAT DYING”

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. CONTENTS vii
3. PREFACE ix
4. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
5. 01 RARE EARTH 1
6. 02 IN THE BEGINNING 15
7. 03 MOONSTRUCK 34
8. 04 FAINT YOUNG SUN 48
9. 05 THE OCEANS FORM 60
10. 06 GASP: OXYGEN IN THE ATMOSPHERE 69
11. 07 PLANET OF THE SCUM 79
12. 08 SNOWBALL EARTH 89
13. 09 PLANKTON POWER 102
14. 10 GREENHOUSE OF THE TRILOBITES 122
15. 11 MASS EXTINCTIONS: THE ORDOVICIAN EVENT 139
16. 12 THE DEVONIAN CRISES 160
17. 13 THE FIRST FORESTS 177
18. 14 THE PANGEAN ICEHOUSE 187
19. 15 THE “GREAT DYING” 206
20. 16 FROM ICEHOUSE TO GREENHOUSE: THE TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC 228
21. 17 GREENHOUSE OF THE DINOSAURS 254
22. 18 THE DEATH OF THE DINOSAURS: THE END-CRETACEOUS EXTINCTIONS 272
23. 19 RETURN OF THE GREENHOUSE: THE PALEOCENE-EOCENE THERMAL MAXIMUM 293
24. 20 FROM GREENHOUSE TO ICEHOUSE: THE EOCENE-OLIGOCENE TRANSITION 315
25. 21 AMERICAN SERENGETI 339
26. 22 THE PLEISTOCENE ICE AGES: ICE PLANET 364
27. 23 THE DEATH OF THE MEGAMAMMALS 386
28. 24 THE HOLOCENE: CLIMATE AND HUMAN CIVILIZATION 405
29. 25 THE FUTURE GREENHOUSE PLANET 423
30. INDEX 447