4. Mass Extinctions

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Acknowledgments vii
4. Introduction 1
5. 1. Catastrophism Versus Gradualism 9
6. 2. Lyell’s Laws 20
7. 3. The Alvarez Hypothesis 29
8. 4. Mass Extinctions 50
9. 5. Kill Curves and Strangelove Oceans 60
10. 6. Catastrophism and Natural Selection: Charles Darwin Versus Patrick Matthew 78
11. 7. Impacts and Extinctions: Do They Match Up? 88
12. 8. The Great Dying: The End-Permian Extinctions 105
13. 9. Catastrophic Volcanic Eruptions and Extinctions 115
14. 10. Ancient Glaciers or Impact-Related Deposits? 128
15. 11. The Shiva Hypothesis: Comet Showers and the Galactic Carousel 136
16. 12. Geological Upheavals and Dark Matter 150
17. Epilogue 158
18. Sources and Further Reading 161
19. Index 201