‘Super Mountains’ May Have Impacted Life on Earth

The evolution of life on Earth is one of the greatest mysteries of science. But we may have taken another step towards this mystery and supermountains The so-called ‘super mountains’ may have played a critical role during two of life’s most important biological inflection points.

This month Earth and Planetary Science Letters In a new study published in the journal Australia National from the University (ANU) researchers, primitive nona and Transgondwana reveals that the supermountains affected the essential mineral and atmospheric resources on the surface of the planet, thereby starting the world.

Supermountains mountains 3 times bigger than Himalaya

in the earth’s crust tectonic plates when they collideMountains are formed as the crust crumples like the hood of a car during a wreck. Period front millions year it may take But the bottom line is, like the Himalayan mountains, these supermountains are some of the highest on the planet.

Approximately 2 billion years agothe formation of the supercontinent Nuna, nona super mountain It looks like a huge mountain range called same thing about 600 million years ago super continent of Gondwana happened during its formation. except Transgondwana super mountain.

Ph.D. Ziyi Zhu, “Today this two super mountains nothing like it.” The candidate at ANU and lead author of the study explained in a university statement: “It’s not just heights 2,400 km long Himalayan Mountains “If you can imagine it being three or four times that, you get an idea of ​​the scale,” he said.

Transgondwanan super mountain Known as the second mountain, the first large animals appeared 575 million years ago, and 45 million years later most animal groups appear in the fossil record. Cambrian coincides with the explosion. ANU researchers, of the world points out that the process of oxygenating its atmosphere and oceans is not constant. Instead, it came in eruptions, coinciding with the formation and erosion of these two supermountains, with the two largest influxes in the process.

Could this be a coincidence?

Geological in the records It can be said that the existence of a super mountain and the great evolutionary advances in the same period are of course unrelated. Yet the evidence convincing so it affects most likely and our planet in the past Even having the evidence is a big deal, although there have been temporal cases so far.

also currently what we know basis by taking provides a logical explanation for the biodiversity we see. Percent one hundred can never be known with certainty. But if this is the case and Super mountains your life in evolution important one if factorThis not only helps explain how we got here, but also in our search for life elsewhere in the universe. to us helper it could be.