Name: Rushank Goyal

Mass Extinctions

1. Launch and explore the features of EarthViewer:

▪Click, hold, and drag to rotate the planet.

▪Click, hold, and drag down the horizontal silver slider on the timeline; watch what
happens to the planet and the data indicators as you move backward and forward in time.

▪Position the silver timeline slider at 0 MYA (top of the timeline). Click on the left "play"
button at the bottom of the timeline; watch what happens. When the silver bar stops at the
bottom, click on the right "play" button and watch again.

▪Position the silver timeline slider at 0 MYA. Click on "Charts" at the bottom of the
screen. Choose a chart. Now click on the left "play" button at the bottom of the timeline. Watch
what happens on your chosen chart as the slider moves down the timeline.

▪Click "pause" before the slider reaches the bottom of the timeline. Note that your chosen
chart will show a demarcation in the data for that point in time.

▪Close your chart in EarthViewer by clicking on the "X" in the upper right-hand corner.

2. Make sure the timeline displays 0–540 million years and then click on "View" at the bottom of the
screen; turn on "Mass Extinctions." Click "View" again to minimize the menu.

3. Note the five yellow triangles that appear on the right side of the timeline. These correspond to mass
extinctions.
Name: Rushank Goyal

Gather data: Drag the slider to the Ordovician extinction, 440 MYA. Use the EarthViewer features to fill in
the following chart. For Biodiversity, you will need to move the slider carefully and record the number of
marine genera present just before and just after the extinction event. Gather data in the same manner for the
remaining four mass extinctions.
What was Earth's
surface like? Biodiversity
Avg.
Mass Extinction MYA Landmasses? CO2 Day (# of genera j
Surface O2 (%) Luminosity
Proportion of land to Temp., °C (ppm) Length before & just
water? after extinctio
A lot of mass at the south
pole, while the northern
Ordovician 445
hemisphere was almost
15.3 18.8 4729 21.8 hours 96.16
Before - 1369
completely empty. There After - 869
were a lot of volcanic arc
islands
Major continent around the
south pole. Some bigger
Devonian 360
islands spread outwards, with
16.6 28.3 3482 22.2 96.82
Before - 1025
smaller islands forming After - 833
volcanic arcs. Northern
hemisphere still a giant ocean
Land is spread fairly evenly
between north and south but
Permian 250
Pacific is completely devoid
18.1 26.4 578 22.7 97.82
Before - 1206
of land, and there exists a After - 293
huge inland ocean where the
Indian Ocean is today
Triassic 200 North and South America 14.9 20.4 1326 23.0 98.34 Before - 577
starting to resemble modern After - 520
Name: Rushank Goyal

forms. Pacific still devoid of

land. Land has moved away
from South Pole for the first
time
North and South America,
Africa, and Australia are
starting to resemble modern
Cretaceous 70 forms. Indian plate on its way 16.0 22.7 826 23.7 99.48
Before - 2185
After - 1357
to crashing into Eurasia.
Small island chains starting to
appear in the Pacific
Continents as we know them
exist. Pacific Ocean is still
Present 0
mostly empty, and the
14.5 21.0 392 24.0 100.0 2470
Americas are separated from
most other land by huge
bodies of water.
a. Do any patterns and correlations emerge from your chart? Does any of the data suggest an
explanation for the occurrence of mass extinctions?

Towards the present day, the Earth’s tectonic plates have been constantly moving, and mass
extinctions have been occurring regularly. The Earth’s average surface temperature has been
experiencing peaks and troughs, and so has the percent of O2. The carbon ppm has been overall on
the decline. Both the length of a day and luminosity have been increasing. Some mass extinctions
were huge, while others were relatively small

b. What questions do you now have about mass extinctions?

What causes mass extinctions?

How can they be prevented?

Name: Rushank Goyal

Are we undergoing a sixth mass extinction?