Volcanic eruptions caused Earth's cooling 13,000 years ago

4 Aug 2020

Volcanic eruptions caused Earth’s cooling 13,000 years ago

Volcanic eruptions caused Earth’s cooling 13,000 years ago13,000 years ago, Earth underwent a sudden change which caused it to get cooler suddenly by 3 degrees Centigrade. This is a huge amount that had a big impact on life on Earth.

Until now, some scientists had believed that this Earth 'cooling down' was caused by a meteor that crashed into the planet.

However, as per a new study, scientists now believe that it was caused by volcanic eruptions.

What does the study say?

Scientists in the US have been studying an ancient cave called Hall’s Cave in Texas, US.

This cave has a sediment record extending over 20,000 years. Sediment is a solid matter that is carried by water or wind and deposited on the surface of the land or the seabed.

The study of the sediments showed that the Earth's cooling event is not unique. It had occurred four times between 9,000 and 15,000 years ago. So, this means it could not have been due to a meteor impact or something similar.

So, they searched for other explanations - like volcanic eruptions. This is because, after a volcano erupts, it releases aerosols (tiny particles in the air) which reflects sun rays away from Earth. This may lead to global cooling after an eruption.

The team analysed the sediments and found elements such as iridium, ruthenium, platinum, palladium and rhenium. The amount of the elements found matched those that were found in previous volcanic gases.

This confirms their theory that the Earth cooling was due to volcanic eruptions. Additionally, other Earth system changes around that time also contributed to the cooling.

Here is a video on volcanoes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNGUdObDoLk

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13,000 years ago, Earth underwent a sudden change which caused it to get cooler suddenly by 3 degrees Centigrade. This is a huge amount that […]

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