Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities (Paperback)

Tony Hallam

ISBN 10: 0192806688 / ISBN 13: 9780192806680

Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005

About this Item

Paperback. This is a book about the dramatic periods in the Earth's history called mass extinctions - short periods (by geological standards) when life nearly died out on Earth. The most famous is the mass extinction that happened about 65 million years ago, and that caused the death of the dinosaurs. But that was not the worst mass extinction: that honour goes to the extinction at the end of the Permian Period, about 250 million years ago, when over 90% of life is thought tohave become extinct.What caused these catastrophes? Was it the effects of a massive meteorite impact? There is evidence for such an impact about 65 million years ago. Or was it aperiod of massive volcanic activity? There is evidence in the rocks of huge lava flows at periods that match several of the mass extinctions. Was it something to do with climate change and sea level? Or was it a combination of some or all of these?The question has been haunting geologists for a number of years, and it forms one of the most exciting areas of research in geology today. In this book, Tony Hallam, a distinguished geologist and writer, looks at all thedifferent theories and also what the study of mass extinctions might tell us about the future. If climate change is a key factor, we may well, as some scientists have suggested, be in a period of massextinction of our own making. Renowned geologist Tony Hallam takes us on a tour of the Earth's history, and of the cataclysmic events, as well as the more gradual extinctions, that have punctuated life on Earth throughout the past 500 million years. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780192806680

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities (Paperback)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0192806688
• ISBN 13: 9780192806680
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

In Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities, renowned geologist Tony Hallam takes us on a tour of the Earth's history, and of the cataclysmic events, as well as the more gradual extinctions, that have punctuated life on Earth throughout the past 500 million years.

While comparable books in this field of study tend to promote only one likely cause of mass extinctions, such as extraterrestrial impact, volcanism, and or climatic cooling, Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities breaks new ground, as the first book to attempt an objective coverage of all likely causes, including sea-level and climatic changes, oxygen deficiency in the oceans, volcanic activity, and extraterrestrial impact.

Hallam focuses on the so-called 'big five' mass extinctions, at the end of the Ordovician, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods, and the later Devonian, and he also includes less well-known examples where relevant. He devotes attention especially to the attempts by geologists to distinguish true catastrophes from more gradual extinction events, and he concludes with a discussion of the evolutionary significance of mass extinctions, and on the influence of Homo sapiens in causing extinctions within the last few thousand years, both on land and in the seas.

About the Author

Tony Hallam is Emeritues Professor of Geology at the University of Birmingham and the author of a range of scientific books and papers including Great Geological Controversies (1992) and Mass Extinctions and their Aftermath (with Paul Wignall, 1997).