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Around the time of the Permian-Triassic (P-T) boundary, a series of devastating events struck Earth. Some 90% of Earth’s species and perhaps 95% of all marine species went extinct (10). The tectonic system of Earth fundamentally changed and Pangaea, a stable tectonic block before the P-T boundary began to break up. The rapid development of the tectonic system on Earth literally tore Pangaea apart and sent continental blocks spreading around the globe in a dynamic gyro. Continental flood basalts began to occur, beginning with the largest (the Siberian traps) and continuing with lessened severity up to the Columbian flood basalts of the present day Pacific Northwest. The tectonic activity that we witness today is actually the tail end of a string of events that began at the Permian-Triassic boundary.
Could a single event have set this wave of change on Earth in motion?
An event of tremendous power would be necessary to explain such devastation and destruction; power expended beyond anything we can imagine. Asteroids, earthquakes, volcanoes, atomic bombs all added together are nothing compared to the energy required to bring about so many changes in the history of our planet.
From the dawn of time, man has looked to the heavens for answers to life’s mysteries.
The Earth’s current orbital, geologic and climactic situation is intimately tied to our closest celestial neighbor, the Moon. Perhaps we should be looking more closely at the relationship between the Earth and the Moon in order to gain a better understanding of this series of cataclysmic events surrounding the P-T boundary.
The tremendous power involved in a close lunar approach would devastate life on Earth.
When the lunar orbit is calculated backwards (the Moon is currently retreating from the Earth about 1.5 inches per year), the moon approaches quite near the Earth less than 1.8 billion years ago. This poses what is known as the lunar time scale problem, since the Earth-Moon system is thought to be more than 4.5 billion years old. Can a search of the Earth’s geologic record lead to the discovery of the time of this close approach? Since life is clearly present on Earth over 3 billion years ago, a lunar approach less than 1.8 billion years ago must then be recorded in the story of life on Earth.
What can the greatest extinction of all time reveal about what actually happened at the Permian/Triassic boundary?
A near approach of the Moon to the Earth would cause a tidal heating event associated with the close gravitational interactions of the two massive planetary bodies, similar to what is seen today on Jupiter’s moon Io. The impact of this tidal heating event would produce compelling evidence not only on the Earth, but on the Moon, as well as within the Earth-Moon system as a whole.