Evolutionary Catastrophes

Vincent Courtillot

174 pages, parution le 15/03/2002

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Résumé

Why did the dinosaurs and two-thirds of all living species vanish from the face of the Earth sixty-five million years ago? Throughout the history of life a small number of catastrophic events have caused mass extinction, and changed the path of evolution forever. Two main theories have emerged to account for these dramatic events: asteroid impact, and massive volcanic eruptions, both leading to nuclear-like winter. In recent years, the impact hypothesis has gained precedence, but Vincent Courtillot suggests that cataclysmic volcanic activity can be linked not only to the K-T mass extinction, but to most of the main mass extinction events in the history of the earth. Courtillot's book debunks some of the myths surrounding one of the most controversial arguments in science. This story will fascinate everyone interested in the history of life and death on our planet.

Contents

Foreword Claude Allège
Preface
Preface to the English translation

1. Mass extinctions
2. An asteroid impact
3. From the roof of the world to the Deccan traps
4. The volcanic scenario
5. Plumes and hotspots
6. A remarkable correlation
7. Nemesis or Shiva?
8. Chicxulub
9. Controversy and coincidence
10. Improbable catastrophes and the flukes of evolution

Index.

L'auteur - Vincent Courtillot

Vincent Courtillot est membre de l'Académie des sciences et professeur de géophysique à l'université Denis-Diderot-Paris-VII. Il dirige l'Institut de physique du globe de Paris.

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Cambridge University Press
Auteur(s)	Vincent Courtillot
Parution	15/03/2002
Nb. de pages	174
Format	15 x 22,7
Couverture	Broché
Poids	315g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780521891189
ISBN13	978-0-521-89118-9