Abstract
A number of Eos articles [Courtillot and Cisowski, 1987; White, 1989] have addressed the hypothesized genetic link between flood‐basalt volcanism and global faunal extinction events. This topic, and its rival paradigm [Alvarez et al.,1980]—espousing a genetic link between bolide impact and the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary extinction event—have drawn widespread attention, both from Earth scientists and the media. This article evaluates hypotheses linking flood‐basalt volcanism to bolide impacts and global faunal extinction events. Ages cited here have been recalculated to the decay constants and isotopic abundances recommended by Steiger and Jager [1977]; errors in all ages are quoted at the 1 σ level.
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