Mass Extinctions, Evolutionary Leaps, and the Virus-Information Connection

[Pierre]

Chapter 1: Mass Extinctions​

In the following chapters, we will encounter several taxonomic terms like species, genus or order. Let’s clarify this with two classification examples human vs buttercup:

Comparative taxonomy of human and buttercup​

So, any life-form can be categorized in the taxonomic tree according to the seven taxa it belongs to: species, genus, family, order, class, phylum and kingdom. If fact, it's a bit more complicated than that with numerous subcategories like subphylum or subfamily, but for our purpose this level of details is useless.

After this short preamble, let’s address the main topic: mass extinctions. Far from the gradualist uniformitarian paradigm held by mainstream science, the history of our planet shows a recurring pattern of catastrophic destruction.


Rather than being an exception catastrophe-induced mass extinctions are the rule. So far Earth has officially experienced 5 major mass extinctions:

• Ordovician–Silurian extinction that occurred 450–440 Mya[1]. It obliterated 60% to 70% of all species[2].

• Late Devonian extinction that happened 375–360 Mya, which eliminated at least 70% of all species.[3]

• Permian–Triassic extinction, 252 Mya, during which 90% to 96% of all species[4] died. This is the largest known mass extinction[5].

• Triassic–Jurassic extinction, 201 Mya when about 70% of all species disappeared[6].

• Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction, 66 Mya, the wipe out the dinosaurs. In total about 75% of all species became extinct[7].

The five major extinctions​

This count of five mass extinctions is arbitrary and rather conservative. Actually, our planet experienced way more than those five mass extinctions usually recognized by mainstream literature if one factors in the following event:

• The above mentioned late-Devonian mass extinction is actually constituted of three distinct extinction events[8]: the Taghanic Event, the Kellwasser Event and the Hangenberg Event spread over almost 30 Mya as indicated by the three black dots in the diagram below.

• The three major Cambrian extinctions[9], as shown by the three black arrows in the diagram below. The latest one was the Cambrian–Ordovician extinction event ca. 488 Mya. It was preceded by the less documented Dresbachian extinction event about 502 Mya, which annihilated approximately 40% of marine genera[10] and the End-Botomian extinction event ca. 517 Mya which removed up to 80% of marine genera[11]

• The mid-Ordovician extinction, also known as the Ordovician Meteor Event[12] happened ca. 467 Mya and wiped out about 15% of genera. It is shown by the white arrow in the graph below.

• The end-Silurian extinction also known as the Silurian-Devonian boundary. Made of three minor extinctions closely interspaced, namely the Lau event ca. 424 Mya[13], the Mulde event ca. 427 Mya[14] and the Ireviken event ca. 433 Mya. These three events caused high extinction rates among conodonts[15], graptolites[16] and trilobites[17].

• The extinction known as the late Middle Permian extinction ca. 270 Mya, as shown by the light grey arrow, that preceded the Permian-Triassic extinction by about 20 million and erased between 25 and 47% genera extinction rate[18]

• The dozen or so milder extinctions that interspersed the major ones:

- the end-Eocene extinction[19] ca. 34 Mya, which eradicated 60% of Africa primates[20]
- The Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event[21] ca. 93 Mya as shown by the gradient arrow in the diagram below. This event caused the demise of several type of dinosaurs and the extinction of 27% marine invertebrates[22]
- the Jurassic-Cretaceous extinction[23] ca. 145 Mya that eliminated about 15% of the species
- the Carboniferous-Permian extinction ca. 305 Mya also known as the Carboniferous rainforest collapse[24], shown by the dark grey arrow in the diagram below
- the mid-Carboniferous extinction[25] ca. 325 Mya which killed about 25% of the genera
- the end-Silurian extinction[26] about 420 Mya, that was particularly hard on brachiopods[27] and conodonts[28].

• The extinctions that predate the Cambrian. According to researcher Andrew Rhys Jones, before the Cambrian (ca. 540 Mya) there were four mass extinctions:

Prior to the evolution of macroscopic multicellular eukaryotes and the first metazoans, there may have been four mass extinctions of an unknown number of prokaryotic and microscopic eukaryotic species (Elewa & Joseph, 2009, Joseph 2009a). These have been referred to as the Paleoproterozoic (2.3 to 1.8 bya), the Sturtian (725 mya to 670 mya), the Marinoan/Gaskiers (640 to 580 mya), and the Ediacaran extinctions (540 mya), and with the exception of the latter, each was related to worldwide periods of prolonged glaciation that developed over millions of years of time.[29]

If one counts the extinction events described above, the real number of mass extinctions experienced by our planet is not 5 but more likely comprised between 20 and 30.

A few numbers might convey the astounding rate of replacement of life-forms: according to estimates between 5 and 50 billion species have lived on the Earth and humans have only found evidence of about 50 million of them[30]. Based on these figures, about 99.9% of all species that ever lived on Earth have now disappeared. Part of these 99.9% extinction occurred during mass extinction, as illustrated by the difference between the extinction rate during mass extinction (15-50%) and the background extinction rate of about 4% shown in the diagram below:

© Creative Commons
Extinction rate (% of genera) over the past 542 million years.​

---

[1] Million years Ago
[2] Baez, John. (2006). “Extinction”. University of California, Riverside, Department of Mathematics
[3] Briggs, Derek; Crowther, Peter R. (2008). “Palaeobiology II”. John Wiley & Sons. p. 223
[4] Baez, 2006.
[5] Ibid
[6] Ibid
[7] Raup, D.; Sepkoski Jr, J. (1982). "Mass extinctions in the marine fossil record". Science. 215 (4539): 1501–03.
[8] Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. (2021). "Devonian Period". Encyclopedia Britannica
[9] National Geographics Editors. (2020). ”The Cambrian Period”. National Geographics
[10] David P.G. Bond et al. (2017). “On the causes of mass extinctions”. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Volume 478, Pages 3-29.
[11] Signor, Philip W. (1992). "Taxonomic diversity and faunal turnover in the Early Cambrian: Did the most severe mass extinction of the Phanerozoic occur in the Botomian stage?". The Paleontological Society Special Publications. 6: 272.
[12] Korochantseva, Ekaterina; et al. (2007). "L-chondrite asteroid breakup tied to Ordovician meteorite shower by multiple isochron 40 Ar- 39 Ar dating". Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 42 (1): 113–130.
[13] Urbanek, A. (1993). "Biotic crises in the history of Upper Silurian graptoloids: a palaeobiological model". Historical Biology. 7: 29–50.
[14] Jeppsson, L.; Calner, M. (2007). "The Silurian Mulde Event and a scenario for secundo—secundo events". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 93 (02): 135–154.
[15] Jarochowska, et al. (2017). "Harnessing stratigraphic bias at the section scale: Conodont diversity in the Homerian (Silurian) of the Midland Platform, England". Palaeontology. 61: 57–7
[16] Urbanek, A. (1993). "Biotic crises in the history of Upper Silurian graptoloids: a palaeobiological model". Historical Biology. 7: 29–50.
[17] Munnecke, A. et al. (2003). "The Ireviken Event in the lower Silurian of Gotland, Sweden-relation to similar Palaeozoic and Proterozoic events". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 195 (1): 99–124.
[18] Hecht, Jeff . (2014). “Missing' disaster led to all-time worst extinction”. New Scientist
[19] Prothero, D. R. (1994). “The Late Eocene-Oligocene Extinctions”. Annual Review Of Earth And Planetary Sciences, Volume 22, pp. 145-165.
[20] Dorien de Vries et al. (2021) “Widespread loss of mammalian lineage and dietary diversity in the early Oligocene of Afro-Arabia”, Communications Biology
[21] Martin A. Pearce et al. (2009). “ The Cenomanian–Turonian boundary event, OAE2 and palaeoenvironmental change in epicontinental seas: New insights from the dinocyst and geochemical records”. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Volume 280, Issues 1–2, Pages 207-234
[22] New Scientist Editors (2008). "Submarine eruption bled Earth's oceans of oxygen". New Scientist.
[23] Tennant, J.P. et al. (2017), “Biotic and environmental dynamics through the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous transition: evidence for protracted faunal and ecological turnover”. Biol Rev, 92: 776-814.
[24] Sahney, S. et al. (2010). "Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica". Geology. 38 (12): 1079–1082.
[25] W. B. Saunders, W.H.C. Ramsbottom. (1986). The mid-Carboniferous eustatic event. Geology. 14 (3): 208–212.
[26] Calner, Mikael. (2005). “A Late Silurian extinction event and anachronistic period”. Geology. 33. 10.1130/G21185.1.
[27] Colloquial called sea shells. Phylum containing about 400 living species grouped into over 120 genera.
[28] Extinct group of vertebrates resembling eels.
[29] Jones, Andrew. (2009), “The Next Mass Extinction: Human Evolution or Human Eradication”. Journal of Cosmology, Vol 2, pp. 316-333.
[30] Prothero, Donald. (2013). “Bringing Fossils to Life: An Introduction to Paleobiology”. Columbia University Press.

 

[mARTinSky]

Actually, your post prompted me to share the book now in the thread, because, given the state of the world, I'm not sure we can finish it and publish it.

About 20 chapters are already written but not proofread, I hope the English is understandable. I will try to post the chapters one by one, regularly.

Thank you very much Pierre . I love your books and I'm very grateful for your hard work putting all these fascinating things together. I would have bought your new book straight away if it was published in print but in this case, when you decided to publish it here, I've made a donation to compensate for this.

 

[ryu]

Chapter 1: Mass Extinctions​

In the following chapters, we will encounter several taxonomic terms like species, genus or order. Let’s clarify this with two classification examples human vs buttercup:

View attachment 51299​

Comparative taxonomy of human and buttercup



So, any life-form can be categorized in the taxonomic tree according to the seven taxa it belongs to: species, genus, family, order, class, phylum and kingdom. If fact, it's a bit more complicated than that with numerous subcategories like subphylum or subfamily, but for our purpose this level of details is useless.

After this short preamble, let’s address the main topic: mass extinctions. Far from the gradualist uniformitarian paradigm held by mainstream science, the history of our planet shows a recurring pattern of catastrophic destruction.


Rather than being an exception catastrophe-induced mass extinctions are the rule. So far Earth has officially experienced 5 major mass extinctions:

• Ordovician–Silurian extinction that occurred 450–440 Mya[1]. It obliterated 60% to 70% of all species[2].

• Late Devonian extinction that happened 375–360 Mya, which eliminated at least 70% of all species.[3]

• Permian–Triassic extinction, 252 Mya, during which 90% to 96% of all species[4] died. This is the largest known mass extinction[5].

• Triassic–Jurassic extinction, 201 Mya when about 70% of all species disappeared[6].

• Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction, 66 Mya, the wipe out the dinosaurs. In total about 75% of all species became extinct[7].

View attachment 51300
The five major extinctions​

This count of five mass extinctions is arbitrary and rather conservative. Actually, our planet experienced way more than those five mass extinctions usually recognized by mainstream literature if one factors in the following event:

• The above mentioned late-Devonian mass extinction is actually constituted of three distinct extinction events[8]: the Taghanic Event, the Kellwasser Event and the Hangenberg Event spread over almost 30 Mya as indicated by the three black dots in the diagram below.

• The three major Cambrian extinctions[9], as shown by the three black arrows in the diagram below. The latest one was the Cambrian–Ordovician extinction event ca. 488 Mya. It was preceded by the less documented Dresbachian extinction event about 502 Mya, which annihilated approximately 40% of marine genera[10] and the End-Botomian extinction event ca. 517 May which removed up to 80% of marine genera[11]

• The mid-Ordovician extinction, also known as the Ordovician Meteor Event[12] happened ca. 467 Mya and wiped out about 15% of genera. It is shown by the white arrow in the graph below.

• The end-Silurian extinction also known as the Silurian-Devonian boundary. Made of three minor extinctions closely interspaced, namely the Lau event ca. 424 Mya[13], the Mulde event ca. 427 Mya[14] and the Ireviken event ca. 433 Mya. These three events caused high extinction rates among conodonts[15], graptolites[16] and trilobites[17].

• The extinction known as the late Middle Permian extinction ca. 270 Mya, as shown by the light grey arrow, that preceded the Permian-Triassic extinction by about 20 million and erased between 25 and 47% genera extinction rate[18]

• The dozen or so milder extinctions that interspersed the major ones:

- the end-Eocene extinction[19] ca. 34 Mya, which eradicated 60% of Africa primates[20]
- The Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event[21] ca. 93 Mya as shown by the gradient arrow in the diagram below. This event caused the demise of several type of dinosaurs and the extinction of 27% marine invertebrates[22]
- the Jurassic-Cretaceous extinction[23] ca. 145 Mya that eliminated about 15% of the species
- the Carboniferous-Permian extinction ca. 305 Mya also known as the Carboniferous rainforest collapse[24], shown by the dark grey arrow in the diagram below
- the mid-Carboniferous extinction[25] ca. 325 Mya which killed about 25% of the genera
- the end-Silurian extinction[26] about 420 Mya, that was particularly hard on brachiopods[27] and conodonts[28].

• The extinctions that predate the Cambrian. According to researcher Andrew Rhys Jones, before the Cambrian (ca. 540 Mya) there were four mass extinctions:



If one counts the extinction events described above, the real number of mass extinctions experienced by our planet is not 5 but more likely comprised between 20 and 30.

A few numbers might convey the astounding rate of replacement of life-forms: according to estimates between 5 and 50 billion species have lived on the Earth and humans have only found evidence of about 50 million of them[30]. Based on these figures, about 99.9% of all species that ever lived on Earth have now disappeared. Part of these 99.9% extinction occurred during mass extinction, as illustrated by the difference between the extinction rate during mass extinction (15-50%) and the background extinction rate of about 4% shown in the diagram below:

View attachment 51301

© Creative Commons
Extinction rate (% of genera) over the past 542 million years.​

---

[1] Million years Ago
[2] Baez, John. (2006). “Extinction”. University of California, Riverside, Department of Mathematics
[3] Briggs, Derek; Crowther, Peter R. (2008). “Palaeobiology II”. John Wiley & Sons. p. 223
[4] Baez, 2006.
[5] Ibid
[6] Ibid
[7] Raup, D.; Sepkoski Jr, J. (1982). "Mass extinctions in the marine fossil record". Science. 215 (4539): 1501–03.
[8] Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. (2021). "Devonian Period". Encyclopedia Britannica
[9] National Geographics Editors. (2020). ”The Cambrian Period”. National Geographics
[10] David P.G. Bond et al. (2017). “On the causes of mass extinctions”. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Volume 478, Pages 3-29.
[11] Signor, Philip W. (1992). "Taxonomic diversity and faunal turnover in the Early Cambrian: Did the most severe mass extinction of the Phanerozoic occur in the Botomian stage?". The Paleontological Society Special Publications. 6: 272.
[12] Korochantseva, Ekaterina; et al. (2007). "L-chondrite asteroid breakup tied to Ordovician meteorite shower by multiple isochron 40 Ar- 39 Ar dating". Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 42 (1): 113–130.
[13] Urbanek, A. (1993). "Biotic crises in the history of Upper Silurian graptoloids: a palaeobiological model". Historical Biology. 7: 29–50.
[14] Jeppsson, L.; Calner, M. (2007). "The Silurian Mulde Event and a scenario for secundo—secundo events". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 93 (02): 135–154.
[15] Jarochowska, et al. (2017). "Harnessing stratigraphic bias at the section scale: Conodont diversity in the Homerian (Silurian) of the Midland Platform, England". Palaeontology. 61: 57–7
[16] Urbanek, A. (1993). "Biotic crises in the history of Upper Silurian graptoloids: a palaeobiological model". Historical Biology. 7: 29–50.
[17] Munnecke, A. et al. (2003). "The Ireviken Event in the lower Silurian of Gotland, Sweden-relation to similar Palaeozoic and Proterozoic events". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 195 (1): 99–124.
[18] Hecht, Jeff . (2014). “Missing' disaster led to all-time worst extinction”. New Scientist
[19] Prothero, D. R. (1994). “The Late Eocene-Oligocene Extinctions”. Annual Review Of Earth And Planetary Sciences, Volume 22, pp. 145-165.
[20] Dorien de Vries et al. (2021) “Widespread loss of mammalian lineage and dietary diversity in the early Oligocene of Afro-Arabia”, Communications Biology
[21] Martin A. Pearce et al. (2009). “ The Cenomanian–Turonian boundary event, OAE2 and palaeoenvironmental change in epicontinental seas: New insights from the dinocyst and geochemical records”. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Volume 280, Issues 1–2, Pages 207-234
[22] New Scientist Editors (2008). "Submarine eruption bled Earth's oceans of oxygen". New Scientist.
[23] Tennant, J.P. et al. (2017), “Biotic and environmental dynamics through the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous transition: evidence for protracted faunal and ecological turnover”. Biol Rev, 92: 776-814.
[24] Sahney, S. et al. (2010). "Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica". Geology. 38 (12): 1079–1082.
[25] W. B. Saunders, W.H.C. Ramsbottom. (1986). The mid-Carboniferous eustatic event. Geology. 14 (3): 208–212.
[26] Calner, Mikael. (2005). “A Late Silurian extinction event and anachronistic period”. Geology. 33. 10.1130/G21185.1.
[27] Colloquial called sea shells. Phylum containing about 400 living species grouped into over 120 genera.
[28] Extinct group of vertebrates resembling eels.
[29] Jones, Andrew. (2009), “The Next Mass Extinction: Human Evolution or Human Eradication”. Journal of Cosmology, Vol 2, pp. 316-333.
[30] Prothero, Donald. (2013). “Bringing Fossils to Life: An Introduction to Paleobiology”. Columbia University Press.

Thank you Pierre for sharing your work freely and allowing us to see what once was. I'll also make a donation because I would have bought the book. I sincerely hope and pray the knowledge on this forum will survive what's ahead of us.

 

[stellar]

Actually, your post prompted me to share the book now in the thread, because, given the state of the world, I'm not sure we can finish it and publish it.

That gave me chills. Regardless, I very much appreciate all your hard work and am looking forward to reading it.

 

[Skyfall]

That gave me chills. Regardless, I very much appreciate all your hard work and am looking forward to reading it.

I had exactly the same feeling , gave me the chills , time is short ...
I' m absolutely sure that this book will be an incredible journey , exactly like the previous ones , Pierre has a gift for explaining difficult concepts in a very clear and easy understandable way ...
Really hoping that the book could be completed and published , it will be easier to retain this precious knowledge in paper form rather than electronic..

 

[Gwelan (too)]

I often read that time is short, but nothing is ever said clearly about what motivates this sense of urgency. It's a curious « non-dit » , an "unspoken" feeling that focuses on something extremely important that can never identify itself. I have the same thing around me and I notice the same impossibility to put words to it. It intrigues me: what is this sword that we would have over our heads to the point of having to stop our usual occupations , séance tenante, and take our pilgrim's staff?
If time is so short, what is this extraordinary phenomenon that is coming, that is going to change everything and that we can neither name nor look straight in the eyes?

 

[mrtn]

About 20 chapters are already written but not proofread

May I post any errors I found while reading?

Where is template

the wipe out the dinosaurs

ca. 517 May

which removed up to 80% of marine genera

(missing full stop punctuation mark)

erased between 25 and 47% genera extinction rate

Capitalization is sometimes a bit random in the TOC and in the list of 'milder extinctions'.


Thank you for this work!

 

[Skyfall]

I often read that time is short, but nothing is ever said clearly about what motivates this sense of urgency. It's a curious « non-dit » , an "unspoken" feeling that focuses on something extremely important that can never identify itself. I have the same thing around me and I notice the same impossibility to put words to it. It intrigues me: what is this sword that we would have over our heads to the point of having to stop our usual occupations , séance tenante, and take our pilgrim's staff?
If time is so short, what is this extraordinary phenomenon that is coming, that is going to change everything and that we can neither name nor look straight in the eyes?

Well...
I guess that we all know (to a certain extent of course ) what's coming , very hard times , which obviously can take different forms (comets and the consequent planetary upheaval , adverse vaccine reactions start causing untold deaths , famine/riots caused by the system collapse , plague etc.. ) did not the Cs pointed out as well that the " 4 horsemen" could be heard in the distance ?
But destruction is never total, so after destruction come rebirth , I want to believe that if we are strong enough and in tune enough with the objective reality we could survive and find ourselves in a better place ,this of course also means hard work and sufferance ,hard choices are required but I want to believe that with enough strength and perseverance it can be done.

I believe that the elites in power are trying to create a contradiction (by creating a false /alternative reality or narrative ,a contradiction is basically something contrary/opposite to the truth ) , given that contradictions cannot exist (objective reality is objective reality , what it is it is , the rest is wishful thinking) an enormous amount of force/coercion/propaganda is necessary to maintain this false narrative , and more the narrative is drifting away from the truth and more force is required ,as Pierre so clearly pointed out in his previous work and on the last session, is ultimately this enormous pressure and the oppression that creates that trigger the catastrophe , hence resolving the contradiction.
The elites are and will create great suffering no doubt ,but ultimately their plans are self defeating, contradictions are against nature , they cannot be maintained for long and nature will make the correction ,I guess sooner rather than later.....
Or so I believe ...

 

[Gwelan (too)]

Thank you Skyfall for your answer. Indeed the 4 horsemen are in themselves an image that speaks to our fantasies of all kinds, and especially to our fears, but remain somewhat irrational if it is indeed knowledge that protects. Finally, you put the emphasis on the chaotic event fabricated by the psychopathic elite. However, as long as we are in the context of a human affair, everyone can react to it with his lucidity, his empathy, his honor ... I mean by this that in case of self-defense, all behaviors are possible. What I still don't understand is the cosmological link with an event that is also rather "vaguely" identified by the idea of wave. I have been following the Cassiopaeans for a long time, and this concept has been so commented on, stretched in all directions that I confess to having difficulty conceptualizing what is the précise matter in fact about and especially to understand the link between cosmology and this banal story of human power. I have a probleme with the true nature of those events to come, with what links them, and their scale.

 

[psychegram]

Hi Pierre, just a thought but if you've decided to release the book electronically instead of printing it (a real shame as I prefer printed books, and would absolutely have purchased it as soon as published), it might be a good idea to release a PDF version. Otherwise it gets lost in a series of forum threads ... and it is in any case difficult to read book-length material on a screen, at least for me but I know many others have the same problem.

 

[trytofly]

Thanks for sharing Pierre !
This is only the beginning and it is already exciting !
However, I sincerely hope that you will be able to finish and publish the book in print, although a translated version in French will take even longer to wait.
Anyway, I can't wait to read more on the thread.

 

[gottathink]

Thank you Pierre
It’s helpful to understand things that we fear through our/my own ignorance.
I look forward to to the next chapter

 

[Skyfall]

Thank you Skyfall for your answer. Indeed the 4 horsemen are in themselves an image that speaks to our fantasies of all kinds, and especially to our fears, but remain somewhat irrational if it is indeed knowledge that protects. Finally, you put the emphasis on the chaotic event fabricated by the psychopathic elite. However, as long as we are in the context of a human affair, everyone can react to it with his lucidity, his empathy, his honor ... I mean by this that in case of self-defense, all behaviors are possible. What I still don't understand is the cosmological link with an event that is also rather "vaguely" identified by the idea of wave. I have been following the Cassiopaeans for a long time, and this concept has been so commented on, stretched in all directions that I confess to having difficulty conceptualizing what is the précise matter in fact about and especially to understand the link between cosmology and this banal story of human power. I have a probleme with the true nature of those events to come, with what links them, and their scale.

Hi Gwelan (too) ..
I guess you are right , "the wave" is vague as a definition , and many definitions/interpretations have indeed being given , but I think that the questions ; "what's exactly the wave ? " or " how exactly works ?" are questions that cannot have a precise answer when asked from our 3D perspective.
If memory serve me well, I think that the Cs at a certain point said something like a "soul smasher" or something along those lines , what I mean is that, never doubt , we will be able to feel the effects (I guess anybody in his/her peculiar or particular way , depending from your status or "being") but , at least at present and in our condition , I think we are incapable to actually really fully understand what is and thus give a clear definition .
As the Cs often remarked , "wait and see..... "

 

[Pierre]

Thank you Pierre
It’s helpful to understand things that we fear through our/my own ignorance.
I look forward to to the next chapter

Here is the next chapter:

Chapter 2: Causes of Mass Extinctions​

Various non mutually-exclusive causes have been invoked to explain the mass extinctions that our planet experienced over the past hundreds million years. Cometary impacts are increasingly recognized as a prevalent cause but mainstream science is still reluctant to abandon the gradualist dogma. Therefore, it usually invokes more minor phenomena to explain the numerous mass extinctions experienced by our planet. Interestingly, cometary encounters can cause each of these phenomena:​

Flood basalt events[1]:

It is a term for mass volcanism and its associated atmospheric dust release[2]. Volcanism is associated with several mass extinctions[3] [4], but what, in the first place, caused the concomitant eruption of volcanoes all around the world? In Cometary Encounters we have seen how the earthly electric disruption induced by a nearby comet can cause volcanic eruptions[5]. Likewise, the Chicxulub impact ca. 66 Mya is now considered as the cause of the ensuing wave of massive eruptions[6].
​

© Ryan and Ernst
Volcanic regions and their prevalent of period of activity​

Global cooling:

The alleged cause of several mass extinctions[7]. Like volcanism, global cooling can indeed cause mass extinction to some extent. But what triggered global cooling in the first place? Cometary impacts through the sheer volume of ejected dust and the induced volcanism can veil our planet in a dust shroud which can dramatically decrease temperature[8].

Drop in sea-level[9]:​

A natural consequence of global cooling through the build-up of polar cap and snowfalls[10]. Again the question is: “what caused the global cooling that caused the drop in sea levels?”

Anoxic events:

this term refers to the drop in oxygen contained in the oceans. Anoxia shows a very strong correlation[11] with mass extinctions. According to some researchers anoxic events were caused by a proliferation of oxygen hungry algae[12]. Another identified cause of anoxia is large underwater volcanic eruptions[13]. Again what caused those waves of underwater eruptions in the first place? It seems that the chain of event is as follow:​

cometary impact -> disruption of Earth E-field -> increased volcanism -> anoxia.

Methane clathrate gun hypothesis:

This term describes a massive release of methane in the atmosphere to explain most notably the Permian-Triassic extinction 252 Mya. Massive quantities of methane can be released by volcanic eruptions[14]. Methane is also one of the main gaseous components[15] of cometary tails. Interestingly, there is a strong correlation between increased atmospheric methane and submarine landslide[16], both being documented effect of cometary impacts.

Oceanic overturn:

This term refers to a disruption of the thermohaline circulation[17]. It is invoked to explain only two mass extinctions, the late Devonian[18] ca. 370 Mya and the Permian-Triassic[19] ca. 252 Mya. There is no evidence[20] of thermohaline disruption during those times because such a phenomenon doesn’t leave any trace in geological or ice core records. If thermohaline disruption happened, the question is what triggered it? A cometary event, particularly an oceanic impact, could easily disrupt oceanic circulation[21].​

Plate tectonics:

Movements of continents[22] are invoked to explain the Permian-Triassic extinction, during which, as noted above, 83% of all genera became extinct. It suggests rather radical movements of continents and raises the same question again, what caused these dramatic continental movements in the first place? Coincidentally or not, cometary impact can move continents and even trigger whole crustal slippage[23]. Comets have also been shown to trigger earthquakes at a distance[24].​

Hydrogen sulfide emissions from the seas:

High concentrations of Hydrogen sulfide are considered by some researchers as the cause of the Permian-Triassic extinction[25] 252 Mya and the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction[26], 66 Mya. The spike is explained as a consequence of anoxia:

In the end-Permian, as the levels of atmospheric oxygen fell and the levels of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide rose[27]

As seen previously anoxia can be caused by large underwater volcanic eruptions, which can also releases massive quantities of hydrogen sulfide[28].

Geomagnetic reversal:

The intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field has been reconstructed over the last two million years,[29] and it shows that magnetic reversals occur frequently - about once every 100,000 years – it is a much more frequent phenomenon than mass extinctions.

However there seem to be correlation between geomagnetic reversals and, at least, some mass extinctions:

​

the data now in hand is strongly suggestive that for some species of Radiolaria, reversals did influence their extinction. Mass extinctions at the close of long intervals of dominantly one polarity, such as the Cretaceous and Permo-Carboniferous, is again suggestive that the reversing field may have a selective influence. Experimental evidence has shown biological effects of null magnetic fields and fields approximating the strength of the Earth's magnetic field, raising the possibility that the action of the reversing magnetic field may cause extinctions[30]

It was previously believed that the timescale for pole reversal was between 10,000 and 100 years.[31] However it appears that magnetic pole reversals can happen much quicker, with orientation changes[32] up to 6° per day.[33] This rate is exceptionally high, being 10,000 times faster than the usual rate of change in magnetic orientation[34] and leading to reversals that could takes place in a matter of days.[35]

In addition, it appears that rocks exhibiting reversed magnetic polarity show magnetic charges up to 100 times what could have been generated by the Earth’s magnetic field.

The above suggests an external agent that could dramatically increase the magnetic field measured on Earth. Comets and their high electrical activity could, if close enough, trigger such a discharge exchange with the Earth[36].​

© Wikimedia Commons
The geomagnetic field: between reversals on the left and during reversal on the right
​

Such a discharge could generate massive magnetic fields (hence the high magnetic charges measured in rocks exhibiting reverse polarity and spikes in the geomagnetic field before reversals), destabilize the existing geomagnetic field, and be the trigger for the ‘re-set’ that sees ‘North’ become ‘South’ and vice-versa.

Iron, a magnetic element, is a major constituent of our planet’s crust, accounting for 32% of its composition[37]. We will focus on the crust because the mantle and core exhibit temperatures higher[38] than the Curie temperature[39] where magnetic elements lose their magnetism.

Notice that magnetized elements like iron can be almost instantly demagnetized or re-magnetized. For example, an iron rod can be magnetized simply by rubbing a magnet on it, i.e. subjecting the rod to the magnetic field of the magnet.

Cometary bodies carry a high electric charge and therefore emit a strong magnetic field. Thus the magnetic field of a nearby comet may be capable of demagnetizing crustal iron. Similarly, the electric discharge between a nearby comet and Earth can generate a magnetic field capable of magnetizing crustal iron. Examples of crustal demagnetization induced by a cometary body have been found on Mars, where a whole region located within and around a crater exhibits no magnetism, unlike the rest of the Red Planet.[40]

Also, worth noting is the fact that geomagnetic ‘spikes’ seem to be linked to global cooling episodes:

​

Four potential geomagnetic events (‘archeomagnetic jerks’), marked by strong intensity increases, are observed and appear to be synchronous with cooling episodes in the North Atlantic. This temporal coincidence strengthens the recent suggestion that the geomagnetic field influences climate change over multi-decadal time scales.[41]

As a matter of fact comets are a prime source of dust and magnetism. Thus a cometary event can be the cause of both geomagnetic jerks (induced by cometary discharges) and cooling events (induced by cometary dust).​

(c) Sott.net
Earthly effects of cometary bombardments​

As indicated in the diagram above, it seems that the invoked causes for mass extinctions whether flood, basalt event, anoxia, global cooling, geomagnetic reversal, etc, might be effects of cometary encounters - direct impact and/or overhead explosion – which, indeed, constitute the primary cause of virtually any mass extinctions, as we will demonstrate in the next chapter.
​

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[1] Clapham, Matthew & Renne, Paul. (2019). “Flood Basalts and Mass Extinctions”. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 47:1, 275-303
[2] Courtillot, Vincent (1990). "A Volcanic Eruption". Scientific American. 263 (4): 85–93.
[3] Kunio Kaiho, et al. (2020). “Pulsed volcanic combustion events coincident with the end-Permian terrestrial disturbance and the following global crisis”. Geology.
[4] Jun Shen et al. (2019). “Evidence for a prolonged Permian–Triassic extinction interval from global marine mercury records”. Nature Communications 10, 1563
[5] Lescaudron, Pierre. (2021). “Cometary Encounters”. Red Pill Press. Chapter “Correlation between Cometary Activity and Volcanic Activity”.
[6] Richards, Mark et al. (2015). "Triggering of the largest Deccan eruptions by the Chicxulub impact". GSA Bulletin. 127 (11–12): 1507–1520
[7] Rosa, Eduardo et al. (2021). “Late Paleozoic Glaciation”. In Encyclopedia of Geology (Second Edition).
[8] For example, the onset of the Younger Dryas reveals a dramatic cooling triggered by a massive cometary impact. See: Lescaudron, 2021, Part I: Of Flash Frozen Mammoths and Cosmic Catastrophes
[9] Peters, S.E. (2008). "Environmental determinants of extinction selectivity in the fossil record". Nature. 454 (7204): 626–29
[10] The drop in sea level due to global cooling is about 2m/°C according to the most conservative papers, see for example: Levermann, Anders et al. (2013). “The multimillennial sea-level commitment of global warming”. PNAS. 110 (34) 13745-13750. This figure is as high as 6 to 10 m/°C according to other researchers, see for example: Grinsted, Aslak. (2013). “Relationship between sea level rise and global temperature”. Aslak Grinsted personal Website.
[11] The seven major periods of widespread anoxia in the oceans of the last 260 million years are significantly correlated (>99.99%) with the ages of the flood-basalt - extinction events. See:
Rampino, Michael et al. (2019). "What causes mass extinctions? Large asteroid/comet impacts, flood-basalt volcanism, and ocean anoxia—Correlations and cycles", in "250 Million Years of Earth History in Central Italy”, Geological Society of America.
[12] Castle et al. (2009) “Hypothesis for the role of toxin-producing algae in Phanerozoic mass extinctions based on evidence from the geologic record and modern environments”. Environmental Geosciences, 16 (1): 1
[13] Jenkyns, H. C. (2010). "Geochemistry of oceanic anoxic events". Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 11(3)
[14] Lancaster University editors. (2018). “Volcanoes and glaciers combine as powerful methane producers”. Phys.org
[15] Lippi, Manuela. (2010). “The composition of cometary ices as inferred from measured production rates of volatiles” Carolo-Wilhelmina University.
[16] Maslin, M. et al. (2004). "Linking continental-slope failures and climate change: Testing the clathrate gun hypothesis". Geology. 32 (1): 53–56.
[17] Circulation by which surface water sinks, bringing oxygen-poor deep water to the surface and killing the surface organisms.
[18] Algeo, T.J et al. (1995). "Late Devonian Oceanic Anoxic Events and Biotic Crises: Rooted in the Evolution of Vascular Land Plants?". GSA Today. 5 (3)
[19] Zhang R. (2001). "Could the Late Permian deep ocean have been anoxic?". Paleoceanography. 16 (3): 317–329.
[20] Wikipedia Editors. (2001). ”Extinction event”. Wikipedia.
[21] Usatov, M. (2020) “Main Belt asteroid as a Possible Younger Dryas impactor”. Astron. Nachr.; 341: 734– 740.
[22] Dirson Jian Li. (2012). "The tectonic cause of mass extinctions and the genomic contribution to biodiversification". Quantitative Biology.
[23] Lescaudron, 2014. Chapter “Crustal slippage”
[24] Omerbashich, Mensur. (2012). “Astronomical alignments as the cause of ~M6+ seismicity”. ArXiv. 1104.2036v7
[25] Kump, Lee et al. (2005). “Massive release of hydrogen sulfide to the surface ocean and atmosphere during intervals of oceanic anoxia”. Geology 33 (5): 397–400.
[26] Penn State researchers. (2003). “Hydrogen Sulfide, Not Carbon Dioxide, May Have Caused Largest Mass Extinction”. ScienceDaily.
[27] Kump, 2005
[28] H. Sigurdsson et al. (2000) “Encyclopedia of Volcanoes”. Academic Press
[29] Valet, J.-P. et al. "Geomagnetic field strength and reversal rate over the past two million years", Nature, Vol. 435, 802-805 (2005)
[30] Hays, J. D. (1971). "Faunal Extinctions and Reversals of the Earth’s Magnetic Field". Geological Society of America Bulletin, 82(9), 2433
[31] White, John. (1982). “Pole Shift”. Berkley Books. p.138
[32] The speed of reversal is calculated by comparing magnetic field direction in different parts of the same lava flow.
See: Felix R. W. (2009) “Magnetic reversals and evolutionary leaps”, Sugarhouse Publishing p.95
[33] Coe, R. et al. (1994) “New evidence for extraordinarily rapid change of the geomagnetic field during a reversal”, Nature 374, pp. 687 - 692
[34] Langel, R.A., (1987). The main field, in “Geomagnetism”. Jacobs, J.A., Academic Press. Vol. 1, pp. 249-512
[35] Warlow P. (1978) “Does pole-flipping account for earth magnetism?”, New Scientist, p.1224
[36] For more details about electrical discharges between celestial bodies see:
Lescaudron, Pierre. (2020). “Cometary Encounters”. Red Pill Press. Part II: Did Earth 'Steal' Martian Water?
[37] Sharp, T., (2012). “What is Earth Made Of?”, Space.com
[38] Mantle temperatures range between 500° and 4,000° Celsius (930° and 7,200° Fahrenheit).
See: Louie, J. (1996). “Earth’s Interior”. University of Nevada
[39] The Curie temperature for iron is about 1,400° Fahrenheit or 770° Celsius.
[40] Louzada, K. et al. (2005). “Shock Demagnetization of Pyrrhotite”, Lunar and Planetary Science 36,
[41] Gallet, Y. (2006) “Possible impact of the Earth’s magnetic field on the history of ancient civilizations”, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 246, Issues 1–2, pp.17–26

 

[stellar]

Hi Pierre, just a thought but if you've decided to release the book electronically instead of printing it (a real shame as I prefer printed books, and would absolutely have purchased it as soon as published), it might be a good idea to release a PDF version. Otherwise it gets lost in a series of forum threads ... and it is in any case difficult to read book-length material on a screen, at least for me but I know many others have the same problem.

How about just copy paste into a notebook made just for this book?