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Article: New findings show a quick rebound from marine mass extinction event.
- Article from:
- NewsRx Health & Science
- Article date:
- November 8, 2009
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Researchers from MIT and their collaborators have done the most detailed analysis ever of a layer of sediments deposited during and immediately after the asteroid impact 65 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs and 80 percent of Earth's marine life. They found that at least some forms of microscopic marine life - the so-called "primary producers," or photosynthetic organisms such as algae and cyanobacteria in the ocean - had recovered within about a century after the mass extinction.
Why it matters: Previous research had indicated the process might have taken millions of years. The new findings also support some theoretical analyses of the effects of the ...