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Mass extinctions over the last 500 myr: an astronomical cause?
Author(s) -
Erlykin Anatoly D.,
Harper David A. T.,
Sloan Terry,
Wolfendale Arnold W.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
palaeontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1475-4983
pISSN - 0031-0239
DOI - 10.1111/pala.12283
Subject(s) - extinction event , phanerozoic , paleontology , geology , astrophysics , astronomy , physics , demography , cenozoic , structural basin , biological dispersal , population , sociology
Abstract A Fourier analysis of the magnitudes and timing of the Phanerozoic mass extinctions ( ME s) demonstrates that many of the periodicities claimed in other analyses are not statistically significant. Moreover we show that the periodicities associated with oscillations of the Solar System about the galactic plane are too irregular to give narrow peaks in the Fourier periodograms. This leads us to conclude that, apart from possibly a small number of major events, astronomical causes for ME s can largely be ruled out.