Rise Of The Dinosaurs

Climate Techniques

Paleoclimatologist Celina Suarez is on a mission to unravel the mystery of the end-Triassic extinction, a pivotal event that paved the way for dinosaurs to dominate the Earth. Her work involves collecting and analyzing rocks from the Elliott Formation in South Africa to reconstruct past climates and understand the shifts in the global carbon cycle 1. This detective work aims to piece together a timeline of events from over 200 million years ago, offering insights into how these ancient climates changed and influenced life on Earth.

We find our clues in rocks and fossils within those rocks.

--- Celina Suarez

Suarez's research is crucial in understanding the conditions that allowed dinosaurs to rise to prominence, despite their ancestors being no larger than modern-day chickens 1.

   

Extinction Studies

Understanding past extinction events, like the end-Triassic, is vital for predicting future climate scenarios. Suarez highlights the parallels between ancient carbon release and today's fossil fuel emissions, suggesting that these studies could reveal potential future outcomes for our planet 2. By examining the geological record, scientists aim to determine whether current carbon levels could lead to a mass extinction similar to those in the past.

The earth has done the experiment for us in the past, so we just need to understand it.

--- Celina Suarez

The research involves high-resolution dating of rock units to track climate changes and their impacts on ecosystems, helping to solve the mystery of whether cooling, warming, or both contributed to past extinctions 3.