The Earth Has a Pulse -- A 27.5-Million-Year Cycle of Geological Activity

martyb writes:

The Earth Has a Pulse-A 27.5-Million-Year Cycle of Geological Activity:

Analysis of 260 Million Years of Major Geological Events Finds Recurring Clusters 27.5 Million Years Apart

[...] Many geologists believe that geological events are random over time. But our study provides statistical evidence for a common cycle, suggesting that these geologic events are correlated and not random," said Michael Rampino, a geologist and professor in New York University's Department of Biology, as well as the study's lead author.

Over the past five decades, researchers have proposed cycles of major geological events-including volcanic activity and mass extinctions on land and sea-ranging from roughly 26 to 36 million years. But early work on these correlations in the geological record was hampered by limitations in the age-dating of geologic events, which prevented scientists from conducting quantitative investigations.

[...] The team analyzed the ages of 89 well-dated major geological events of the last 260 million years. These events include marine and land extinctions, major volcanic outpourings of lava called flood-basalt eruptions, events when oceans were depleted of oxygen, sea-level fluctuations, and changes or reorganization in the Earth's tectonic plates.

Read more of this story at SoylentNews.