A new study reveals that land plants changed Earth’s composition. According to research from the University of Southampton, the Earth's continents' composition suddenly shifted as a result of the evolution of land plants. In collaboration with colleagues from Queen's University Canada, the Unive
A new study reveals that land plants changed Earth’s composition., the Earth’s continents’ composition suddenly shifted as a result of the evolution of land plants., the University of Aberdeen, and the China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, the Southampton researchers—led by Dr. Tom Gernon—studied the effects of land plant evolution on Earth’s chemical composition over the course of the previous 700 million years.
“Plants caused fundamental changes to river systems, bringing about more meandering rivers and muddy floodplains, as well as thicker soils,” says Dr. Christopher Spencer, Assistant Professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, lead author of the study. “This shift was tied to the development of plant rooting systems that helped produce colossal amounts of mud and stabilized river channels, which locked up this mud for long periods.
“When these rocks crystallize, they trap in vestiges of their past history,” says Dr. Tom Gernon, Associate Professor of Earth Science at the University of Southampton and co-author of the study. “So, we hypothesized that the evolution of plants should dramatically slow down the delivery of mud to the oceans and that this feature should be preserved in the rock record – it’s that simple.”
The team uncovered compelling evidence for a dramatic shift in the composition of rocks making up Earth’s continents, which coincides almost precisely with the onset of land plants.
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