Millions of years ago, lava flows poured molten rock over huge areas of the world. These eruptions, known as basalt floods, hurled noxious gases fro
Earth's interior into the atmosphere. Toxic clouds ravaged the environment and
may have triggered mass extinction. The weathered remains of flood basalt can
still be seen around the world. but scientists do not yet understand the cause
of such vast eruptions. It is such a mystery that a basalt flood could burst
from the Earth tomorrow undetected.
Basalt floods smother whole regions of the Earth in molten rock. …
