How the Earth survived a massive, half-million-year ocean suffocation event
In short: During the Cretaceous Period, the planet underwent a dramatic transformation to stabilize its climate. This process triggered a catastrophic environmental shift that left the world's oceans almost entirely devoid of oxygen for half a million years.
The Cretaceous Period was marked by extreme conditions that forced the Earth to undergo a self-rescue mission. While this planetary adjustment successfully altered the climate, the ecological price was severe: a prolonged period of oceanic anoxia.
For approximately 500,000 years, the oceans suffered from a lack of oxygen, effectively suffocating marine environments. This event serves as a stark reminder of the planet's capacity for radical, long-term environmental shifts in response to extreme internal pressures.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: That Time The Ocean Lost (Almost) All Its Oxygen
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