The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province
One of the largest volcanic provinces ever known erupts along the opening Atlantic rift.
- When
- Known to
- ± 500 thousand years
- Era
- Triassic, Mesozoic
Around 201.5 million years ago, CAMP floods some eleven million square kilometres across four continents with basalt. As with the Siberian Traps, the killing agent appears to be intrusive rather than extrusive: magma injected into carbon-rich sedimentary basins in South America released enormous volumes of greenhouse gas. High-precision uranium-lead dating ties the eruption pulses directly to the extinction horizon.