Mass extinction

Scientists have discovered the cause of a mass extinction of sea-floor marine organisms 800,000 years ago — which also provides insight into how climate change can impact 1 deep ocean biota. In a new study 2 in the journal Nature Communications, scientists from the universities of Nottingham and Durham and the British Geological Survey , have discovered the cause of a mass extinction within marine organisms called foraminifera. Foraminifera are an important group in relation to biomass in the deep ocean and the cause of their extinction was 3 unknown. Scientists tested various possible 4 for the mass extinction and were able to discount others such as ocean cooling. 5, they discovered that the extinction was caused by a global change in plankton at the surface of the ocean.