The Sixth Extinction
"I sought the future and past catastrophe of the social in geology, in that upturning of depth that can be seen in the striated spaces, the reliefs of salt and stone, the canyons where the fossil river flows down, the immemorial abyss of slowness that shows itself in the erosion and geology." - Jean Baudrillard
The evolution of life on earth has been disrupted by five ‘mass extinction events’ the worst of which wiped out 95% of all life. Rising rates of species extinction and CO2 levels and have led scientists to conclude that the planet is now experiencing a sixth mass extinction event.
In 2011 the world’s leading paleogeologists converged on an area close to my birthplace in the UK’s Westcountry. The latest clues to the cause of one of the mass extinction events were thought to lie in the rocks and fossil record of the cliffs and foreshores of North Somerset. More precisely, in an inch-thick layer of buff-coloured limestone that is rarely exposed in the strata of the cliffs. A layer below which life teemed, but above which most of the planet’s species simply vanished. The news report seemed quaintly incongruous – scientists hunting for clues to cataclysmic global events on my local beach armed only with rock hammers and some sandwich bags.
Following the team of paleogeologists as they pursued the two hundred million year old mystery led me to the coastlines of North Somerset and South Wales and a meteorite crater in western France. Sifting tiny clues from the strata of the geology, they used forensic methods to recreate a picture of an ancient global ecosystem. Adopting the same locations, I examined local historical and environmental records, hunting back through the spans of geological time for traces of other extinct ecosystems, transient echoes of that mass extinction. Photographing the residue that remains in the alchemy of the rocks or the shadows of the undergrowth, each image in the project reflects a particular ecosystem ‘die-off’. From the debris of a meteorite strike to the tell-tale traces of lethal sea level fluctuations; from the geomorphic evidence of the UK’s worst natural disaster to the traces of vanished communities and the footprints of Neolithic man. Each ecology has dissipated to a new strata of dust, awaiting rediscovery by future paleogeologists. Clues to mass extinction events yet to come.
Jon Wyatt Photography
www.jonwyatt.co.uk
www.jonwyatt.co.uk
Fonceverane Forest, Reserve Naturelle del'Astrobleme de Rochechouart-Chassenon, France. The meteorite was a mile across and is thought to have been a vital contributing factor to the extinction event. At the moment of impact it carried a force 14 million times that of the Hiroshima bomb.
Landslide, Llantwit Major, South Wales. Cliff bands reveal sand-filled cracks and deposits of grainy material deposited by the French meteorite impact. Even at a distance of 400 miles from the impact, Llantwit beach would have experienced hurricane-force winds and a hail of debris.
Kenfig Sands, South Wales. In 2007 five groups of extremely rare 5000 year old human footprints were discovered impressed on a peat shelf on the beach. Storms revealed the peat layer compressed almost to rock under the weight of sand. Experts believe that something cataclysmic must have occurred soon after they were made to have preserved them so well. Not long after their discovery the sea's erosion removed all traces of the footprints.
Cliff footpath, South Wales. Local legend says that villagers with lanterns drew ships onto the reefs here to scavenge their cargo. In reality the paths were created by Customs and Excise officers walking the coast to deter the smuggling that was ubiquitous in the area.
Dunraven Bay, South Wales. The large 'imbricated' boulders scattered above the high tide mark are evidence of the UK's largest natural disaster. In 1607 a 25-foot high tsunami swept up the Bristol Channel killing 3000 people and flooding a 200 square mile wide area in North Somerset and South Wales.
Waterlogged fields, Monkton, South Wales. The jetstream over the North Atlantic controls the direction of pressure systems and hence the UK's weather. Atmospheric cooling due to the melting icecaps has altered the position of the jetstream leading to marked changes to weather patterns with increased storm intensity, flooding and more frequent extreme weather events.
Tidal surge, Llantwit Major. The geography of the coastline of the Bristol Channel (separating North Somerset and South Wales) has created the world's second largest tidal range, with a vertical difference between low tide and high tide of 50 feet. As a consequence the coastlines her are particularly susceptible to flooding.
Flooded fields, Porthkerry, South Wales. According to the Meteorological Office which is responsible for the UK's weather forecasting, extreme weather events increased in frequency from every 100 days in 2011 to every 70 days in 2012. In 2013 the driest month for 60 years was followed by the wettest month on record.
Wave platform, Lllantwit Major, South Wales. The latest scientific research suggests that the disturbed cliff strata here all have a distinctive orientation - angled towards the meteorite impact site at Rochechouart.
Limestone pavements at the foot of cliffs, Marcross, South Wales. The cliffs here are composed of alternate layers of blue lias limestone and soft shale. Limestone is created in warm shallow seas and the shale in deeper colder seas – so these rocks evidence a period of rapid, lethal sea level fluctuations and multiple cliff collapses.
Reedbeds, Bridgewater Bay, North Somerset. In 2013 this was chosen as the first site of the UK's new generation of nuclear power plants.
Well, near Rochechouart, France. It is built from impact brecchia, rock comprised of many minerals and rock fragments fused together by the force of the meteorite impact.
Sessile Oak Forest, Dead Woman’s Ditch, North Somerset. The county of Somerset has the oldest evidence of coppicing in the UK. This ancient form of woodland management provides sustainable timber and has been carried out since Neolithic times. Over the centuries many species adapted to the increased light on the forest floor which coppicing provides. Since coppicing has ceased in the last 100 years due to decreased demand for timber and charcoal, the forest floor is becoming clogged with undergrowth and many woodland species have died out from loss of habitat.
Folding in cliffs at Southerndown, South Wales. The UK's worst natural disaster - the tsunami in 1607 - caused the cliffs here to recede by 100m, exposing the faulting and the ‘extinction’ line above which the fossil record has a hiatus.
Rochechouart, France. The meteorite that landed here was part of five simultaneous impacts formed when a fragmented comet hit the earth.
Lilstock Pill, North Somerset. The sail-shaped scarp in the foreground is formed by the high velocity flow of the 1607 tsunami.
Birnbeck Pier, North Somerset. Birnbeck Island was transformed by the 1607 tsunami and is now joined to the mainland by this pier. Despite multiple attempts at regeneration the pier remains derelict.
Port Talbot steelworks and Kenfig Dunes, South Wales. The sand dunes here were once part of the largest dune system in Europe, the shifting sand supporting many species. However with the dunes now overstabilised and overgrown with marram grass, many of those species have become extinct.
Nash Point, South Wales. The 'extinction line' is a layer of limestone at about waist height in these cliffs. Below the line the fossil record is plentiful. Above the line there are almost no fossils for many millennia and when they do reappear the species are new and unfamiliar.
Flatholm Island, Bristol Channel. The proposed site of a barrage to harness the channel's tidal range. It could potentially generate up to 5% of the UK's electricity needs however the estuaries here are one of the UK's most important feeding grounds for an estimated 85,000 migratory birds.
Over Stowey, North Somerset. Exmoor is an upland area of forests and moorland which extends to the Somerset coast. At 200 million years old it’s 10 times older than most of Europe and is one of the oldest features on the earths surface.
Disused quarry, near Rochechouart, France. The fused rock, or brecchia, which was created by the meteorite impact, is a prized building material. It has been quarried here since Roman times.
Reedbeds. Kenfig Pool, South Wales. The largest freshwater lake in Wales, it was formed when the encroaching dunes cut off the local rivers in prehistoric times.
Kenfig Sands, South Wales. Wild storms and huge tides in the thirteenth century threw vast quantities of sand onto the coast, burying the community of Kenfig and its castle.
Culbone Woods, North Somerset. Due its extremely remote location 'disbelievers, the mentally insane and those practising witchcraft' were brought here and left to fend for themselves. The community perished. In the 16th century it became a leper colony. Again, after a brief spell, the community perished.
East Nash Buoy, Witches Point, South Wales. One of the most dangerous stretches of water for shipping in the UK, seven miles of offshore reefs here has caused multiple shipwrecks.
