Farmers pray for rain in times of drought. Most of us have experience of wanting heavens to open for our garden to be watered during excessively dry spell. However, none of us can imagine prolonged period of rain lasting two million years. U.K. geologist and forensic scientist Alastair Ruffell has discovered that 200-300 million years ago, before single landmass of Pangea separated into continents, Earth did see era during which it rained non-stop for up to two million years. Dr Ruffell said this helped forge development of flora and fauna all over globe. He believes precipitation may have been sparked by huge rise in humidity following series of massive volcanic eruptions.
Dr Ruffell and his team based their findings on research conducted on strata of rock in Alps in Eastern Europe in 1970s and 80s. data showed unusual layers deposited in ancient rock that dated back over 200 million years. Ruffell said this led to growing evidence that wet period may have been, " trigger that enabled dinosaurs, and possibly the other members of our modern land-based fauna, to diversify and dominate land". He added: "It may have been one of most important events in history of life, in terms of its role in allowing not only age of dinosaurs, but also the origins of most key classes that form modern fauna of…turtles, crocodiles, lizards and mammals."
