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 The data showed unusual layers [withdrawn / deposited] in ancient rock that dated [forward / back] over 200 million years.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