A Michigan Technological University researcher may have solved a long-standing mystery in earth science studies. In Siberia there exist stepped, large-scale basaltic formations known as "traps." The traps formed about 250 million years ago, at a time that about 90 percent of the species living on earth suddenly became extinct. It has long been suspected this massive set of lava flows was the cause of the extinction. But what caused the lava flows? Read more