At the end of the Triassic period 200 million years ago, there was a mass-extinction event that caused the extinction of more than half of all living species. It was this extinction event that allowed dinosaurs to become the dominant species for the next 145 million years. We do not know exactly what happened that eliminated so many species in a relatively short period of time, but there are several possible explanations.
One theory involves the decline of sea levels. Near the end of the Triassic period, sea levels were fluctuating. When sea levels fall, the habitats for ocean populations that live in the shallows and land species that live on the coast are destroyed. The destruction of coastal and shallow-ocean species would have had a profound effect on food chains worldwide, leading to mass extinctions.
Another theory involves massive climate cooling. The end of the Triassic period was marked by widespread volcanic activity. The volcanoes released large amounts of sulfur dioxide (SO2). A rise in atmospheric SO2 is known to cause a lowering in global temperatures. Such climate change could have devastated many species and led to the extinctions.
The third theory involves an asteroid strike. Asteroids (objects from outer space) occasionally collide with Earth. When an asteroid hits Earth’s surface, it often displaces large amounts of soil and crushed rock, leaving behind a depression, or crater. The displaced debris is thrown up into the atmosphere where it can block out sunlight for many months or even a few years. A sufficiently massive asteroid impact at the end of the Triassic period may have blocked sunlight long enough for most plants to die and many animal species to then starve.
The lecture and the article are both about the possible hypothesis that might illustrate the massive extinction happened at the end of the Triassic period. While the author of the article argues that there are three theories would explain the reason behind the extinction, the lecturer disputes the claims mentioned in the article. Her position is that none of the theories is a good explanation.
To begin with, the article mentions that the reduction of sea level would cause the destruction of coastal and shallow-ocean creatures. The article adds that this destruction influences the food chains negatively. This argument is challenged by the lecturer. She claims that coastal and shallow-ocean species would adapt to the environmental changing. Furthermore, she points out that the decline of sea level happens gradually, which make it unlikely to cause massive destruction.
Secondly, the author suggests that second theory is climate cooling resulted from emission of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere due to the volcanic activity. The lecturer, however, asserts that sulfur dioxide might cause the reduction of environment temperature if only occurs suddenly and for short period. She goes on to say that volcanic activity at the Triassic period emitted sulfur dioxide for long periods, which would cause the sulfur dioxide to be cleared out from atmosphere and be less toxic.
Finally, the author puts forth the idea that asteroid collision with earth might cause the massive extinction. The author contends that carters, which is the remaining of asteroid, were found in large amounts on the earth surface. In contrast, the lecturer's stance is that this theory is unlikely to justify the reason of extinction. She explained that carters were found thousands of years before the extinction.
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Comments
Essay evaluations by e-grader
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 4, column 249, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[1]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'lecturers'' or 'lecturer's'?
Suggestion: lecturers'; lecturer's
... on the earth surface. In contrast, the lecturers stance is that this theory is unlikely ...
^^^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
finally, furthermore, however, if, second, secondly, so, while, in contrast, to begin with
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 13.0 10.4613686534 124% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 7.0 5.04856512141 139% => OK
Conjunction : 5.0 7.30242825607 68% => OK
Relative clauses : 17.0 12.0772626932 141% => OK
Pronoun: 23.0 22.412803532 103% => OK
Preposition: 36.0 30.3222958057 119% => OK
Nominalization: 14.0 5.01324503311 279% => Less nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1521.0 1373.03311258 111% => OK
No of words: 283.0 270.72406181 105% => OK
Chars per words: 5.37455830389 5.08290768461 106% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.10153676581 4.04702891845 101% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.73057780308 2.5805825403 106% => OK
Unique words: 147.0 145.348785872 101% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.519434628975 0.540411800872 96% => OK
syllable_count: 459.0 419.366225166 109% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.55342163355 103% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 6.0 3.25607064018 184% => OK
Article: 9.0 8.23620309051 109% => OK
Subordination: 1.0 1.25165562914 80% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.51434878587 0% => OK
Preposition: 2.0 2.5761589404 78% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 15.0 13.0662251656 115% => OK
Sentence length: 18.0 21.2450331126 85% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 41.5892080019 49.2860985944 84% => OK
Chars per sentence: 101.4 110.228320801 92% => OK
Words per sentence: 18.8666666667 21.698381199 87% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.0 7.06452816374 85% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 1.0 4.19205298013 24% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 2.0 4.33554083885 46% => More positive sentences wanted.
Sentences with negative sentiment : 6.0 4.45695364238 135% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 7.0 4.27373068433 164% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.109381851034 0.272083759551 40% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0353689775484 0.0996497079465 35% => Sentence topic similarity is low.
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0403481885314 0.0662205650399 61% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0612464826573 0.162205337803 38% => Maybe some paragraphs are off the topic.
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0214840138972 0.0443174109184 48% => Paragraphs are similar to each other. Some content may get duplicated or it is not exactly right on the topic.
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 13.3 13.3589403974 100% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 53.21 53.8541721854 99% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.3 11.0289183223 93% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 13.87 12.2367328918 113% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.05 8.42419426049 107% => OK
difficult_words: 81.0 63.6247240618 127% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 8.0 10.7273730684 75% => OK
gunning_fog: 9.2 10.498013245 88% => OK
text_standard: 10.0 11.2008830022 89% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 70 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 21 Out of 30
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 4, column 249, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[1]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'lecturers'' or 'lecturer's'?
Suggestion: lecturers'; lecturer's
... on the earth surface. In contrast, the lecturers stance is that this theory is unlikely ...
^^^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
finally, furthermore, however, if, second, secondly, so, while, in contrast, to begin with
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 13.0 10.4613686534 124% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 7.0 5.04856512141 139% => OK
Conjunction : 5.0 7.30242825607 68% => OK
Relative clauses : 17.0 12.0772626932 141% => OK
Pronoun: 23.0 22.412803532 103% => OK
Preposition: 36.0 30.3222958057 119% => OK
Nominalization: 14.0 5.01324503311 279% => Less nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1521.0 1373.03311258 111% => OK
No of words: 283.0 270.72406181 105% => OK
Chars per words: 5.37455830389 5.08290768461 106% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.10153676581 4.04702891845 101% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.73057780308 2.5805825403 106% => OK
Unique words: 147.0 145.348785872 101% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.519434628975 0.540411800872 96% => OK
syllable_count: 459.0 419.366225166 109% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.55342163355 103% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 6.0 3.25607064018 184% => OK
Article: 9.0 8.23620309051 109% => OK
Subordination: 1.0 1.25165562914 80% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.51434878587 0% => OK
Preposition: 2.0 2.5761589404 78% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 15.0 13.0662251656 115% => OK
Sentence length: 18.0 21.2450331126 85% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 41.5892080019 49.2860985944 84% => OK
Chars per sentence: 101.4 110.228320801 92% => OK
Words per sentence: 18.8666666667 21.698381199 87% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.0 7.06452816374 85% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 1.0 4.19205298013 24% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 2.0 4.33554083885 46% => More positive sentences wanted.
Sentences with negative sentiment : 6.0 4.45695364238 135% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 7.0 4.27373068433 164% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.109381851034 0.272083759551 40% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0353689775484 0.0996497079465 35% => Sentence topic similarity is low.
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0403481885314 0.0662205650399 61% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0612464826573 0.162205337803 38% => Maybe some paragraphs are off the topic.
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0214840138972 0.0443174109184 48% => Paragraphs are similar to each other. Some content may get duplicated or it is not exactly right on the topic.
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 13.3 13.3589403974 100% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 53.21 53.8541721854 99% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.3 11.0289183223 93% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 13.87 12.2367328918 113% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.05 8.42419426049 107% => OK
difficult_words: 81.0 63.6247240618 127% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 8.0 10.7273730684 75% => OK
gunning_fog: 9.2 10.498013245 88% => OK
text_standard: 10.0 11.2008830022 89% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 70 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 21 Out of 30
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.