What is Emeishan Traps?
The '''Emeishan Traps''' is a [[flood basalt]] [[volcano|volcanic]] [[province]] in Southwestern China, around [[Sichuan]] province. Many [[igneous rock]] types can be found there. This is known as [[large igneous province]] in [[geology]]. Other names for the traps include '''Permian Emeishan Large Igneous Province''', and other variations. The Traps are the step-like rock made up of many layers of [[basalt]], which were laid down by successive eruptions of [[magma]]. The [[volcanic eruption|eruptions]] that lead to the Emeshian traps began about 260 million years ago. The traps are much smaller than the [[Siberian Traps]], which occurred not long afterwards, about 251 million years ago. Despite this, the Emeshian traps were large enough to have an impact on the [[ecology]] of the time, and on [[paleontology]]. They are part of the [[List of extinction events|mass extinction]] events towards the end of the [[Permian period]].<ref>He Bin ''et al'' 2007. Age and duration of the Emeishan flood volcanism, SW China: geochemistry and SHRIMP [[zircon]] [[U-Pb dating]] of silicic ignimbrites, post-volcanic Xuanwei Formation and clay tuff at the Chaotian section. ''Earth and Planetary Science Letters'', '''255''', 306–323, 2007 ([https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2006.12.021 Summary])</ref><ref>Shu-zhong Shen ''et al'' 2011. Calibrating the end-Permian mass extinction. ''Science'', DOI:10.1126/science.1213454, 2011 ([http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/11/16/science.1213454.abstract Summary])</ref> The Emeishan Traps are part of the scientific debate on the causes of mass extictions.<ref>Yukio Isozaki 2007. Plume winter scenario for biosphere catastrophe: the Permo-Trassic boundary case, in: Yuen ''et al'' ''Superplumes: beyond plate tectonics''. Springer, New York. 409-440.</ref> The end-Guadalupian extinction occurred at almost the same time as the Emeshian Traps were formed. This supports the argument, that volcanism is the main driving force behind mass extinctions. Another theory that has been proposed t