Question

when in earth’s history did so much carbon get trapped in the lignin of carboniferous forests that it could not decompose and be recycled back into the atmosphere fast enough that it caused an extinction event.

600 mya

500 mya

400 mya

300 mya

200 mya

100 mya

Explanation:

The Carboniferous period, when carbon was trapped in lignin of forests leading to an extinction - related event (the Carboniferous rainforest collapse), occurred around 300 million years ago (MYA). The other time periods (600 MYA, 500 MYA, 400 MYA, 200 MYA, 100 MYA) do not correspond to this specific event related to carbon - trapped lignin in Carboniferous forests.

Answer:

D. 300 MYA