The Effects of The Karoo Ice Age
The rising levels of oxygen in the Karoo Ice Age had major effects upon evolution of plants and animals. Higher oxygen concentration (and accompanying higher atmospheric pressure) enabled energetic metabolic processes which encouraged evolution of large land-dwelling vertebrates and flight, with the dragonfly-like Meganeura, an aerial predator, with a wingspan of 60 to 75 cm. The inoffensive stocky-bodied and armoured millipede-like Arthropleura was 1.8 meters long, and the semi-terrestrial Hibbertopterid eurypterids were perhaps as large, and some scorpions reached 50 or 70 cm. The rising levels of oxygen also led to the evolution of greater fire resistance in vegetation and ultimately to the evolution of flowering plants. Genetic studies have shown that this was when Angiosperms separated from Cycads and Gymnosperms.
In addition, the Karoo Ice Age has unique sedimentary sequences called cyclothems. These were produced by the repeated alterations of marine and nonmarine environments.
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