A new model of mass extinctions

Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron and Rafał Weron

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2001, vol. 293, issue 3, 559-565

Abstract: Distribution of extinction sizes constructed from original fossil records exhibits not a single, but a double power-law, with tail exponents being roughly the same in different scales, i.e., for species, families and orders. Moreover, time correlations of extinction sizes decrease with a power-law suggesting long range dependence and/or criticality in extinction events. A thorough analysis of paleobiological data is followed by an introduction of a model, which describes the behavior of complex systems with random interactions and uniquely leads to a double power-law observed in extinctions data.

Keywords: Mass extinction; Complex system; Power-law; CED model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:293:y:2001:i:3:p:559-565

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(01)00019-X

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