The Emeishan Traps are part of the scientific debate on the causes of mass extictions. 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 to explain mass extinctions is that meteor or comet impact events caused them. In this context, the hypothesis is that impact events cause flood basalt eruptions, such as those which generated the Emeshian Traps. This hypothesis is not widely supported.