It was the Asteroid what did it!

[Christmas Tree 4704]

A massive asteroid was to blame for the demise of the dinosaur, and not a volcanic eruption, scientists have said.

 

A panel of 41 experts from around the world said the mass extinction wiped out more than half of all species on the planet, including the dinosaurs and some large marine reptiles.

 

The concluded the impact, that happened around 65 million years ago, cleared the way for mammals to become Earth's dominant species.

 

The 15-kilometre wide asteroid is believed to have hit the planet with a force one billion times more powerful than the atomic bomb at Hiroshima.

 

It resulted in the crater known as the Chicxulub crater buried underneath the Yucatan Peninsula. 

 

The asteroid - about the size of the Isle of Wight - would have blasted material at high speed into the atmosphere.

 

That set off a chain of events that caused a global winter, wiping out much of life on Earth in a matter of days, the review says.

 

Scientists had previously argued about whether the so-called Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT)extinction was caused by the asteroid or by volcanic activity in India over 1.5 million years.

 

For the new study, scientists analysed 20 years of work by palaeontologists, geochemists, climate modellers, geophysicists and sedimentologists.

 

They concluded that geological records show the event that triggered the extinction destroyed marine and land ecosystems rapidly, meaning an asteroid impact was the only plausible explanation. 

 

Dr Joanna Morgan, co-author of the review from Imperial College London, said: "We now have great confidence that an asteroid was the cause of the KT extinction.

 

"This shrouded the planet in darkness and caused a global winter, killing off many species that couldn't adapt to this hellish environment."

 

Co-author Dr Gareth Collins, also from Imperial College, added: "The explosion of hot rock and gas would have looked like a huge ball of fire on the horizon, grilling any living creature in the immediate vicinity that couldn't find shelter.

 

"Ironically, while this hellish day signalled the end of the 160-million-year reign of the dinosaurs, it turned out to be a great day for mammals, who had lived in the shadow of the dinosaurs prior to this event.

 

"The KT extinction was a pivotal moment in Earth's history, which ultimately paved the way for humans to become the dominant species on Earth."

[Andrew 4720]

I always preferred that theory over the supervolcano one

[Christmas Tree 4704]

I thought they had all decided it was due to a sudden discharge of methaney stuff from the sea bed.

[Monkeys Fist 42116]

T'was aliens..

[Lazarus 0]

As vast as this extiction event was it was nothing compared to the PT event 200m years prior

 

It was the Earth's most severe extinction event, with up to 96 percent of all marine species[4] and 70 percent of terrestrial vertebrate species becoming extinct; it is the only known mass extinction of insects.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian-Trias...xtinction_event

[Christmas Tree 4704]

As vast as this extiction event was it was nothing compared to the PT event 200m years prior

 

It was the Earth's most severe extinction event, with up to 96 percent of all marine species[4] and 70 percent of terrestrial vertebrate species becoming extinct; it is the only known mass extinction of insects.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian-Trias...xtinction_event

 

 

This must be the one I am getting mixed up with. Nasty little bugger that.

[Rob W 0]

Chicxulub crater /??

 

Lot of discussion in the Earth Science community about this old chestnut

 

The evidence is equivocal - the extinction "event" was spread out over milions of years and it never took out as many species as the TV Specials claim

 

Lots of dinosaurs around fro quite a while afterwards

 

maybe they died of boredom

[snakehips 0]

I thought they'd come to this conclusion (asteroid = end of dino etc) a long time ago. I recall watching a documentary years ago on it.

 

I think these scientists are just normal blerks who know when there's easy money to be made. "Excuse Mr Govt/Civil Service/University chap. I'd like to spend five years on an analysis if the ocean, to see if it's salty in hot exotic locations." "Why?" " Er, because it's very important." "Oh. Okay then. Here's £40k a year for the next five years."

 

Five years, and an extremely good tan, later:

 

IT'S OFFICIAL. SCIENTISTS PROVE SEA IS STILL SALTY IN EXOTIC LOCATIONS.

[Tooj 17]

I thought they'd come to this conclusion (asteroid = end of dino etc) a long time ago. I recall watching a documentary years ago on it.

 

I think these scientists are just normal blerks who know when there's easy money to be made. "Excuse Mr Govt/Civil Service/University chap. I'd like to spend five years on an analysis if the ocean, to see if it's salty in hot exotic locations." "Why?" " Er, because it's very important." "Oh. Okay then. Here's £40k a year for the next five years."

 

Five years, and an extremely good tan, later:

 

IT'S OFFICIAL. SCIENTISTS PROVE SEA IS STILL SALTY IN EXOTIC LOCATIONS.

Blatantly have one of those said blerks on your ship like.

[DarkStar 0]

T'was aliens..

 

Probably was aliens.

[Jusoda Kid 1]

Chicxulub crater /??

 

Lot of discussion in the Earth Science community about this old chestnut

 

The evidence is equivocal - the extinction "event" was spread out over milions of years and it never took out as many species as the TV Specials claim

 

Lots of dinosaurs around fro quite a while afterwards

maybe they died of boredom

 

And still knocking around now by the looks of it.

[Monkeys Fist 42116]

T'was aliens..

 

Probably was aliens.

Never mind " probably " , you're either on the bus or you're not- which is it Dark Lord? Hmmmm

[NJS 4373]

The Devonian one Laz mentioned is more interesting - I saw a programme about that one which suggested the volcanic eruptions in Siberia raised the global temp by 5c over about 40k years but that rise caused the methane on the sea floor to rise which caused another 5c rise - 10c = death to almost everything.

 

I'd assume the dinosaur event was similar - the asteroid set in motion a climate change that took a while to "work" rather than being instant.