This article is intended to discuss the causes that led to the death of the dinosaurs. It mainly exposes the two alternative hypotheses that might have caused this mass extinction by explaining the main reasoning behind each of these premises.
The author exposes the points of views of different scientists and geologists in regards to the death of the dinosaurs, which- somehow- remains one of the most heated and contested “battles in science”. Particularly, the paper explains the stance of one geologist from Princeton who is an advocate of a different dinosaur extinction theory. Dr. Keller and her team have been developing a study that has been brought to light during a meeting of the Geological Society of America. Dr. Keller’s work seeks …show more content…
Thanks to accurate dating methods and other techniques, scientists from everywhere have found evidence of mass extinctions. Nowadays, we know that, most likely, dinosaurs died out hundreds of millions of years ago, and that the world has undergone five mass extinctions thus far. Here, the dinosaurs’ death is explained in two ways. On one hand, the Alvarez hypothesis is based on evidence found in places like Chicxulub (in Mexico) where a 110- mile crater dating back from the dinosaurs’ extinction period emerges. This hypothesis is based on the traces of extraterrestrial dust dating back from the dinosaurs’ massive die-off. On the other hand, Dr. Keller relies on the Deccan Traps of India as a more plausible explanation to account for the deaths of ‘three quarters of all animal and plant life’ on …show more content…
It is a common believe that mass extinction on our planet arose as a result of excessive warming and a deep acidification of the oceans. The asteroid theory states that the asteroid impact might have led to vaporization killing dinosaurs on the way. Dr. Keller’s hypothesis states that volcanic activity created a cascade effect that ended up in the extinction of these animals.
Either way, experts commonly agree that dinosaurs could not survive in very hot environments. But how did extinction happen? Apart from an asteroid altering the Earth’s crust, it is also known that volcanic eruptions allowed lava and gases to spread into the atmosphere leading to severe global warming, acid rain and acidifying oceans. All these factors damaged the dinosaurs’ habitats threatening their lives and ultimately driving them to extinction.
Consequently, this paper clearly showed that the death of the dinosaurs is far from being a “cut and dried” issue; in fact, some geologists are debating whether it would be wise to isolate one hypothesis from the other. They are inclined to believe that the asteroid actually might have led to severe volcanic activity (like in Deccan Traps). And there are others who believe that the simultaneous occurrence of the two might have been the true cause of the dinosaurs’
The author exposes the points of views of different scientists and geologists in regards to the death of the dinosaurs, which- somehow- remains one of the most heated and contested “battles in science”. Particularly, the paper explains the stance of one geologist from Princeton who is an advocate of a different dinosaur extinction theory. Dr. Keller and her team have been developing a study that has been brought to light during a meeting of the Geological Society of America. Dr. Keller’s work seeks …show more content…
Thanks to accurate dating methods and other techniques, scientists from everywhere have found evidence of mass extinctions. Nowadays, we know that, most likely, dinosaurs died out hundreds of millions of years ago, and that the world has undergone five mass extinctions thus far. Here, the dinosaurs’ death is explained in two ways. On one hand, the Alvarez hypothesis is based on evidence found in places like Chicxulub (in Mexico) where a 110- mile crater dating back from the dinosaurs’ extinction period emerges. This hypothesis is based on the traces of extraterrestrial dust dating back from the dinosaurs’ massive die-off. On the other hand, Dr. Keller relies on the Deccan Traps of India as a more plausible explanation to account for the deaths of ‘three quarters of all animal and plant life’ on …show more content…
It is a common believe that mass extinction on our planet arose as a result of excessive warming and a deep acidification of the oceans. The asteroid theory states that the asteroid impact might have led to vaporization killing dinosaurs on the way. Dr. Keller’s hypothesis states that volcanic activity created a cascade effect that ended up in the extinction of these animals.
Either way, experts commonly agree that dinosaurs could not survive in very hot environments. But how did extinction happen? Apart from an asteroid altering the Earth’s crust, it is also known that volcanic eruptions allowed lava and gases to spread into the atmosphere leading to severe global warming, acid rain and acidifying oceans. All these factors damaged the dinosaurs’ habitats threatening their lives and ultimately driving them to extinction.
Consequently, this paper clearly showed that the death of the dinosaurs is far from being a “cut and dried” issue; in fact, some geologists are debating whether it would be wise to isolate one hypothesis from the other. They are inclined to believe that the asteroid actually might have led to severe volcanic activity (like in Deccan Traps). And there are others who believe that the simultaneous occurrence of the two might have been the true cause of the dinosaurs’