Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event

in a layer of dust (Smith, 2005). In Mexico there is a crater with a diameter of 180km called Chicxulub that has been dated to have first surfaced 65 million years ago leading scientists to believe that whatever caused the crater lead also to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Iridium, a rare metal that is also found in asteroids, has also been discovered as a layer covering the whole surface area on the Earth. Asteroids contain Iridium, a rare metal, this same metal has been found in a layer…

tyrannosaurus rex and the triceratops once roamed the Earth. Suddenly all these great creatures disappeared and it’s not quite sure how they vanished from existence. There are several theories to explain what is known to be the most popular mass extinction of all time. Asteroid The belief that an asteroid struck the planet earth is the most common and most believed theory. This theory has more evidence to back it up than just a giant rock hitting the Earth. This theory is backed up by the…

GANGANNA RAVINDRA Abstract— About Sixty-five million years ago, one of last non-avian reptile species called dinosaurs vanished from the earth. The extinction of this huge animal is a never-ending topic of interest, the mass extension of dinosaurs occurred over a very short geological period. Keywords— Non-Avian Dinosaurs, Mass extinction, Dinosaurs extinction theories; Asteroid impact; Volcanism; I. INTRODUCTION Dinosaurs are the certain group of reptiles which influenced and ruled the…

major meteorite impact may not have been the sole cause of the mass extinction involving the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Researchers have discovered an array of huge volcanic eruptions in india 66 million years ago which released large amounts of gases into the atmosphere, which drastically altered the climate. This new theory does not in fact eliminate the theory of a massive meteorite being a leading cause for the extinction of the dinosaurs, it simply examines how the meteorite is…

Permian-Triassic mass extinction (Benton et al. 2014). Transient episodes of unusually warm and wet conditions, interrupting long periods of cool and dry conditions, may have played a role in mass extinctions and long-term evolutionary trends (Retallack 2013). Although the Permo-Triassic mass extinction wiped out nearly 85% of species, the crises marked the beginning of the Mesozoic Era, a time period often associated with the Age of Reptiles (Benton et al. 2014). The Permo-Triassic extinction…

In her book The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert writes that there have been five mass extinctions in the history of planet earth. She asserts that currently the earth is on the precipice of a sixth mass extinction. In contrast with the previous five, according to Kolbert this sixth extinction is almost entirely caused by humans and our exploitation of the earth. In each of the book’s thirteen chapters, Kolbert highlights a particular species that is now extinct and analyzes the causes and…

asteroid that is roughly 10 kilometres across, hit Earth on the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It caused a huge explosion and left a crater that is about 185 kilometres across. This asteroid impact is commonly known to be the reason for the extinction of three quarters of the dinosaurs. (4) The asteroid soared through the sky at more than 40 times the speed of sound. (6) The earth moves through space in its orbit around the sun at 107,000 kilometres per hour. This makes the…

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…

years ago (mya) (Smith 2011). One major feature of this period is the formation of the supercontinent, Pangaea which affected the environment and the climate as well which gave rise to new species. Another distinct feature is the greatest mass extinction event which killed around 54% of all marine families and most of the land species as well (Erwin 1989). This phenomenon then gave way to the “Age of the Dinosaurs”. Geography and Climate Due to the movement of the tectonic plates, the two…

history there have been five Mass Extinctions, a global event where at least 75% of the life on Earth dies. In most of these events the only life form to survive are bacteria, or other small organisms that can hide from the destructive force that wipes out everything else. The Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) is the most recent and most famous Mass Extinction, taking place 65 million years ago. The K/T is the event in which the dinosaurs died in. The cause of this event is debated, however it is widely…