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Two secondary effects of volcanic eruptions
Dinosaurs extinction
Theory of dinosaur extinction
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The mass extinction of the dinosaurs is still a mystery today, but there are some theories today that suggest what happened. One of the more widely accepted theories is the asteroid theory. This theory suggests that an asteroid with an approximate diameter of 6-15 km, hit the earth with a force of five billion atomic bombs. Another theory that they believe could of happened is the volcano theory, that many volcanoes erupted and wiped the dinosaurs out.
Even though we don't know what happened for sure to the dinosaurs and how they were extinct, there is evidence that suggest how they were extinct. A massive crater with more than 180km in diameter was found buried at Chicxulub in Mexico in 1990. This finding helps support the asteroid theory. They say that the impact of the asteroid would have incinerated all plants and animals in its path, caused fires, generated earthquakes and tsunamis and scattered debris, dust and sulphuric acid into the atmosphere. When all the plants die all of the herbivore dinosaurs will die. When all the herbivores die the carnivores will follow as they feed
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Both the events that we argue about, the asteroid impact and the volcano eruption both could wipe out most life forms on earth. The effect after both events are very similar. The eruption of a volcano would shoot ash and other fragments into the sky most likely blocking the sunlight to reach any life forms and also dropping the temperature. The impact of an asteroid with an approximate diameter of 6-15 km would have scattered dust, debris and sulphuric acid into the atmosphere and that would of blocked or minimised the amount of sunlight resulting in a drop in temperature. Both events after, would of wiped out any plant forms as the would be a lack of sunlight and the temperature drop would be too cold for some to survive. (Oxford university, 2012,
The possibility if a meteor strike as the cause of extinctions is discarded, something that most specialists agree on. There is no evidence of any meteor crater big enough or recent enough to be accountable for it; there are no “elements that are common extraterrestrially but less so on Earth, such as iridium, and no sign of a tsunami or other phenomena following the impact.” The extinctions where also very selective and occurred over a very long period of time. If a “one shot” catastrophe had been the cause it would have affected all species at the same time and in similar
“Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” is written by Stephen Jay Gould, professor of geology and zoology at Harvard. This essay is one of more than a hundred articles on evolution, zoology, and paleontology published by Gould in national magazines and journals. It tells about scientific proposals for the extinction of dinosaurs – a confusing but an exciting problem that humanity tries to solve. By analyzing and describing each of the claims for the reptiles’ demise – sex, drugs, and disasters – Gould differentiates bad science from good science and explains what makes some theories silly speculations, while the other, a testable hypothesis.
...ories of why dinosaurs went extinct abound, and as there is no theory yet to be truly confirmed as the “right one”, my theory of dinosaur cannibalism is also purely anecdotal. The discovery of the cannibalistic Majungatholus atopus in Madagascar is an important scientific find because it confirms a long-standing theory of cannibalism among certain carnivorous dinosaurs. Behavioral patterns of extinct animals are difficult to establish; however, these bones give authentication to previous unfounded beliefs about the ancient feeding practices of some dinosaurs.
The biggest mass extinction of the past 600 million years (My), the end-Permian event (251 My ago), witnessed the loss of as much as 95% of all species on Earth. Key questions for biologists concern what combination of environmental changes could possibly have had such a devastating effect, the scale and pattern of species loss, and the nature of the recovery. New studies on dating the event, contemporary volcanic activity, and the anatomy of the environmental crisis have changed our perspectives dramatically in the past five years. Evidence on causation is equivocal, with support for either an asteroid impact or mass volcanism, but the latter seems most probable.
However, asteroids are much more deadly. If over-sized meteor can wreck buildings and injure people, then a normal sized asteroid can easily wipe out species if it lands in the right place. As mentioned before, asteroids are much bigger than meteor and much more rare. According to the “Mail Online” 12,000 years ago some type of asteroid slammed into the Northern Canada and some scientist believe that wiped off the mammoths and caused the “Younger Dryas”. Another famous event of asteroids striking, that many scientist believe, was around 65 million years ago asteroids rained and killed of all the dinosaurs 75% of all the life on earth.
Because dinosaurs are animals that lived millions of years ago, we are entirely dependent on the fossils that they have left behind for any understanding that we hope to gain. As any paleontologist will tell you, fossil hunting is difficult. There are no certainties, no guarantees. A certain amount of luck is as valuable as any scientific knowledge.
We use dinosaurs to represent the changes in nature that have occurred throughout time. Studies found that although the “oldest rock did not show evidence of life, the progression of plant and animal life that changed in recognizable intervals, from ancient life, age of reptiles to the age of mammals” (Dino Nature Metaphor, slide 6), measured the age of the earth. When we think of dinosaurs in relation to nature, we think of that very powerful force that controls the cycle of life. Nature was able to yield such magnificent ferocious creatures that walked the earth and then take them back when they served nature’s purpose. Dinosaurs fit perfectly in nature’s constant
Armageddon begins by showing the destruction of the Earth by an asteroid 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs inhabited the earth. According to the narration, the asteroid is said to have been six miles wide, with the power of 10,000 nuclear weapons. The after effects were trillions of tons of dirt and rock thrown into the atmosphere, creating a blanket of dust that the sun was unable to penetrate for 1,000 years. The narrator explained that it happened once, and that it would happen again, it was only a matter of when.
Sixty-Five million years ago, 70 percent of life on Earth died. The most reasonable and possible reason this happened was an asteroid. An asteroid hit the Earth very hard, and in doing this, dirt and dust from the impact stayed in the air and it blocked out sunlight, that’s why the dinosaurs died. An asteroid is a rock from outer space. Asteroids have orbited the Sun along with the planets since the solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago, but it’s only been 200 years since we first discovered them. Meteorites are small pieces of asteroids broken off on impact with other asteroids. Most meteorites are rusty brown on the outside, have rounded edges from melting as they go through Earth’s atmosphere, and contain iron. There are 3 different types of meteorites: stony, metallic, and stony metallic.92 percents of all asteroids are stone, 6 percent are made of iron and nickel, and the rest are a combination. Some meteorites also contain gold, copper, platinum, and carbon.
The most significant event of the Cretaceous era came at its end. Nearly 65 million years ago, the second most severe mass extinction in earth’s history occurred. This resulted in the loss of around 80% of species living at the time. Though nowhere near as severe as the end-Permian mass extinction, the end-Cretaceous extinction is the most well known mass extinction event. This is due to the violent event that caused it the extinction, as well as the chapter of earth’s history that it closed: the Dinosaurs. The Cretaceous Event ( often shortened to K-T event) Of the animals that were killed off were the flying reptiles (pterosaurs) and the last few mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, both early marine reptiles. Many mollusks and species of microscopic plankton were killed. Terrestrial plants suffered mass extinction as well. Almost 60% of terrestrial plants were lost. This led to high extinction rates among insect populations, especially insects that were highly specialized to feed on just a few types of plants had it the worst. It took approximately 9 million years for the global insect populations to recover from the Cretaceous extinction. Immediately after the extinction, the earth saw an explosion of short term species who respond well to fire, or other external disturbance. Evidence of the catastrophe comes from a thin rock layer deposited worldwide just after the impact. It is dominated by fossil plants whose descendants recover quickly after fires of other disturbances, such as Fire Weed in Alaska. The causes of the Cretaceous extinction are still being debated by paleontologists. Scientists agree that the main cause of the extinction was a...
seems like it happened so sudden, as geologic time goes, that almost all the dinosaurs
Several mass extinctions have occurred during the Earth’s history. The Cretaceous – Tertiary Boundary (K-T) Extinction caused the loss of at least three-quarters of all species known at that time including the dinosaurs. The cause of this mass extinction is a controversial subject among scientists but the fossil evidence of it’s occurrence is abundant.
The most popular theory of dinosaur extinction, the asteroid theory, says that dinosaurs died out because of a single, giant asteroid. They say that the asteroid that struck the earth near the Gulf of Mexico went 43,000 mph and spanned six miles wide (Erdman). When it hit the Earth the asteroid it left an enormous crater that measured 24 miles deep and 125 miles wide (Erdman). Just the impact of the asteroid destroyed the forests and landscape of the majority of North America due to its massive shock wave (Erdman). Many species went extinct when the asteroid hit, these species include dinosaurs, ammonites (certain ocean dwelling creatures), pterosaurs, and some plant groups dinosaurs, ammonites (mollusks related to the octopus and the chambered nautilus), pterosaurs, and certain plant groups. Although devastating, the asteroid did not wipe out all of the animals on Earth, it didn’t exterminate fish, frogs, turtles, birds, mammals and croco...
Space debris is the collection of useless objects in orbit around Earth. It includes all from erosion, spent rocket stages, old satellites, collisions, and fragments from disintegration. A large number of technical studies are currently developing concepts of active removal of space debris to protect space assets from on orbit collision. Since orbits overlap with new spacecraft therefore debris may collide with operational spacecraft.
Ever since the beginning of time there have been stars. Not only stars in the sky, but moons, planets, and even galaxies! Astronomy is defined as the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole. In other words it is the study of space, planets, and stars. Throughout the ages, many people have used astronomy to help them learn about the universe, our own planet, and even make predictions about life itself. Understanding astronomy means understanding where it originated, the different groups/cultures that used it, and modern purposes of the science of the stars.