K-T Mass Extinction

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The K-T mass extinction had occurred about 65 million years ago, in which various different species had gone extinct. Furthermore, the significant group of animals to disappear was the dinosaurs. This K-T mass extinction event is known as the K-T mass extinction as the K stands for Cretaceous and the T for Tertiary as these were the time periods in which the extinction had occurred. Many individuals may believe that the species may have gone extinct due to an Asteroid impact or comet impact, however, in reality, the animals and its species were gone extinct due to volcanism as it was close to the plate boundary of India and Africa. Volcanoes seems to be the reason why this mass extinction has occurred since 65 million years ago there was …show more content…

As a volcano occurs it can cause some of the same impacts as an asteroid but it can have some different and more dangerous effects. For example, in the article,The K-T Extinction by Richard Cowen, it states, “Gigantic eruptions could produce results similar to those of an impact. Volcanic eruptions produce ash, but, even more important, they produce vast amounts of aerosols in the form of sulfuric acid droplets which stay suspended longer than ash and produce long-lasting effects on climate… the Deccan Traps eruptions include acid rain, ozone depletion, a greenhouse effect, a cooling effect, or any combination of the above…” (Cowen, page 4). This quote explains the outcomes of the volcano which are all negative and are very dangerous to the living organisms. These effects all include a change in the climate and atmosphere of the Earth in which the organisms probably couldn’t adapt to them which had caused them to go to extinct. Extinction of a species requires a great, massive event to occur in order to have the organisms extinct, in which this volcanic event was a great event during the Cretaceous and Tertiary event which may have caused extinction to happen. As you can see, events like volcanoes have long lasting impacts where organisms may disappear as the volcanoes get …show more content…

An Asteroid that may have hit the Earth may have long lasting impacts which may have caused the animals to go extinct. For example, in the article, The K-T Extinction by Richard Cowen it states, “An asteroid big enough to scatter the estimated amount of iridium in the worldwide spike at the K-T boundary may have been about 10 km (6miles) across… The iridium and the smallest pieces of debris would be spread worldwide by the impact blast as the asteroid vaporized into a fireball.” (Cowden, page1). This quote exhibits how dangerous the asteroids can be as it creates a great amount of destruction. The small pieces of debris can scatter all over the world which means a great extinction can occur. However, volcanoes can have a greater impact on mass extinction as they are more harmful. For example, from Live Science, in the article, Dinosaur Killer May Have Been Volcanism, Not Asteroid by Andrea Thompson it states, “Keller and others now say more about the life-extinguishing work of a massive series of sulfur dioxide-spewing volcanic eruptions that occurred in what is now India at the time of the dinosaur-destroying K-T mass extinction (the shorthand given to the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction)” (Thompson, para. 3). This proves how a humongous amount of sulfur dioxide was part of the volcanic eruption causing this massive extinction to occur. As you can see, the K-T mass

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