Dinosaur impact theory challenged

[Analog]

Scientists have cast doubt on the well-established theory that a single, massive asteroid strike killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
New data suggests the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, supposedly created by the collision, predates the extinction of the dinosaurs by about 300,000 years.

The authors say this impact did not wipe out the creatures, rather two or more collisions could have been responsible.

The report is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

An international group of scientists led by Professor Gerta Keller, of Princeton University, US, looked at a continuous sequence of rock - a core - drilled out of the Chicxulub structure.


They analysed rock from this core using five separate indicators of age, including fossil planktonic organisms and patterns of reversals in the Earth's magnetic field.

The results suggest the 180-km wide crater was punched into the Earth 300,000 years before the dinosaurs disappeared from the face of the planet.

At numerous sites around the world, a clay layer separates rocks laid down in the Cretaceous Period from those deposited in the Tertiary and is known as the K-T boundary.

It marks the point in time when the dinosaurs died out and was first linked to the Chicxulub crater in 1991.

The researchers contend their findings prove the Chicxulub impact did not by itself trigger the extinction of the great beasts.

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[DanTMWTMP]

interesting...



so the virus theory will probably hold true so they can go on and make jurassicpark4?

 

[Siddhartha]

The scientific method is what attracted me to science back in 9th grade. There are no sacred cows, everything is open for question.

Can you imagine what would have happen if the meteor impact as the cause for the mass extinction of dinosaurs was church doctrine? Alabama and Georgia would pass laws that only the meteor impact theory could be taught in schools.

 

[iwearnosox]

Didn't they determine that the crater most likely to have caused this landed in the ocean?

 

[LordMagnusKain]

we all know that the dinosaurs died off because of the flood.

next question.

 

[dethman]

Originally posted by: Dr Smooth
The scientific method is what attracted me to science back in 9th grade. There are no sacred cows, everything is open for question.

Can you imagine what would have happen if the meteor impact as the cause for the mass extinction of dinosaurs was church doctrine? Alabama and Georgia would pass laws that only the meteor impact theory could be taught in schools.

😀

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: Dr Smooth
The scientific method is what attracted me to science back in 9th grade. There are no sacred cows, everything is open for question.

Can you imagine what would have happen if the meteor impact as the cause for the mass extinction of dinosaurs was church doctrine? Alabama and Georgia would pass laws that only the meteor impact theory could be taught in schools.

We also know that all black people steal. Doh, the generalizations. Don't you mean that a very vocal minority in Alabama and Georgia would beg for such law to be passed? Be fair.

 

[Czesia]

I wrote a paper about these theories a couple of years ago. Actually, it has been pretty well established that no single event actually wiped out the dinosaurs from the face of the planet, but that multiple events contributed to their demise. I studied some 90 theories or so, and negative impacts leading to the ultimate extinction of the dinosaurs included the asteroid impact where the Yucatan peninsula is now located, volcanic eruptions, sea level fluctuations and other factors.

Even more intriguing is that in all reality, dinosaurs really are not extinct at all (in a sense). Only the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct. Some avian dinosaurs are still around today and we know them as birds.

Really interesting topic, yellowfiero. 🙂

 

[XZeroII]

Originally posted by: Czesia
I wrote a paper about these theories a couple of years ago. Actually, it has been pretty well established that no single event actually wiped out the dinosaurs from the face of the planet, but that multiple events contributed to their demise. I studied some 90 theories or so, and negative impacts leading to the ultimate extinction of the dinosaurs included the asteroid impact where the Yucatan peninsula is now located, volcanic eruptions, sea level fluctuations and other factors.

Even more intriguing is that in all reality, dinosaurs really are not extinct at all (in a sense). Only the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct. Some avian dinosaurs are still around today and we know them as birds.

Really interesting topic, yellowfiero. 🙂

I've always wondered how these craters could have survived this long. According to plate techtonic theory (it's called something else, but you know what I'm talking about) the world looked a lot different back then and these plates would have moved significantly since the days of the dinosaurs. Wouldn't this shifting cause mountain ranges (like the rockies) in some areas which would destroy lots of evidence. Then it would probably cause some sort of leveling in other areas. Both of these would certainly mess up the rock layers. Did your research come up with anything explaining this?

 

[MacBaine]

Originally posted by: Czesia
I wrote a paper about these theories a couple of years ago. Actually, it has been pretty well established that no single event actually wiped out the dinosaurs from the face of the planet, but that multiple events contributed to their demise. I studied some 90 theories or so, and negative impacts leading to the ultimate extinction of the dinosaurs included the asteroid impact where the Yucatan peninsula is now located, volcanic eruptions, sea level fluctuations and other factors.

Even more intriguing is that in all reality, dinosaurs really are not extinct at all (in a sense). Only the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct. Some avian dinosaurs are still around today and we know them as birds.

Really interesting topic, yellowfiero. 🙂

Don't forget [edit: some] reptiles...

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: XZeroII

Originally posted by: Czesia
I wrote a paper about these theories a couple of years ago. Actually, it has been pretty well established that no single event actually wiped out the dinosaurs from the face of the planet, but that multiple events contributed to their demise. I studied some 90 theories or so, and negative impacts leading to the ultimate extinction of the dinosaurs included the asteroid impact where the Yucatan peninsula is now located, volcanic eruptions, sea level fluctuations and other factors.

Even more intriguing is that in all reality, dinosaurs really are not extinct at all (in a sense). Only the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct. Some avian dinosaurs are still around today and we know them as birds.

Really interesting topic, yellowfiero. 🙂

I've always wondered how these craters could have survived this long. According to plate techtonic theory (it's called something else, but you know what I'm talking about) the world looked a lot different back then and these plates would have moved significantly since the days of the dinosaurs. Wouldn't this shifting cause mountain ranges (like the rockies) in some areas which would destroy lots of evidence. Then it would probably cause some sort of leveling in other areas. Both of these would certainly mess up the rock layers. Did your research come up with anything explaining this?

If the meteorite hit at a plate boundary then yeah, it'd be messed up by now, but if it hit in the middle of a plate, it'd just go along for the ride.