Contrasting Theories on the Extinction of Dinosaurs Essay examples

How did the dinosaurs really die? Located in the Bible have been verses that describe creatures that resemble what we might call dinosaurs. According to the Bible, dinosaurs were created by God, and existed over 6,000 years ago (Ham; Dinosaurs), and thanks to the evidence of the tissue found in the T-Rex bone (NBC News). This tissue couldn’t have lasted so long if it were any older. Many Evolutionists and Secularists state that the dinosaurs didn’t exist while the humans did, but state that they became extinct before the humans were even alive and say that they existed millions of years before humans (Ham; Dinosaurs). Dinosaurs couldn’t have died before the existence of humans because death was a result of Adam and Eve’s sin (Ham; Dinosaurs). All of the different species of the dinosaurs did broad Noah’s Ark, but those creatures that couldn’t board the cataclysmic event died and became the fossils that have been discovered by the many scientists of the world (Ham; Dinosaurs). After the Genesis Flood the earth was greatly changed because the sin of humans, death had entered the world. The teterous climate, lack of food, man’s sinful actions, and disease, were all results from the fall, and these results also became the results for the extinction of many creatures such as dinosaurs (Ham;

Large amounts of iridium – a chemical element that is not a part of the Earth’s crust composition – were originally found in rocks of Europe and United States, and have been found everywhere ever since. Iridium, common in meteorites, is a testable evidence of the disaster hypothesis. Gould continues that the Cretaceous debacle, which is one of five episodes of mass dying, occurred at the same time as the large comet might have smashed into the Earth. The author believes this is not merely a coincidence, rather, it is a proof of the cause-effect relationship. The demise of a wide range of habitats along with the extinction of dinosaurs gives an inestimable advantage to the disaster theory over other claims, the author adds. The comet struck the Earth, and habitats, from terrestrial to marine, died with geological suddenness. Finally, this hypothesis has had an impact on the study of an atomic war and its consequences. A nuclear war, Gould says, may cause a huge drop in temperatures and result in the extinction of humanity. Testable evidence, study, development, contribution – all this makes good science.

Gerta Keller, professor of geosciences at Princeton University, has recently conducted research on the Chicxulub asteroid in which she analyzed new core samples taken from the asteroid site (Botzer 2004). These samples indicate that the impact that occurred at Chicxulub actually predated the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, which occurred at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary about sixty-five million years ago. Keller claims that the Chicxulub impact occurred approximately 300,000 years before the extinction (Keller 2004). Although previous researchers estimated that the Chicxulub asteroid was the cause of the extinctions, there had always been doubts about the exact age and size of the crater, and about the origin of the “mega tsunami deposits” that were located within the crater (Keller 2004). The focus of Keller’s recent research was on finding some answers to these questions. To do so she analyzed Cretaceous limestone, dolomite, and anhydrite deposits as the site of the Chicxulub crater (Keller 2004).

He narrowed his hunt down to a location in Denmark, where he had sent a colleague to perform an iridium analysis test at ("Asteroids and Dinosaurs: Unexpected Twists and an Unfinished Story," n.d.). When the results came back, Alvarez knew that whatever happened had not been a small-scale disaster. Once again, Alvarez was back to asking questions. What caused the increased iridium levels at the KT boundary? Except this time, he realized that his observations supported the ten year old hypothesis that had been proposed by paleontologist Dale Russell and physicist Wallace Tucker ("Asteroids and Dinosaurs: Unexpected Twists and an Unfinished Story," n.d.). They brought up the possibility of a supernova being the cause of dinosaur extinction. Supernovas are known to release high amounts of iridium, so such a hypothesis fit perfectly with Alvarez’s team’s discovery. However, the hope of having found a conclusion was short-lived. Luis Alvarez had mentioned that if said supernova had occurred that it would have released amounts of plutonium which would have been found alongside the iridium; no plutonium was found at either site. After more digging, the team came up with a new hypothesis ("Asteroids and Dinosaurs: Unexpected Twists and an Unfinished Story," n.d.). Perhaps an asteroid had struck Earth towards the end of the Cretaceous period, blowing enough dust into the atmosphere to

At the beginning of the passage, he tells the readers that two of these theories are speculation and the other is pure science but each one is hard to dismiss. Testicular malfunction, the first example, cannot provide enough evidence to support this theory, solely because a paleontologist cannot extract samples and information from a fossil and simply because testicles do not fossilize. The scientists proving this theory, E. H. Colbert for an example, admitted that testicular malfunction is just a hypothesis. Therefore, Gould believes that this theory is merely unusable, but not as disadvantageous as psychoactive overdosing. Drug overdosing, like sex, can not be tested because again, like testicles, livers do not fossilize. In addition, there is also not enough evidence to prove this theory explicable, thus becoming another speculation proposal. Consequently, the theory of asteroidal zapping is the exponential scientific reasoning for dinosaur extinction. This theory can be proven by Luis and Walter Alvarez, a father-son geologist team, who became the first to propose the idea of asteroidal collision. The father and son duo collected sediment samples from deep in the Earth’s core in which they found extremely high amounts of iridium. Iridium is a highly testable chemical, therefore allowing the theory of asteroid and earth collision to be plausible. Gould’s final analysis proposes that asteroidal collision is the most scientific theory among the three. The author believes the asteroid colliding with earth and changing its temperatures allowed for evolution to happen. In summary, Gould distinctly and carefully analyzes the three theories, showing his reasoning for his scientific

In Stephen Jay Gould’s “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs”, Gould investigates three possible theories hypothesizing the reason behind the extinction of dinosaurs. The first theory suggests that dinosaurs became extinct due to a rise in temperature, which caused sperm to die, leading to the sterilization of male dinosaurs. The second hypothesis offer that many dinosaurs consumed bitter plants that contained psychoactive agents which their lives could not detoxify out of their systems. The last speculation about the dinosaur’s extinction is that a large cloud of dust formed in the atmosphere after an asteroid hit Earth’s surface. This dust cloud blocked out the sunlight, causing temperatures to drop and made photosynthesis impossible. Gould uses these three theories to lead to his central claim that science isn’t just about making fascinating claims, but should have a well developed hypothesis.

The main dinosaurs that died off were Sauropod dinosaurs, long necked, four legged dinosaurs, and stegosauridae, class holding Stegosaurus. Other species that died include ammonites, similar to the living animals called nautilus, many marine reptiles, and bivalves, relatable to modern mollusca. Not much is known about this extinction. It is mainly linked to climate change. So far, no connection to volcanic activity or an asteroid has been made. This extinction gave way to the Cretaceous Period.

who theorize that volcanic eruptions could have been the cause for the extinction of dinosaurs

A crater, the Bedout crater, in Australia has been discovered. A bolide impact would have lead to mass death of marine and terrestrial organisms. The force of the impact could have released methane from stored organic matter and large earthquakes. These earthquakes would have triggered the volcanism in the Siberian traps, leading to the release of large amounts of CO2 and sulfur dioxide. These gases combined with methane previously released would have created a noxious atmosphere, combined with climate change that killed a large scale of life.

This month, a drilling platform will rise in the Gulf of Mexico, but it won’t be aiming for oil. Scientists will try to sink a diamond-tipped bit into the heart of Chicxulub crater—the buried remnant of the asteroid impact 66 million years ago that killed off the

The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction, also known as the K-T extinction, was a global extinction event that struck the Yucatan Peninsula at the end of the end of the Mesozoic Era, 65 million years ago. Walter Alvarez first discovered a meteorite big enough to be called a small asteroid that hit the Earth, creating the Chicxulub crater. Once the asteroid struck the North American continent, there were igneous rocks underneath the crater that contained high levels of a rare siderophile element, iridium. This catrostopic event had a massive effect on the environment, as several mammals, birds, and plants became extinct. It also caused an impact winter that made it impossible for plants and plankton to photosynthesis, as 75% of inland animals and 90% of marine species were affected. Not only did it cause an impact winter, but the asteroid also caused volcanic eruptions, climate change and sea level rise. Geologists have also found rich dinosaur, plant and marine fossils to illustrate the K-T extinction. This event not only caused species to become extinct, but it also had an adaptive radiation, as other species were able to diversify.

How exactly the asteroid damaged the Earth remains unclear, but the power released by such an impact is unquestionable. Effects possibly include reduced sunlight over a period of several months which possibly led to the decline or even total halt of primary production (via photosynthesis). One of the dominant signatures of the extinction at the KT boundary was the low activity of primary production, the possibility of reduced sunlight is high (Schulte et al. 2010) . Even if the primary production proved to be on a decline when this impact occurred, there is still some uncertainties as to where exactly the impact hit. This was why asymmetries in subsurface features of the Chicxulub crater were observed via geophysical methods were analyzed and it was calculated from estimates that the

Over 98% of all organisms that have lived on Earth are now extinct. A mass extinction event occurs when a large number of species die out within a small time frame (relative to the age of Earth). Mass extinctions are intensively studied for both cause and effect, as there is usually room for debate regarding catalysts that precede the extinction and the massive influx of new biological species that follows. There have been five major mass extinctions, dubbed the “Big Five,” that have wiped out at least 50% of the species living at those times. The most well known mass extinction of the Big Five, with the decimation of every species of non-avian dinosaur, is the Cretaceous-Paleogene

Nobody can really say what actually eliminated the species, although everyone has their very own idea. Asteroid impact, atmospheric changes (hot to cold), catastrophic eruptions and astronomical events (supernovas etc.). Some have ventured that early mammal inhabitation slowly “pushed” the dinosaurs to extinction. The most favored theory in the scientific field is that of the meteor impact. As always though, knowing when is part of discovering how and why.

Rapid climate change also ends up on the suspect list of possible dinosaur extinction events. During the latter part of the Cretaceous Period continents broke up causing volcanoes to erupt and fill the sky with gas and ash resulting in a drastic climate change (“Dinosaurs Climate Change and Biodiversity”). The shifting of continents changed the Earth’s landscape, altering weather patterns and overall climate (“Dinosaur Extinction Theories”). Also, over a long period of time, climate gradually changed. Ocean habits changed, temperatures grew much more extreme causing scorching summers and frigid winters (Norell, Dingus, and Gaffney). Radical temperature changes like these led to a green-house effect, making life for the dinosaurs a lot