How Did the Dinosaurs Die and Will It Affect Humans in the Future

The article explains the consequences of their efforts to drill into the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, the site where the asteroid supposedly struck. There was a lot of arguments as to which scientist would take the core section to analyze. In the end

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;

Stephen Gould’s essay “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of the Dinosaurs” completely agrees with Joseph Williams and Gregory Colomb’s essay “Argument, Critical Thinking, and Rationality.” Gould’s essay deals with three theories for the extinction of the dinosaurs, two of which he argues are entirely invalid because they are not in accordance with the basic rules of argument laid out by Williams and Colomb in their essay. Gould also states that the third theory of dinosaur extinction, natural disaster, follows all the rules that Williams and Colomb espouse, and thus is a sound argument. Gould, Williams, and Colomb all state that the world has a problem with irrational arguments being shoved down people’s throats, and call for a

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).

The Chicxulub crater is located on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and evaded detection for decades because it was buried while at the same time being reserved beneath a kilometre of younger rocks and sediments. Most scientists now agree that the Chicxulub crater is evidence that a huge asteroid or comet crashed into the Earth's surface 65 million years ago causing the extinction of more than 70% of the living species on the planet, including the dinosaurs. This collision idea was first popularised in 1980 by Luis Alvarez and his son, Walter Alvarez, where they developed the Alvarez hypothesis. They were studying a one centimetre-thick layer in Italy, which

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

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for over 65 million years and thankfully for the human race, they became extinct. Ultimately, only a major catastrophe could completely wipe out an entire species, let alone an entity of dinosaurs and the debacle on the causes of dinosaur extinction have flooded the minds of paleontologists for centuries. Geologist and zoologist Stephen Jay Gould published “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs,” to compare scientific and speculative causes of dinosaur decimation. Personally, I found this passage very informational and enjoyed reading it. Gould provides three theories that capture the reader’s curiosity, allowing room for pondering in one’s mind.

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 crater is measured at 180 kilometers across and can be dated to the time when dinosaurs disappeared. To cause a crater that large, the asteroid would had to have hit Earth with a force of at least 100,000 billion tons of TNT. The impact would have caused an earthquake greater than any ever recorded today, creating winds ranging higher than 400 kph. The dinosaurs that lived through the earthquake would not have lived much longer. More than ninety-thousand kilometers of debris would have been thrown into the atmosphere blocking sunlight. The blocked sunlight would have then caused darkness and cold temperatures that would have caused the lower end of the food chains to stop reproducing (Ducharme). Thus, the plant population levels would have been heavily reduced so there would not be enough plants to eat (Lerner

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.

The species that survived the dinosaur extinction are believed to be what life on this planet is descended from. Aligators, crocodiles, lizards and snakes are among the reptiles that survived what dinosaurs couldn’t. Birds also survived, and are the only descendants of dinosaurs that survived the mass extinction other than lizards. Frogs and salamanders are among the few small amphibians that survived. Mammals also survived and they are the largest group to survive the extinction. Over 50% of the world’s population were thought to have died out in the course of this event. Many species became extinct, some of these were marine reptiles, big amphibians, some reef-building creatures and some cephalopod molluscs.

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

Surprisingly, the clay held almost 30 times more iridium than the limestone layers above and below the clay. Similar layers in other parts of the world gave the same results. The conclusion was that a giant meteorite hit the Earth 65 million years ago and had released a large

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