Asteroid impact, not volcanic activity, killed the dinosaurs, study finds

[Judi Lynn]

By Chelsea Gohd 9 hours ago

It was the asteroid all along.

An asteroid impact, not volcanic activity, killed the dinosaurs, a new study finds.

For decades, scientists have gone back and forth over exactly what caused a mass extinction event 66 million years ago, which destroyed about 75% of all life on Earth, including all of the large dinosaurs. Some have thought that volcanic activity could be to blame, but one new study shows that a giant asteroid impact was the prime culprit.

Scientists have known that the impact, which created the massive Chicxulub impact crater (located in what is now the Yucatán Peninsula in southeast Mexico), was a major contributing factor to this extinction event. But volcanic activity happening at around the same time has raised questions over which could have been the main factor which changed conditions on our planet that led to the demise of Earth's creatures.

In a new study, researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Bristol and University College London have shown that the asteroid impact, not volcanic activity, was the main reason that about 75% of life on Earth perished at that time, and it did so by significantly interfering with Earth's climate and ecosystems.

More:
https://www.space.com/asteroid-impact-not-volcanoes-killed-dinosaurs.html?utm_source=notification

[soothsayer]

1. Not smoking?

[mdelaguna]

2. This has been known for years...

Interesting that it is still framed as a debate. Glad to see more studies, though.

[Igel]

3. It was the classy explanation.

But not the only one.

One claim was that dinosaurs had been on the decline long before the impact, with various eruptions having created some problems long before.

I forget if the Deccan traps are involved in this. I always liked the idea that the volcanism resulted from seismic waves that focused on the other side of the planet, but I don't know that this would have worked or if the idea's still kicking around.