The truth is out…
Asteroid killed Dinosaurs!
Chamari Senanayake
Dinosaurs have fascinated us since childhood, and not just because of
the hit movie ‘Jurrasic Park’, mostly because they lived millions and
millions of years ago
Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton at the American Museum of Natural
History |
and met with a mysterious sudden extinction. Dinosaurs were a varied
group of animals.
Paleontologists have identified over 500 distinct Genus and more than
1,000 different species of dinosaur and remains have been found on every
continent on Earth. Some dinosaurs were herbivorous, others carnivorous.
Since the first dinosaur fossils were recognized in the early
nineteenth century, mounted dinosaur skeletons have been major
attractions at museums around the world, and dinosaurs have become a
part of world culture.
After decades of research and debates, a major study claims to have
conclusive proof now that dinosaurs were wiped out within a short period
as weeks, because of an asteroid the size of the Isle of Wight slamming
into the Earth.
Researchers say the impact sent a vast flume of dust into the
atmosphere 65 million years ago, unleashed a torrent of powerful
earthquakes and triggered forest fires across North America, blocking
out the sun and wiping out half of all species.
The panel consisted of of 41 international experts, which included
British researchers from Cambridge University, Imperial College and the
University of London.
And they looked at 20 years of research to settle the long running
debate about what killed the dinosaurs.
The mass extinction event also wiped out the bird-like pterosaurs and
the large marine reptiles, which they believe cleared the way for
mammals to become the dominant species on Earth.
It has long been a debate if the dinosaurs were killed by a space
collision or by volcanic activity in India, where a series of ‘super
volcanoes’ erupted for more than a million years, cooling the atmosphere
and triggering torrential acid rain.
An artist’s impression of the collision AFP/Getty images |
As per daily Mail reports, Dr Joanna Morgan, the co-author of the
review at Imperial College London, said: ‘We now have great confidence
that an asteroid was the cause of the extinction.
Dinosaurs |
* Dominant
terrestrial vertebrate animals for over 160 million years
* Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event caused the extinction of
most dinosaur species
* Identified over 500 distinct genera
* Remains found on every continent on Earth
* Some dinosaurs were herbivorous, others carnivorous
* “Dinosaur” was coined in 1842 by Sir Richard Owen
* Been featured in best-selling books and films such as Jurassic
Park |
This triggered large-scale fires, earthquakes measuring more than 10
on the Richter scale and continental landslides, which created tsunamis.
However, the final nail in the coffin for the dinosaurs happened when
blasted material was ejected at high velocity into the atmosphere.’
‘This shrouded the planet in darkness and caused a global winter,
killing off many species that couldn’t adapt to this hellish
environment.’
The paper, published in Science, pieces together powerful evidence
collection since the 1990s. However, the biggest evidence seems to be
the 65-million-year-old layer of iridium that is found in rocks all over
the world.
The metal is extremely rare in the Earth’s crust, but is common in
asteroids and almost certainly came from a collision with a massive
asteroid.
Geologists have also found large amounts of ‘shocked quartz’ dated to
the same time. The mineral is created during meteorite collisions or
nuclear explosions.
The fossil record shows that immediately after the asteroid impact,
there was a dramatic fall in the number of animals’ species.
In the previous 500,000 years, however, there are no signs of species
dying out, at least not in this scale despite the large number of active
super volcanos.
This seem to prove the argument that the massive collision, not the
volcanos that killed the Dinosaurs.
Image of a pre-historic time… |
This also comes with a discovery of a 65 million year old 125mile
wide crater, which was caused by the impact with a nine mile wide
asteroid, at Chicxulub, Mexico.
The asteroid is thought to have hit the Earth with the force of one
billion Hiroshima sized atomic bombs and would have blasted material at
high speed into the atmosphere where it would have blocked out the sun.
Dr Gareth Collins, of Imperial College London, said: ‘The asteroid
was about the size of the Isle of Wight and hit Earth 20 times faster
than a speeding bullet.
The explosion of hot rock and gas would have looked like a huge ball
of fire on the horizon, grilling any living creature in the immediate
vicinity that couldn’t find shelter’.
While this sad hellish day signalled the end of the 160 million year
reign of the dinosaurs that facinates us today, it turned out to be a
great day for mammals, which ultimately paved the way for humans to
become the dominant species on Earth. |