Earth and Geology

1. Extinction of the
Dinosaurs
By Chris Keach

2. The KT-Extinction event
The KT extinction event was
a massive extinction of
several species at the end
of the Cretaceous period.
It is called the KT-
Extinction event because
it marks the transitioning
of the cretaceous period
into the tertiary period.
Which occurred about 6.5
million years ago. This
period is marked by a
geological marker known
as the KT boundary

3. Theories on extinction
He believes that there is an
unusually high concentration of
iridium in the KT boundary. Iridium
is generally rare in the earths
surface, but common in asteroids
and meteors.
Physicist Luis Alvarez
suggested that a large meteor
impact may be responsible for
wiping out the dinosaurs.

4. The problem with Alvarez’s theory is that there is no impact crater
from a large enough meteor to cause the amount of dust and
change in weather that would have been necessary for a
worldwide extinction which leads to the idea of a multiple impact.
The Silverpit And Boltysh craters pictured above, as well as the
Eagle Butte, and Vista alegre craters in canada and brazil are all
dated about 65 million years old. If they all struck within a few
years of each other, they would have easily been responsible for the
KT extinction event
Multiple Impact theory

5. Deccan Traps Theory
Another theory is that high
volcanic activity caused the
KT Extincton event. A series
of volcanoes in india known
as the Deccan traps may
have caused or contributed
to the extinction
Volcanoes on the VEI-8 (volcanic
explosive index) range can easily
cover the earth in enough dust and
smog to cause a volcanic winter and
ice age, so a volcanic eruption could
have easily contributed to the
dinosaurs extinction

6. Mass Extinction
While we are not sure exactly what
happened, what we do know is that
one or many events occurred within a
period of time that drastically altered
the climate of the earth. Whether a
meteor impact, volcanic eruptions, or a
multitude of reasons, the dinosaur
population could not cope with the
environment change brought about.