Sunday, March 7, 2010

Looks Like a Big Rock Killed the Dinosaurs

"Rock Solid Link: Asteroid Doomed the Dinosaurs"
Space.com (March 4, 2010)

"Scientists have debated for two decades whether a giant space rock wiped out the dinosaurs or if some other catastrophe did the deed.

"Now, a blue-ribbon panel of scientists has banded together to support the link between the Chicxulub asteroid impact crater in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula with the mass extinction of dinosaurs and the majority of life on our planet 65 million years ago.

" 'It is an international consensus. They are saying that there's a rock solid link between the Chicxulub impact event and the K-T boundary mass extinction,' said David Kring, a Senior Staff Scientist and geologist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in nearby Houston...."

I'm not terribly surprised at the conclusion: Something that blew a hole a mile deep and 110 miles wide (Space.com (14 April 2008)) might reasonably be expected to throw a monkey wrench in the works. Sounds like 85% of the species around at the time died out. ("The End-Cretaceous (K-T) Extinction," Hooper Virtual Paleontological Musuem, Canada)

Not that the K-T event was the worst time for Earth's 'delicate' ecosystems. Now that mass extinction in the Permian: That was a big one.

Anyway: that Space.com article doesn't go into much detail, but it does give a sort of overview on what's happened, and what sort of thinking goes into decisions like the one that 'blue ribbon panel' made.

Related posts:
More in this blog:

No comments:

Unique, innovative candles

Visit us online:
Spiral Light CandleFind a Retailer
Spiral Light Candle online store

Pinterest: From the Man Behind the Lemming

Top 10 Most-Viewed Posts

Today's News! Some of it, anyway

Actually, some of yesterday's news may be here. Or maybe last week's.
The software and science stuff might still be interesting, though. Or not.
The Lemming thinks it's interesting: Your experience may vary.
("Following" list moved here, after Blogger changed formats)

Who Follows the Lemming?

WebSTAT

Family Blogs - Blog Catalog Blog Directory