Dinosaur Killing Meteor? One of the interesting questions of the history of the planet is what happened to the dinosaurs that inhabited the Earth million of years ago. Dinosaurs used to be the dominant life form around two hundred twenty five million years ago. They flourished for- a long time but became extinct around sixty five million years ago. The reason for their extinction has been the source of heated debate. Many hypotheses have been given for- the extinction. Some theories have merit while others seem highly improbable such as little green beings from Mars retrieving them. Others propose that volcanoes, bad genes, meteors, global cooling, global warming and many others wiped out the dinosaurs. I know, not one of these theories has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. The only thing that is known for sure is that dinosaurs were gone by around sixty five million years ago. A friend of mine explained to me not to long ago that his professor was convinced that a meteor had hit the earth and wiped out the dinosaurs shortly thereafter. I must confess that I was taken aback by this theory because I had never heard of it and thought it was devised for the reading pleasure of Star Trek junkies. After all, I am a history major with no real understanding of geology. My friend was convinced by his teacher- and in turn was trying to convince me. I decided to conduct my own investigation to test this hypothesis for the sole reason that since I have taken geology, this was the only subject that evoked a passionate response from myself. Before I began my research, I made a list of what kinds of evidence I needed to see in order to give this hypothesis merit. At first, I was clueless but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that an asteroid impact would probably have the same effects as nuclear detonations. The first thing that needed to be found was ground zero, or more precisely, an impact crater. This crater needed to be huge and deep in order for it to be consistent with a large object hitting the Earth. The only problem with this idea was that the planet's outer layer is mainly water. I figured that if a crater had not been found by now, if a meteor had landed, it probably was on water or had hit land later covered in water. I became despondent over this, because I knew that seafloors are always changing through subduction, the impact sight would never be found. My next idea was the need for a worldwide layer of sediment that could be telltale sign- of dust clouds that would have covered the earth and blocked the sun. The dust would have surely settled to the surface forming a layer in the geology: hopefully one that could be discerned from others. This layer of soot would have to be found in different parts of the world that this was something planet wide and not just in isolated areas. The next thing tha thought of was the exploration of meteor craters on the moon. I know that the moon is a junkyard for meteor craters. I figured that an analysis would be helpful. I wondered if it were possible if a meteor had hit the moon 65 million years ago and the resulting impact had dire consequences for much life on Earth. I had no idea what could have caused it but I theorized that it might have happened because of poisonous gases that entered the earth's atmosphere or possibly even change in the gravitational forces of the earth and moon that had effects on the large animals. Because crocodiles and other reptilians are aquatic and some survived, I boldly proposed that the water allowed crocodiles to survive while the dinosaurs died. Also, I figured that a crater were found, things could be discovered that had not been previously known. After all, from what I hear from science majors and professors, discoveries are usually made accidentally. Another condition that needed to be satisfied were evidence from dinosaur fossils. I felt that I could not be convinced unless I saw direct effects upon the dinosaurs. My best guess as what to look for were unusually high levels of carbon. This might show high levels of carbon dioxide and low levels of oxygen. maybe the dinosaurs suffocated. Another thing that could have helped would be poison traces in the fossils. This part is obvious. If enough fossils were found with poison, a 1ink could be established. I would also try to test this theory by looking at dinosaur teeth and try to determine what foods they ate and whether they suffered from malnutrition. I do not see why this cannot be done because it is possible to look at human teeth remains and determine the person's diet. Finally, the last piece of evidence and arguably the most important would be from plant fossils of that time period. I would bring any plant remains to a botanist and try to determine if plants had trouble photosynthesizing or if they died from lack of sunlight. If some pattern could be established between this and my other conditions, maybe we could solve the riddle of the dinosaurs. To test my hypothesis, I have assembled the world's most brilliant, yet open-minded scientists in the world. The first order of business was to look for the crater. We have found that there are 130 documented craters on the Earth but none of them are big enough for First Science Officer Spock's tricorder readings. After a while our search becomes in vain and I sadly conclude that the crater is under the ocean as I had predicted. However, the Alvarez team finds a crater at the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico that is over a hundred miles wide and underwater. Suddenly, we have found new hope. The crater was there but this was only step one. I began to analyze layers of sediments preserved in a valley. I was looking for a layer that would comprise of soot. Before we had completed our first day, Mr. Alvarez had announced his findings that negated the need for us to continue our analysis. He found a layer from 65 million years ago. It definitely was a small layer that consisted of dust. Also, there were high levels of iridium deposits in the layer. Iridium is a substance that is rare to earth but commonly found on many meteors. This was very exciting but I needed to know if this was a local event or a worldwide one. After further analysis, iridium had been found at the K-T boundary in other parts of the world. I now had good reason to believe that a meteor had hit the Earth. Another interesting development that I never had thought of was what a meteor would do to rock formations and the evidence that it would leave behind. A man named Bruce Bohor helped the hypothesis by reporting that shocked quartz was found at crater sites and around them. Shocked quartz is the resultant of high pressure befalling upon ordinary quartz. It was clear now that a meteor had indeed hit the Earth because of the iridium and now the shock quartz. The next part of my quest required me to study dinosaur and plant fossils. Unfortunately, I was able to find very little evidence that dinosaurs died directly from a meteor impact. However, one interesting thing that someone told me was that. scientists in Canada had found remains on a bluff that was named Wasoon's Bluff. The fossil record was clear in that large dinosaurs were below the iridium line and smaller ones can only be found above it. In addition, high carbon levels has been found in some remains but it is impossible to say why. The last part of my quest had to do with plant fossils. Unfortunately, this is where I lack any information. In the books that I have read I have not been able to find to much evidence or understand what a lot of things meant. The only thing I have to say on the subject is that I remember reading that plant life became radically different after the K-T boundary. My team and I conducted our experiment the best we could and our test seems to support the idea of meteor impact that killed the dinosaurs. However, there are some things that still need to be proven that will make this theory 100% positive. First, there was definitely a big explosion 65 million years ago that quite possibly killed the dinosaurs. However, the question in my opinion remains open as to if the dinosaurs died because of it. The fossil record is difficult to interpret. I have not heard anything to disprove that the dinosaurs may have died before the impact. From the fossil record, speculation has given rise to the possibility that dinosaurs population had diminished dramatically before the meteor. This leaves open a chance that the dinosaurs were already dying when the last of them were killed by the meteor. Furthermore, the site in Canada is just one part of the world. I am dubious that one meteor could have killed all big dinosaurs in a short time. I can only surmise that their may have been more than one meteor or a gargantuan meteor that split apart upon entering the Earth's atmosphere. To be satisfied, more digs have to be done to establish the worldwide pattern. Also, I do not understand how small dinosaurs survived the impact. It makes no sense that they survived but never evolved again into 1arge dinosaurs. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any information linking the moon with the Earth. Maybe I am the first to think of this concept even though it seems outlandish. Last but not least, I think am dubious because if this event did happen, I can only surmise that it will happen again sooner or later and it is hard for me to envision an humanless earth.
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