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What killed the dinosaurs?

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(Review Paper) Cited in What killed the dinosaurs?

Points Made

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The main point of the article is proposing that the gas emission of the impact of the volcanic eruption created too much CO2 and SO2 emissions. This created a toxic environment for the dinosaurs and the ecological atmosphere so they eventually became extinct. The tectonic plates colliding created an unlivable environment for the dinosaurs. [1]

Although it can be agreed that the environment that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs was extremely toxic the cause of these conditions is questionable. An extremely large fire or the infrared burst cause by the meteorite crash could account for the high C02. Vaporization of debris could also have contributed to the lethal environment. Pdres507 (talk) 02
38, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Rationale

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The rationale of this article states that before this time period different continents have been experiencing tectonic plate collisions for years which have attributed to extinction events. The first extinction is thought to have happened from the collision in Siberian plate. So if this is the case, the Virginia to Nova Scotia movement could have caused the second section of extinction. The two combined is what caused the major and more significant extinction. Through this it created enough ecological disruption and gas emissions to cause evidence that this contributed to the extinction of dinosaurs. [1]

Results

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The large amounts of CO2 that were put into the air from the volcanic lava created extreme gas emissions that decreased the standard of living for the dinosaurs as such it increased the chances of extinctions. In fact, the SO2 (emission if there was any) should have cooled the climate to keep them live; however, there is not enough evidence, or not enough SO2 emission to make a difference. Therefore, the massive volcanism has been proven to be the cause of extinction. In addition to the extinction of the dinosaurs it also created a massive ecological disruption. In addition, the acidity from the volcano may have also killed all of the seaweed so the pH would have increased to an undesirable level which would have compromised the circle.[1]

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Olsen, , P. E. (1999) Flows, Mass Extinctions, and Mantle Plumes]] Science, 284(5414), 604-605. Retrieved March 2011 from http://xweb.geos.ed.ac.uk/~suerigby/G1/volcanos/604.html