Controversies in Science/What killed the dinosaurs/A critique of From The Cover: Chicxulub impact predates the K-T boundary mass extinction
(Review Paper) Cited in Controversies in Science/What killed the dinosaurs/A critique of From The Cover: Chicxulub impact predates the K-T boundary mass extinction
Dinosaurs STILL alive after Chicxulub[edit | edit source]
It has been previously determined that Dinosaurs were extinct due to the Chicxulub crater. This article supports findings of a deeper core that predates the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary by at least 300,000 years. The Chicxulub crater did not cause mass extinction as commonly believed[1].
Methods[edit | edit source]
The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) drilled a new sample core within the Chicxulub crater and examined the fossil and mineral composition. The composition included iridium, and iridium is rare in the present on earth. Therefore the iridium in the sample core had to of come from space [1].
Results[edit | edit source]
The objective was to determine the age of the K-T boundary layer to prove or disprove where this was the major event that caused the extinction of dinosaurs. The results of the core show Late Maastrichtian sediments and below the K-T boundary. These findings indicate that either the sediments between the breccia and the K-T boundary were deposited as backwash and crater infill after the impact event, or (ii) the Chicxulub impact predates the K-T boundary and hence was not the cause of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction as commonly believed[1].
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Keller, G. (2004). From The Cover: Chicxulub impact predates the K-T boundary mass extinction. PNAS : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (0027-8424),101 (11), 3753. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0400396101 http://www.pnas.org/content/101/11/3753.full.pdf