Were the Dinosaurs killed off by Volcanic Activity?

the_classicist

This is the first time I've heard of this hypothesis as I was always taught that meteors, and only meteors, did it.

tetrapod.sapien

there is much debate about this these days between scientists. it's starting to look like the extinction was not as quick as first thought either.

love the globe & mail. best paper on earth.

TS

Certainly SOME dinosaurs were killed by volcanic activity - that's the only plausible explanation for those fossils that are found completely intact or "mummified," and the fossil dinosaur nests that have been found.

Normally, a dead dinosaur would be subject to scavenging by beasts of all sizes, and the carcass would be torn up and spread around, not left neatly intact. If, however, the dinosaur was smothered under a (not too hot) blanket of volcanic ash, it could remain encased in such concrete for eons.

The same fate befell various populations of early mammals. At one site near what is now the Snake River, a watering hole suffered such a fate, and today we have a geological "snapshot" of what life at that hole was like a moment before the volcanic gasses (CO2 or SO2) killed everyone there that day and the ash buried them.

As to what event caused the mass extinctions, we know it had to be something big. A big meteor fits, but so does a big supervolcano blow-off, and I think our appreciation of supervolcanos is relatively new.

Terry

Wuh? You think dinosaurs are extinct?

I see them every day!

What gives here?

T.

Nathan Natas

You're right Terry.

I enjoy seeing them too: it adds to the experience when you know what you're looking at.

stevenyc

No, they fell off the ark!

steve

undercover

they died in the flood of Noah's day....don't ya'll know anything?

stevenyc

U/C they fell off I tell ya!

19 And of every living creature of every sort of flesh, two of each, you will bring into the ark to preserve them alive with you. Male and female they will be. 20 Of the flying creatures according to their kinds and of the domestic animals according to their kinds, of all moving animals of the ground according to their kinds, two of each will go in there to you to preserve them alive. 21 And as for you, take for yourself every sort of food that is eaten; and you must gather it to yourself, and it must serve as food for you and for them.”

steve

undercover

U/C they fell off I tell ya!

Okay, okay...they fell off....

Then they drowned...

BrendaCloutier

I thought they all died when the Ark sank, except the allegator and the cockroach.

Were the Dinosaurs killed off by Volcanic Activity?

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