Hypotheses on the Extinction of Dinosaurs Essays -- Exploratory Essays

Hypotheses on the Extinction of Dinosaurs In the early nineteen hundreds, dinosaur fossils were discovered and recognized around the globe. Greedy scientists and civilians, take careing for their own prize skeleton, rushed to riptide bones taboo of the ground, destroying the fossils as they went. It was not until later in the degree centigrade that scientists and paleontologists began pondering how such widespread creatures disappeared. Currently, paleontologists debate the two main hypotheses of how the perfect dinosaurs died from volcanic activity or an asteroid intrusion. Although they result in the very(prenominal) out amaze, the volcanic and asteroid hypotheses differ in key elements the actual event, the environments stress, and the impact on life.Physical evidence left behind in each(prenominal) scenario supports each possible explanation for the massive extinction responsible for(p) for wiping out the dinosaurs. Scientists that support the volcanic activity hypothesi s believe the massive volcanic activity lasted approximately 500,000 years eventually ending dinosaurs reign on earth. The lava flows filled over 480,000 cubic miles, devastating areas over the entire globe. For example, The Decan Trap, a famous site of Cretaceous tectonic activity, is up to 8,000 feet deep, and it averaged between thirty-three and 164 feet deep. Fires raged across the lands. Those that believe in the asteroid impact, on the other hand, regorge a six mile wide meteorite moved at speeds from 50,000 miles per hour to 150,000 mph and busted into Earths atmospheric state at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The explosive impact near the present day Yucatan Peninsula ejected 5,000 cubic miles of debris into the atmosphere and created an earthquake of magnitude thirteen sending tidal waves, 250 to 300 feet high... ...sms alike. Conversely, paleontologists reinforcement the asteroid hypothesis guess the massive blast killed nearby animals instantaneously. Creatures on the opposite side of the world, however, were not so lucky. They were forced to dwell in freezing temperatures until vegetation withered. Herbivores quickly starved to death consequently, carnivores lacked prey. Instead of little by little dying off, dinosaurs perished within one generation. Although the two hypotheses of the great extinction come from opposite occurrences, in the end the event proved fatal.While paleontologists may never agree on the true cause of dinosaurs extinction, many heap are now speculating mankinds termination. Will mother nature be responsible for our destruction also? Only time will tell. Perhaps in the far future, another species will encounter human remains and search for our match maker.