The main hypothesis proposed in 1980 by Luis and Walter Alvarez of the University of California at Berkeley is that volcanic activity at the end of the Cretaceous period led to the extinction of dinosaurs. This theory, which predates the impact theory, suggests that massive volcanic explosions 66 million years ago played a role in the extinction event. The idea that volcanism was responsible for the dinosaurs’ demise predates the impact theory and fits well with Earth’s other mass extinction events.
Vulcanic eruptions 66 million years ago played a role in the demise of the dinosaurs, challenging the idea that a meteorite impact was the sole cause. Some researchers think that intense volcanism could have contributed to the dinosaurs’ decline well before a comet or asteroid impact sealed their fate. However, Keller’s work and others have unearthed evidence that the Deccan Traps’ series of eruptions were not only timed right but also played a significant role in the extinction event.
Scientists had speculated that dinosaurs rose to prominence when an asteroid struck Earth and wiped out other species. Some scientists have favored the Volcanic Demise hypothesis, while others have even proposed a combination of impact and volcanism. Two studies agree that ancient eruptions likely played a supporting role in the mass extinction, but the details remain. New research suggests that the asteroid may have had an “accomplice” in this extinction event in the form of volcanic activity.
📹 What Happened to the Dinosaurs? | CBC Kids
Dinosaurs big and small ruled the Earth 66 million years ago. But then something happened, and they quickly became extinct.
What is the evidence of the dinosaur volcano theory?
Immense lava flows in India’s Deccan region, covering nearly 200, 000 square miles, suggest a 500, 000-year volcanic activity leading up to the extinction of dinosaurs. These flows contain rare metal iridium, which is more common in asteroids and molten rock deep within the planet. Scientists believe that the high concentrations of iridium at the geological layer associated with the dinosaur extinction could be due to large-scale volcanic activity.
Was there a dinosaur found in a volcano?
Researchers have discovered two dinosaurs, Changmiania liaoningensis and Changmiania liaoningensis, found in modern-day Lianoning Province in the Lujiatun Beds, the oldest layers of China’s geological Yixian Formation. The dinosaurs were believed to have been burrowers who lived in deep underground dens, and their nest became their tomb when sealed underground by lava and ash. The specimens were quickly covered by fine sediment while alive or just after their death, suggesting they were trapped by the volcanic eruption 125 million years ago.
What is one theory that geologist believed that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs?
Asteroids are large, rocky bodies orbiting the Sun, ranging from a few to hundreds of meters in diameter. The Alvarez hypothesis, initially controversial, is now the most widely accepted theory for the mass extinction at the end of the Mesozoic Era. The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs is supported by evidence from the Chicxulub crater, located off the coast of Mexico, which is the same age as the extinction of non-bird dinosaurs. The impact site is largely buried on the seafloor off the coast of Mexico.
Who first developed the idea that there was an asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs?
In 1980, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Walter Alvarez and his son Walter proposed that a large asteroid colliding with Earth caused a historic layer of iridium-rich clay to form. The sudden death of dinosaurs was believed to be due to the immediate devastation and widespread secondary effects of the asteroid impact. Alvarez and his son Walter are known for their theory that an asteroid collision 66 million years ago caused all non-bird dinosaurs and other animals to die out.
What evidence supports the theory of dinosaur extinction?
The mass extinction of dinosaurs in the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) layer, a geologic boundary zone, was believed to be caused by an extraterrestrial object. The theory gained momentum when scientists linked the event to a massive impact crater along Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, the Chicxulub crater. In 2016, a rock core inside the underwater part of the crater showed that the impact would have sent deadly amounts of vaporized rock and gases into the atmosphere, with effects persisting for years.
In 2019, paleontologists found fossils close to the K-Pg boundary, capturing the remains of an entire ecosystem that existed shortly before the mass extinction. The fossil-bearing layers contain tektites, tiny glass bits called blobs of melted rock that solidified in the atmosphere and then rained down over Earth. However, some scientists argue that the evidence for a massive meteor impact event is inconclusive, and that the more likely culprit may be Earth itself.
Is it proven that an asteroid killed the dinosaurs?
Around 66 million years ago, an asteroid, larger than Mount Everest, hit Earth, killing three-quarters of all life, including dinosaurs. The exact cause of the extinction remains a topic of debate. The leading theory suggests sulfur from the asteroid’s impact or soot from global wildfires blocked out the sky, causing a long, dark winter. However, research based on particles found at a key fossil site reaffirmed an earlier hypothesis that the impact winter was caused by dust kicked up by the asteroid.
Did volcanoes exist with dinosaurs?
New research suggests that major volcanic eruptions could have caused mass extinctions throughout Earth’s history, including the one that wiped out the dinosaurs around 66 million years ago. The leading theory suggests that the asteroid impacted Earth in the Chicxulub region of the Gulf of Mexico, but new research suggests that the asteroid may have had an “accomplice” in this extinction event in the form of volcanic activity. This research provides the most compelling evidence yet that the correlation between volcanic activity and the death of multiple species in a blink of an eye is no coincidence.
What is the new theory on what killed the dinosaurs?
A study published in Natural Geoscience suggests that a massive cloud of dust may have killed off dinosaurs by cooling Earth’s temperature by 24 degrees and shutting down photosynthesis for two years. The research, based on sediment layers from the Tanis paleontology site in North Dakota, found new insights into the catastrophic impact of an asteroid that is thought to have killed off dinosaurs.
Who invented the theory of dinosaurs?
Sir Richard Owen, an English biologist, comparative anatomist, and palaeontologist, is best known for coining the term Dinosauria, which means “Terrible Reptile” or “Fearfully Great Reptile”. Owen was an outspoken critic of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, agreeing with Darwin that evolution occurred but believed it was more complex than outlined in Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Owen’s approach to evolution can be considered to have anticipated the issues that have gained attention with the recent emergence of evolutionary developmental biology.
He was the first president of the Microscopical Society of London in 1839 and edited many issues of its journal, The Microscopic Journal. Owen also campaigned for the new home of natural specimens in the British Museum, leading to the establishment of the now-famous Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London in 1881. Bill Bryson argues that Owen transformed our expectations of what museums are for by making the Natural History Museum an institution for everyone.
Who came up with the asteroid theory?
The Alvarez hypothesis suggests that the mass extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on Earth. The asteroid fell in the Yucatán Peninsula, specifically at Chicxulub, Mexico. The hypothesis was first suggested by scientists Luis and Walter Alvarez in 1980 and later by Dutch paleontologist Jan Smit. In 2010, an international panel of scientists endorsed the asteroid hypothesis, specifically the Chicxulub impact, as the cause of the extinction.
The team reviewed 20 years of scientific literature and ruled out other theories such as massive volcanism. They determined that a space rock 10-15 km in diameter hurtled into Earth at Chicxulub, releasing the same energy as 100, 000, 000 megatonnes of TNT (4. 2 × 10 23 J), over a billion times the energy of atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A 2016 drilling project confirmed the hypothesis, including the peak ring being granite rather than sea floor rock, evidence of colossal seawater movement, and the near-complete absence of gypsum, a sulfate-containing rock, which would have been vaporized and dispersed as an aerosol into the atmosphere.
Who proposed the dinosaur extinction theory?
The controversy surrounding the K-T extinction revolves around the hypothesis that it was an extrinsic, catastrophic event caused by an asteroid impact. The Alvarez Hypothesis, proposed in 1980, suggests that a large extraterrestrial object collided with Earth, causing climatic change due to the dust from the vaporized meteor. The iridium layer, which is higher in iridium content than Earth’s crust, was believed to be responsible for the extinction.
No crater was found, but a 65 million-year-old crater was assumed to exist. Later research found a likely candidate for the crater at Chicxulub, on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Other evidence included shocked quartz in rocks, glassy spheres resembling impact ejecta, and a soot layer in many areas. The likelihood of massive hurricanes and firestorms raging across Earth was also hypothesized to add to the destructive power of the catastrophe.
📹 THE LAST DAY OF DINOSAURS | ReYOUniverse
Dinosaurs ruled the earth for 160 million years. It seemed they would forever dominate the biosphere. But one day their world was …
It’s both frightening & humbling to know how vulnerable we too are as a species. That we only survive now coz everything is perfectly aligned to allow for it- the sun, elements, stars, moon, other planets, you name it. That that alignment could be disrupted at any moment and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it. Life really is a never ending show. Many thanks for this vid! Really enjoyed it
I literally can’t imagine how terrified the disaster was back then. Tsunami, volcanic eruptions and severe earthquakes happened consecutively, putting an end to dinosaurs era. Honestly, I felt really sorry for them, couldn’t be aware of their extinction was about to explode in just a few hours. R.I.P dinosaurs
It’s crazy to think how long dinosaurs where around hundreds of millions of years and even the earliest humans haven’t been around even 5% of what dinosaurs were is mind blowing it really is. If only humans got that amount and of time I wonder what could of been achieved, we won’t be around for millions of years
I like how they talked about the small animals that was here for a while, how before the big dinosaurs. While out also hunting on the Red River I came across a flat kind of rock with two bumps on it that looked pretty neat but I didn’t realize what it was. I was talking to a geologist friend and he looked at it and mentioned those were fossilized eggs and upon better inspection you can tell they were eggs and they had little cracks in them. It might have been a small fossil but it was big in a surprise that no telling how long that been here on Earth.
Not all the dinosaurs died out as stated in this article. Birds are descendants of a small theropod dinosaur. These dinosaurs survived because they were able to adapt to the fast changing conditions. They were small and covered with feathers that kept them warm. They were able to scavenge and had a wide varied diet. So when you look up in the sky or see a bird in your garden or practically anywhere as they have become very successful and cornered nearly everywhere on this planet in their many forms, remember, you’re looking at a dinosaur.
I remember, being a small child, maybe 4-6 years old, not sure… and I was looking at this book of dinosaurs, it had such great illustrations, it made the dinosaurs look so alive, I distinctly remember a specific image, of dinosaurs swimming in the sea, the scene had such scary yet wondrous feel to it. It’s etched in my mind forever… It’s so incredible how things affect, or the impact it has in the mind of an innocent child trying to make sense of the world it lives in. I’m now 57 years old, and the pages of that book still reside there, deep in the crevices of my brain… I wish I could see that book again, see if it truly was as scary as my mind remembers it… 🙂 I wonder what the title of it was…
I’ve always been fascinated with dinosaurs. Just imagine how awesome it would be if you could somehow go back that far in time for say, a month, with today’s high tech equipment, especially high tech HD cameras and just record dinosaurs from all over, and safely come back to today. If i could go back in time with that scenario, that is the time i would want to see ( as long as i and a large team would be safe). Sure would be very interesting to see how they really looked compared to CGI dinos.
I really love dinosaurs and just perusal this really made me cry~ when a forest fire happens have u seen the way animals runs in fear??? Dinosaurs are no different, the way some of them ran to survive some tried sacrifices for their babies, it just saddens me… I really cried perusal this, thank u for posting such a article with graphics for a better picture for us while listening to the story~~ I was studying my Japanese while listening to this, it really helped for some reason?
Reportedly dinosaurs hung on for thousands of years on an island near Java. I expect the deep freeze would not have happened on tropical islands due to the warm sea, and residual thunderstorms rising to great heights would have cleaned the atmosphere more in such places allowing some solar energy in as well.
I’ve always been a little suspicious of this theory and not sure why. One of the definitions of being a planet is that the object must be of sufficient mas and gravity to “clear’ it’s own orbit from debris, which the earth did during during it’s formation and used this debris in it’s own construction. The earth then survived a period called “the Late Heavy Bombardment” period which lasted from 400 to 700 million years where planetary impacts were so frequent and violent that the earth’s crust actually remelted and thawed again wiping out geological evidence of most of her violent history. But the shooting gallery eventually ended and peace set in. The earth’s wounds healed. Then three billion more years slowly passed in which a few outliers, from time to time, found their way to earth but… space is enormous… and mostly empty. From time to time, small permutations in the asteroid belt or the Kuiper Belt do happen where an object gets flung out, sometimes heading into the inner solar system but the chances of it actually hitting anything is astronomical (no pun intended.) The idea that a significantly large object hit us 65 million years ago is practically last month in geologic time. Very random. Like the odds of getting struct by lightening three times in you life and then winning the Megamillions. Experts even say that had the object (they’re still not sure whether is was an asteroid or comet) arrived 30 seconds later, it would have been an ocean impact and caused far less devastation.
Thank you so much for this article. I have a neice and nephew under the ages of 10 who are obsessed with dinosaurs. The 7yr old can tell me just about all the names of every dinosaur. They always ask why and how the dinosaurs died, they only know it was a meteor. This article will explain more in detail and in such a way that children could get a basic understanding on what happened to them. They are starting to ask more about the world around them so they”ll love this. Thank you
I am so happy that you could have such a great recollection of what the dinosaurs were doing about 6-1/2 billion years ago and you even knew the colors of the birds feathers and their beaks, but I didn’t see any science offered. Also I missed the shot of the dinosaur family having a picnic on the blanket moments before the end and I will review the article again. You have taken a part of history and turned it into this cute, almost great story, but untrue. Although I can not prove this because I also was not around billions of years ago.
Fascinating. I wonder what the next “dominant” Earth species will look like after we disappear in a few thousand years from some cataclysmic event and life then regenerates at some point. We had a few things in common with the dinosaurs like eyes, brains, bones and teeth. Since plants seem to regenerate, I imagine whatever the next species is will likely have the same core features.
In answer to the claim made at 4:55 that Alamosaurus was “the largest animal that has ever lived in Earth”, Argentinosaurus was identified from remains excavated in Patagonia in the early 1990s. The femur was as long as a car, and a single spinal vertebra was c. 2m in diameter. When fully grown, it is estimated to have measured 40m from head to tail with a weight of 70-75 tonnes. The BBC’s Horizon programme documents this in detail.
Dinos were not reptiles. Their bones and lungs were like birds’ and they were at least partly warm blooded, since their fossils have been found in the Arctic. No reptile can survive there. More accurate to call them proto-birds. Our Hollywood dinos look like reptiles because early paleos thought they were reptiles, hence the name. Saur is Greek for lizard, so the name was wrong right from the start. Most likely they all had some sort of early plumage for insulation, camouflage and display, just like birds, which presumably could thicken very quickly in cold abodes. And even the earliest dinosaur fossils have the bird bones + lungs, so I imagine a lot of cackles, squawks, hoots, chirps and just general singing. It’s just how sound comes out of you when you have lungs like that. You make many different sounds when you exhale if you have lung sacks inside your bones. Anyway, nice vid. I just wish you’d help dispel 200 year old misconceptions about dinosaurs. They need a new name if you ask me. I vote dinopigeons.
I enjoyed the animation in this article depicting what possibly happened during that day 😩 It was a sad day for the dinosaur. Got me thinking about alot of what ifs. I like perusal Jurassic park movies but wow this got me more interested to know about life millions of years ago…and if we are able to prevent this from happening again.
For those who don’t know- Angiosperms are plants that reproduce through flowering, and big ferns are pteridophytes that reproduce through spores. And whilst I’m here..Gymnosperms are plants that have cones, so pine trees are an example, and these plants reproduce via seeds within the cones. So you could say that the angiosperms are the fancy pants version of all of these types of plants, because they adapted and evolved to produce bright shiny colours and nice smells so that the insects would be attracted to them..clever plants…way to clever.
Dinosaurs didnt disappear on one day. Actualy many of them suvived espeacialy in the arctic regions (yes there where arctic dinosaurs) because the hat adapted to low temperatures and dark envoirement. They where small though. They lived of the carcasses of the bigger dinosaurs, who died during ge KME event and hunted the small mammals, that had survived. They couldnt survive in the long term but Dinosurs still where existent thousands of years after the KME event. Its just such a small friction of time compared to 65 Million years, that it looks like a day.
Wow, this article on the last day of dinosaurs is both fascinating and haunting. The detailed narration and visuals transported me back to a time when these incredible creatures roamed the Earth. The combination of scientific insights and CGI reconstruction made the extinction event feel so real. It’s both a reminder of the Earth’s dynamic history and a tribute to the majestic dinosaurs that once ruled our planet. Great job on bringing this captivating story to life!
Now that you have explained in detail what happened 66 million years ago to the last hour when the so called asteroid hit the earth, I can’t wait for you to explain what happened each year from then till now, because this is a pretty detailed story and I’m guessing your stories from how the earth changed from then till now year after year will be very exciting to see how that all took place!
There’s little doubt that the impact was the primary cause of the extinction event, but I believe that the Deccan Traps flood basalt event contributed to the scope of the disaster, both before and after the impact. I think that the dinosaurs were already under a good deal of environmental stress at the time of the impact.
I am pretty sure that humongous bright thing on the sky was illuminating the night the day before. Dogs know the quake before it happens. These animals knew what was coming. They may have not know they were doomed, and they did not know how to save themselves, but the survivors knew and before that thing hit, the roaches and little mammals were way deep undergroung since the night before
That “Day” some 4,600 years ago, the fountains of the deep were broken up. Aside from the rain, the waters covered the highest mountaintops as all life outside the ark perished. Earth’s topography and eco system changed drastically so that lifespans decreased. The small dinosaurs taken aboard the ark likely were hunted out of existence as is the “fallen nature of man”. In the Book of Job, God holds a very interesting discussion with Job! In that discussion God describes two specific dinosaurs alive during Job’s lifetime which Job was familiar… Job 40 & 41.
Sorry, I have a hard time believing this theory. First off, alligators and crocodiles wouldn’t survive this with no sunlight or heat and acid rain all around is hard to believe. Same with frogs and other amphibians, insects like dragon flies, fish and sharks. Good luck trying to explain this theory to me.
I watched this and yes my heart broke for the dinosaurs because that is one horrific way to go and I wouldnt wish that on anyone. I wanted to cry when I saw the bay dinosaurs hatch without their mothers in sight and just died due to starvation. So so so tragic. I hope I’m dead before the next astroid attack. God I know as usual you always have plans.
I feel an alien to this world… this once theirs, and feel like we just came out of nowhere and replaced them. They were here before us, roamed the Earth so mighty and huge, they were many. And us, so tiny so fragile and defenseless. Just tiny nails and soft hair, we are totally vulnerable. I dont think we can build our civilization if dinosaurs are still here.
I feel like it’s a cycle where if the same happens to us now, only the reptiles will survive and thrive until the next cycle. Who actually know how many cycles we’ve been through? With our rapid expansion of technology and mindfulness, who knows how many time this has happened for us to evolve and adapt this quickly (unless there was some help to hurry along the process) 👽
So much suffering… such a a great loss, created by just a pebble. 10km rock is nothing compared to the size of the planet and yet here it is. No wonder they are trying to find ways to deviate rocks coming our way, we could have the same fate as our dino ancestors. I wonder how many species of plants and insects were also destroyed by this pebble. This is so sad.
Great topic! According to my in-depth research, the large animals (dinosaurs) were destroyed by the flood in Noah’s day and not by asteroids. Genesis 7:17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. 21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
Are all giant dinosaurs extinct (as scientists say)? No, this is not true, not all types of large-sized dinosaurs became extinct, and some are still alive today. For example, giant whales, such as the blue whale, are indeed among those giant dinosaurs. These creatures are completely different from all the creatures existing today. They came from another era. To clarify this theory, dinosaurs were divided into two types, a land type and a marine type, just like contemporary animals, and the wild species that are characterized by their giant size became extinct due to their inability to hide from the factors of extinction in the ice ages while the marine dinosaurs survived because the depths of the oceans were not affected by the factors of extinction. Also, some wild species that were distinguished by their small and medium size survived and were able to hide in burrows or caves, perhaps the most important examples of surviving land dinosaurs include the rhinoceros, hippopotamus, crocodile, and perhaps turtles as well. Do you support the validity of this theory?
It’s always kinda saddened me that dinosaurs had no idea that they were about to die. They were just living their lives and then… nothing. Imagine being one of those dinosaurs that witnessed that shit and survived. Imagine seeing that light. And all the fire and the clear blue sky turning into a fiery black demise the fire raining down. Like that shit had to be the scariest fucking thing imaginable. And the dinosaurs probably had no fucking way of processing it.
Who even gave them names? Who was powerful enough to decide that they would be called “dinosaur”? We don’t even know about them. What if they were able to speak English, science, sun, moon, Jupiter etc? What if they knew they were gonna get hit and decided to move to another galaxy together or some aliens picked them up before the hit? What evidence there is against this statement?