Dinosaur Extinction:

The Cause Behind the Effect

The chapter of life which saw the rise of the dinosaurs is one of the
most fascinating periods in our earth’s history. It is often the subject which
brings about young children’s first expose to and active interest in science.
When these children learn about these intriguing prehistoric beasts, one of
their primary inquiries concerns the cause of their annihilation. What could
have led to the demise of all those creatures, who lived very successfully for
millions of years? This question has plagued experts and curious children alike
for decades. In the early 1990s, a “smoking gun” was discovered – purported
to solve the mystery of how the dinosaurs met their fate. This discovery was
the Chicxulub crater in Yucatan, Mexico. The claim was that this 180
kilometer crater was the impact scar left by an asteroid that collided with the
earth. The asteroid was so large and landed with such force that it
effectively ended the dinosaurs reign over the earth. However, recent
evidence and research reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences suggests that this could not have been the case, because the
Chicxulab crater predates the mass extinction by roughly 300,000 years.
Rather, the evidence suggests that two or more impacts caused the mass
extinction experienced by dinosaurs.

Fossil records inform us that the mass extinction occurred 65 million

years ago. This landmark coincides with and marks the Cretaceous-Tertiary
(K-T) boundary. There appeared to be relative consensus among scientific
professionals that an asteroid impact caused the mass extinction. According
to this theory, “debris from the asteroid’s impact would have superheated the
atmosphere so that vegetation burst into flames over much of the planet …
ground temperatures soared to about 1000C, igniting forest fires across the
world and boiling land organisms alive. The soot and smoke thrown into the
atmosphere may have helped block sunlight, causing global cooling and
plunging the planet into winter.i[1]” However, the location of the impact is
more elusive than the media and scientists initially made it appear. In order
for a crater to be conclusively labeled the primary cause of the mass
extinction, data would have to reveal not only that it had the necessary force
and magnitude, but that it is from the right period in geologic time.

A team of international scientists sought to prove or disprove that the

Chicxulub crater occurred at the right point in time to have caused the mass
extinction. This group was led by Gertra Keller, professor at Princeton
University. They tested a previously uninvestigated core within the Chicxulub
crater, known as “Yaxcopoil-1.” According to the group’s reported findings,
i[1]
Highfield, Roger. Dinosaur Extinction Theory ‘A Myth.’ The Telegraph – UK. March 1,
2004. Internet: http://www.rense.com/general49/tho.htm
evidence proved a pre-K-T impact occurred. This was “based on five
independent proxies, each with characteristic signals across the K-T
transition: sedmentology, biostratigraphy, magneto-stratigrophy, stable
isotopes, and iridium.ii[2]” Analysis of evidence along these lines support the
hypothesis that the impact occurred three hundred thousand years before the
K-T boundary, and therefore could not be exclusively responsible for the mass
extinction.

The team of scientists maintain that this evidence, which indicates that
the asteroid landed far ahead of the extinction, proves that the Chicxulub
crater could not possibly be the primary factor which caused the mass
extinction. Rather, they propose that a general cooling of the global climate,
which was followed by greenhouse warming adversely affected vegetation
world-wide and placed a huge amount of stress on the dinosaurs. The
warming could possibly have been caused by carbon dioxide released by a
immense volcanic eruption seen today in the Deccan traps of India. The
Chicxulub impact occurred during this warming period. Although the
environmental effects of the impact were severe, they did not lead to the
extinction of the dinosaurs. The team believes a second impact, 300,000
years after the Chicxulub collision, finished off the creatures. iii[3]

This raises the question of which impact actually caused the extinction.
Surely if the asteroid which caused the massive and publicly acknowledged
Chicxulub crater did not succeed in creating a global environment conducive
to extinction, the responsible asteroid would have left an enormous impact
and should therefore have been discovered and recognized in the right
geological context long ago. However, at the K-T boundary, living creatures
were already under a state of extreme stress. The factors described earlier,
including the Chicxulub impact along with global cooling followed by an
excess of greenhouse gasses, put their lives on the brink. The sudden impact
of another large asteroid was destined to have a very brutal effect on the
environmental stability, which was already struggling to return to a state of
security and stability. The Shiva Crater in India has be proposed as a possible
impact scar left by the asteroid which finally pushed the environment past the
brink – the final straw on the camel’s back – and cause the extinction of the
dinosaursiv[4].

The Shiva Crater is a very large asteroid impact crater located in the
Arabian Sea off of the Indian shoreline. This crater, along with the Chicxulub
crater, dates roughly to the K-T boundary. Although the crater’s size has
been distorted because of sea floor spreading, when pieced together it would
be about 600 kilometers wide, 450 kilometers across, and 12 kilometers deep.
v[5]
This impact crater is noticeably quite larger than Chicxulub; it is entirely

ii[2]
Morgan, Jason. Chicxulub Impact Predates the K-T Boundary Mass Extinction. January 20,
2004. Page 1.
iii[3]
Rincon, Paul. Dinosaur Impact Theory Challenged. Internet:
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/
3520837.stm
iv[4]
Morgan, Jason. Chicxulub Impact Predates the K-T Boundary Mass Extinction. January 20,
2004. Page 9
possible that it was more directly responsible for the mass extinction. The
crater could also have gone unobserved for a lengthy period of time, since it
is currently submerged in the Indian Ocean.

It appears fairly convincing that the asteroid which caused the

Chicxulub crater was not solely responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs.
However, there is not a scientific consensus on this matter. Many scientists
contest Professor Keller and her team’s findings. One of the most outspoken
critics is Alan Hildebrand of the University of Calgary. Along with Dr. David
King of the University of Arizona, Professor Hildebrand wrote the paper
proposing the Chicxulub extinction theory in 1991. He has continues to
contend, “[This theory] has survived every test. The asteroid that made
Chicxulub acted alone.”vi[6] Furthermore, Dr. Joanna Morgan of Imperial
College in London stated that “an impact the size of Chicxulub occurs on
Earth about every 100 million years. That two such impacts occurred within
300,000 years … is statistically unlikely.”vii[7]

In effect, it is almost impossible to be entirely certain about a cause

and effect relationship which occurred 65 million years ago. It is unlikely that
there will ever be complete unanimity regarding the cause of the mass
extinction on the K-T boundary which killed all land animals over fifty-five
pounds.viii[8] However, in light of recent evidence which proves that the
Chicxulub crater was formed 300,000 years prior to the extinction, it is
unlikely that the asteroid which caused it was indeed the sole cause of
extinction. From the available theories, the most soundly supported is that of
Dr. Keller and her fellow research scientists who contend that dinosaurs went
extinct as the result of a complex series of events which include an additional
asteroid impact, possibly the one which caused the Shiva Crater, volcanism,
and climate change.ix[9]

v[5]
Enchanted Learning. Dinosaur Extinction. Location of the Impact Crater.
Internet: http://www.cooldinos.com/subjects/dinosaurs/extinction/Asteroid.html
vi[6]
Rincon, Paul. Dinosaur Impact Theory Challenged. Internet:
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/
3520837.stm
vii[7]
Ibid
viii[8]
Enchanted Learning. Dinosaur Extinction. The K-T Extinction.
Internet: http://www.cooldinos.com/subjects/dinosaurs/extinction/Asteroid.html
ix[9]
Highfield, Roger. Dinosaur Extinction Theory ‘A Myth.’ The Telegraph – UK. March 1,
2004. Internet: http://www.rense.com/general49/tho.htm