Dinosaur Extinction

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To what extent does the impact theory explain the extinction of the dinosaurs?

Dominic Pharaoh 5A Promoter: Harriet Gibson 2011-2012

Dominic Pharaoh

5A

Promoter: Harriet Gibson

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Table of contents

I. II.

Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3 The impact theory and the alternative hypotheses .......................................................... 6 A.
1.

The impact or Alvarez theory ...................................................................................... 6
Weighing the evidence ............................................................................................................ 8

B.
1. 2. 3.

The Indian Deccan Traps ........................................................................................... 12
What exactly are these Deccan Traps? ................................................................................. 12 What was the Deccan Traps involvement in the K-T extinction?.......................................... 13 Weighing the evidence .......................................................................................................... 13

C.
1. 2.

The Other Hypotheses ............................................................................................... 14
The multiple impact theory ................................................................................................... 14 Weighing the evidence .......................................................................................................... 14

D. III. A. IV. V.

Could it have been a combination? ............................................................................ 15 A closer look at selectivity ............................................................................................ 16 The warm-blooded/cold-blooded debate

Bibliography: . JAMES L. POWELL, Night Comes to the Cretaceous: Dinosaur extinction and the transformation of modern geology, W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, 1998. . J. DAVID ARCHIBALD, Extinction and Radiation: How the fall of the dinosaurs led to the rise of mammals, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2011. . http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/southeast_asia/india/deccan.html => Consulted on the 24/02/12 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_crater => Consulted on the 05/02/12 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deccan_Traps => Consulted on the 29/11/11 . http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen2b.html => Consulted on the 01/12/11 . http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/A565733 => Consulted on the 03/01/12 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Tertiary_extinction_event => Consulted on the 29/11/11 . http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2010/03/09/alvarez-theory-on-dinosaur/ => Consulted on the 08/01/12 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratospheric_sulfur_aerosols => Consulted on the 19/02/12 . http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ruption_du_mont_Saint_Helens_en_1980 => Consulted on the 13/02/12 Dominic Pharaoh 5A Promoter: Harriet Gibson