Did asteroids kill the dinosaurs Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Did asteroids kill the dinosaurs - Coursework Example some scientists currently believe that a large asteroid impact caused such devastation on the major planet that nearly all of the higher life forms, including the large dinosaurs, were killed off. This is proved by a large crater found outside of Chicxulub, Mexico, which is also know as the Yucatan crater because it is found at the end of the Yucatan peninsula. At first, however, the main source of evidence for this theory was the hold outence of a layer of irridium propagate found in many places all over the planet. This element is not commonly found in large amounts on the Earths surface, and its presence in a single band at a similar depth in a number of different soils could mean that a large asteroid containing irridium crashed into the Earth and scattered dust all over the planet (York 2006). When the Chicxulub crater was eventually found, it turned out to be an elongated crater from a hit that most likely involved a lo w angle of impact. This further supports the irridium evidence since the low angle of impact means that the asteroid would energize basically exploded, sending its pieces flying, as swell up as throwing up a huge obliterate of dust and debris (Hecht 1996). The asteroid theory states that the dinosaurs would put on been killed as a result of this dust cloud. The dust cloud was so enormous as to have risen into the atmosphere and been swept around the planet by the circulating air currents. The sunlight would be blocked out by this dust cloud, reducing the ability of whole kits to photosynthesise and create dexterity off of which they could live. Since plants atomic number 18 at the bottom of nearly all of the food chains on Earth, without the energy provided to them through photosynthesis, sensual life struggled to find enough food. Most of the dinosaur species were large and heavy, requiring huge amounts of plant life to support their energy needs as the plants died out, so did the dinosaurs, leaving only the relatively much smaller mammals and birds. In auxiliary, this cloud caused the temperature all over the planet to drop, directly killing off many dinosaur species (York 2006). However, no actual somatogenetic evidence exists that the asteroid which struck at Chicxulub was responsible for those changes. The fossil record of that era is scarce, and some of what does exist suggests a much longer and drawn-out extinction event than is usually suggested with the asteroid extinction theory. This claim, though, is base on studies performed in the Far East, especially China, which is far from the suggested impact site. Perhaps the fossil record at this location suggests a slower extinction because it is far from the impact crater and so the climate changes and plant life die-off happened slower (Zhao et al. 2008). Climate change is an another(prenominal) suggestion for what could have killed off the dinosaurs. Most dinosaurs were what is known as ecoth ermic reptiles, taking in their heat from the environment rather than making it themsevles as mammals and birds do. In addition to the direct effects of the temperature dropping, the climate change would also have affected plant life in the same way that climate change after the asteroid would have. However, the ultimate cause of this climate change, other than if it were caused by the