digibutter.nerr

[Mantis15]

[[Technically this is a creation, right?]]

On Dinosaur Extinction:

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Dinosaur Extinction

Dinosaurs ruled the Earth from 160 million years ago to 65 million years ago, what happened to them? That is the question that is still on everyone’s minds today. It’s still hard to believe that once dominant species on Earth became extinct in such a short time. There are many theories suggesting why the dinosaurs went extinct from volcanoes to caterpillars. I believe that it was a combination of climate change and an asteroid impact.

The largest dinosaurs were known to grow as long as 150 feet and as heavy as 85 tons. The smallest dinosaurs were about the size of a chicken if you could believe. They had skin and teeth as tough as alligators. Strangely, they were very different from modern day reptiles. No reptile has grown as large as a dinosaur; the only animal that has are whales. Neither has reptiles walked on two legs like dinosaurs have. Scientists say they are more like birds and are possibly the ancestors of birds. They first appeared on Earth approximately 230 million years ago. 70 millions of years later, they became the dominant species on the plant. Then, about 65 million years ago, they all disappeared. How did this happen to the dinosaurs, the once dominant species on Earth?

The asteroid theory was thought up by Luis and Walker Alvarez in the 1980s. The theory is that an asteroid crashed into Earth which caused a chain of events that would lead up to the extinction. The ground temperature would have rose up to 1,000 degrees Celsius, which could have boiled all land organisms alive. The impact would have also caused tsunamis and severe storms. The dust from the impact of the asteroid would have rose into the atmosphere creating a giant blanket around the Earth which would have blocked sunlight from entering the Earth which would make an extreme winter. It wouldn’t be for another six months until the dinosaurs would have seen daylight. The Alvarezs’ found iridium in the section of rock layers between the Cretaceous period and the Tertiary period (K-T boundary), which was around the time the dinosaurs died. Iridium is a rare substance on Earth’s top rock layers because iridium is found deep beneath the Earth with the Mantle and Core, but, it is abundant on asteroids and meteorites. There is a site in the Yucatan Peninsula beach called “Chicxulub” where a 150-300Km crater was found; it’s the largest known crater in the world. The asteroid that hit there could have been 10Km, that’s big enough to have caused this extinction. Unfortunately, the crater predates the K-T boundary by about 300,000 years. Scientists have also found that the dinosaurs were already in decline before the asteroid hit, maybe there was something else that stuck first! Paleontologist Jack Horner found that most plants died before the K-T boundary. Maybe there really was something that could have struck there first!

Some also believe that climate change caused the mass extinction. Around the end of the Cretaceous period, the shallow seas began to dry out. The climate could have been too hot or too cold, or even too wet or too dry. There could have been a time when it was so hot the polar ice caps melted which would have caused flooding. Then, the climate would have become more varied around the globe. A graduate student found that crocodiles not only survived the K-T extinction, but also flourished during the extinction. Crocodiles were also cold-blooded, just like the dinosaurs, which means they are sensitive to extreme climate change. If the dinosaurs died during climate change, wouldn’t that mean the crocodiles should have too?

The volcano theory was created by Dewey McLane. The theory is that a vast bulk of the Deccan Trap in India erupted violently with molten lava. The lava possibly flooded over millions of square miles of India. Possibly, along with the Deccan Trap eruption, there could have been an eruption in North America. Possibly near the site of “Old Faithful” in Yellowstone National Park, because that is the site of a super volcano that has shown signs of erupting only 3 times since it formed. The eruption happened at the same time as major shifts of carbon dioxide. They also happened during marine transgression, reduced photosynthesis of plants and marine plants on Earth, and reduced weathering rates, all helped add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere along with the volcanoes. The heat from the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could have melted the polar ice caps; perhaps a link between that and the climate change theory?

The high iridium findings by the K-T boundary could have also come from volcanoes, since the molten lava comes from the mantle and possibly the core. It was also during the time Pangea was splitting, which there was a time of high tectonic plate activity. It could mean there was a possibility of volcano eruptions. The carbon cycle around the K-T boundary was also disturbed and severe green house warming occurred. Yet, it’s unrealistic for two super volcanoes to have erupted at the same time.

There have been thoughts that Caterpillars evolved during the Cretaceous period. Some say the caterpillars ate all the leaves off plants causing the Herbivores to die and the Carnivores to die. There has been no evidence to support this theory and is extremely unlikely because what are the odds of all caterpillars eating all the leaves at the exact same time? Some also say that there is a mix of events that have caused the demise of dinosaurs. Some skeptics say scientists treat the extinction like it’s an event that happens quickly. The factors that could have caused the demise are:
• asteroid impact(29%)
• climate change(17%)
• food supply diminishing(14%)
• diseases(14%)
• others(5%)
• explosions and fires(5%)
• pollution(5%)
• volcanoes(5%)
• predator imbalance(2%)
• egg stealing(1%)
• photo period interruption(change in time of night and day; 1%)
• change in light(1%)
• and low species diversity(1%).
Some recent theories include AIDS, cancer triggered by huge neutrino bursts from dying stars of the Milky Way Galaxy, and hypercanes (super hurricanes).

In conclusion, My theory that I believe in is that it was a mix of climate change and an asteroid impact. It could have been possible that the asteroid impact was the one that triggered climate change, which could be the reason that the crater in the Yucatan Peninsula predates the K-T boundary by 300,000 years. It still doesn’t make sense why most of the dinosaurs already died out before the impact. It could of also been the other way around, the climate change first and then the asteroid impact which would explain why most dinosaurs were dead before the impact. Unfortunately, that still doesn’t explain the predated crater. Sure, it could have just been climate change or volcanoes, but, it couldn’t have been possible for one event to kill all dinosaurs. So what really did happen to the dinosaurs? Everyone has their own theories, but no one is currently right or wrong so far.

[Super Cyber Mario]

It was AIDS that killed the dinosaurs.....

[Super Tsuki]

[Mantis15]

My friend and I made up a theory called DinoAIDS.

It's when your body swells up for 5 seconds then you expload.

The disease was carried by a meteorite that had an alien sickness.