Posted on 12/19/2014 11:42:56 AM PST by Red Badger
A definitive geological timeline shows that a series of massive volcanic explosions 66 million years ago spewed enormous amounts of climate-altering gases into the atmosphere immediately before and during the extinction event that claimed Earth's non-avian dinosaurs, according to new research from Princeton University.
A primeval volcanic range in western India known as the Deccan Traps, which were once three times larger than France, began its main phase of eruptions roughly 250,000 years before the Cretaceous-Paleogene, or K-Pg, extinction event, the researchers report in the journal Science. For the next 750,000 years, the volcanoes unleashed more than 1.1 million cubic kilometers (264,000 cubic miles) of lava. The main phase of eruptions comprised about 80-90 percent of the total volume of the Deccan Traps' lava flow and followed a substantially weaker first phase that began about 1 million years earlier.
The results support the idea that the Deccan Traps played a role in the K-Pg extinction, and challenge the dominant theory that a meteorite impact near present-day Chicxulub, Mexico, was the sole cause of the extinction. The researchers suggest that the Deccan Traps eruptions and the Chicxulub impact need to be considered together when studying and modeling the K-Pg extinction event.
The Deccan Traps' part in the K-Pg extinction is consistent with the rest of Earth history, explained lead author Blair Schoene, a Princeton assistant professor of geosciences who specializes in geochronology. Four of the five largest extinction events in the last 500 million years coincided with large volcanic eruptions similar to the Deccan Traps. The K-Pg extinction is the only one that coincides with an asteroid impact, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Duh,,,,another new theory ,,,someday they may get it rite.
The full article at the top has a lot of interesting links related to extinction events. I agree there were probable multiple causes of the extinction event(s). Around 34 mya there were at least 3 boloids that caused a smaller extinction result. One was the 60 mile diameter Chesapeake Meteor strike, another the similar size Popogai(sp?) Meteor strike in Russia, and also the 9 mile diameter Toms River crater off the New Jersey coast. Many remember the impressive Shoemaker/Levy train of meteors striking Jupiter.
Another subject of interest for us volcano aficionados is the Toba volcano which left an 18 by 65 mile crater on Sumatra around 74,000 ya. Here is an article with several links on that topic.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/t/toba_catastrophe_theory.htm
In before the Far Side cartoon.
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Thanks for the info. I live in Hampton, VA and we can see slight traces of the Ches. Bay impact.
Note: this topic is from 12/19/2014. Adding to the list, not pinging.
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