Volcanos Likely Killed Dinosaurs

Been enjoying this new website . A couple of decent articles already from them.

First *they* thought it was a meteor in Mexico's Yucatan that killed off the dino, now, Indian volcanos 65 million years ago. What *they* are saying, is they're able to "hone in on the eruptions timing."

"It's the first time we can directly link the main phase of the Deccan Traps to the mass extinction," said Princeton University paleontologist Gerta Keller. The main phase of the Deccan eruptions spewed 80 percent of the lava and covered hundreds of miles. It is calculated to have released ten times more climate altering gases into the atmosphere than the nearly concurrent Chicxulub meteor impact, according to volcanologist Vincent Courtillot from the Physique du Globe de Paris.

Previous work had first narrowed the Deccan eruption timing to within 800,000 years of the extinction event using paleomagnetic signatures of Earth's changing magnetic field frozen in minerals that crystallized from the cooling lava. Then radiometric dating of argon and potassium isotopes in minerals narrowed the age to within 300,000 years of the 65-million-year-old Cretaceous-Tertiary (a.k.a. Cretaceous-Paleogene) boundary, sometimes called the K-T boundary.

[edit on 31-10-2007 by anhinga]

Finally someone else is saying this now. I have been saying this for a long long time, since i found out about the monster that lies underneath Yellowstone.

The Deccan Traps are amazing, and the most likely cause of the dino's extinction.

Now the next question you must ask is, Did the Comet actually Cause the Deccan Traps??? Was it the earths way of healing itself???

I believe that Supervolcanic Eruptions and Methane Gas Releases have been the cause of most of the Mass Extinctions in earths history.

The really bad news is, we are overdue for the next one, and science has already said that we have already entered into a new mass extinction period.

What's your most honest link/research to HOW overdue volcanoes, in general, are? I have heard/read so much about Yellowstone -- I don't know what to believe! Also, aren't there some in Indochina that are VERY overdue?

I was a student of Geology, in New Zealand, and one of the papers I wrote for a course was "What do the Marine Microfaunas tell us about the K/T Boundary Interval"

During research for this I corresponded with Dr Keller and she was able to confirm my assumptions. I got an A+ for the paper and at the time (2002) the material was up to date. Generally, over the past 5 years the research has added to the data by refinement, but the basic premise is the same.

I will quote from my conclusion:

"The KTBEE (K/T Boundary Extinction Event) can be intimately related to the bolide impact at Chixulub, in that there was a definite marine microfaunal turnover 65 m.y. ago. however, it was not the only event responsible for marine microfossil extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous. there were extinction episodes throughout the Maastrichtian associated with volcanism. eustatic sea-level changes and palaeogeographic orientations. The nature of the KTBEE is still not well understood regarding the effects of high-latitude palaeoenvironments, or the comparison between high- and low-latitude sites. the dominant fauna investigated are the planktic formainifera due to their usefulness in palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. There is still some dissent between those who consider the KTBEE to be a sudden extinction event and those who consider it to be the final major event in a series. Recent investigations are beginning to support the later hypothesis, but until more high-resolution investigations are undertaken at as many sites as possible coherent and consistent sampling, the question remains open."

New Zealand is one of the major sites that led to the formation of the Chixulub hypothesis due to the overwhelming presence of Iridium at K/T sites such as Flaxbourne River and Woodside Creek (Marlborough), and the Waipara Gorge. For more information, you might want to look at publications by Dr Chris Hollis of IGNS:
Hollis, C.J.; Rodgers, K.A.; Strong, C.P.; Field, B.D.; Rogers, K.M. 2003 Paleoenvironmental changes across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary in the northern Clarence valley, southeastern Marlborough, New Zealand.New Zealand journal of geology and geophysics, 46(2): 209-234
Hollis, C.J.; Strong, C.P. 2003 Biostratigraphic review of the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary transition, mid-Waipara River section, North Canterbury, New Zealand.New Zealand journal of geology and geophysics, 46(2): 243-253
Hollis, C.J.; Strong, C.P.; Rodgers, K.A.; Rogers, K.M. 2003 Paleoenvironmental changes across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary at Flaxbourne River and Woodside Creek, eastern Marlborough, New Zealand.New Zealand journal of geology and geophysics, 46(2): 177-197

Suffice to say there is a wealth of information available and it makes for compelling reading!

I stand more in the camp of multiple 'triggers' as the Earth is dynamic and subject to internal and external influences. So, in my opinion, it wasn't just volcanism, but a plethora of 'events' that led to the demise of the dinosaurs.

Dr Gerta Keller is a Foraminifera specialist.
geoweb.princeton.edu...

geoweb.princeton.edu...

Hope this helps!

Gerta Keller did her presentation at the Dallas Paleo Society meeting when her paper came out and it was very interesting.

I understand the dinosaur fauna was shrinking greatly before any of this also.

I also wonder if rodent predation on dinosaur eggs was also a factor.

The deccan traps were caused by the chixilub impact.
It's called anti podal hot spot formation of a large igneous province (the deccan traps are a large igneous province).
The idea is that during a large oceanic strike the earths mantle absorbs almost all of the energy, as compared to a continental strike where most of the energy is reflected back into space.
The energy of the strike is focused through the mantle and around the core where it focuses on a point opposite of the strike and causes a mantle plume that erupts through the crust.
The deccan traps were opposite of chixilub at the time.

Abstract

The distribution of hotspots on the Earth has a distinct antipodal character, which has previously been shown to be statistically significant (p100 Myr) and could have drifted quite far from antipodality with their opposite hotspots. The remaining 9 primary hotspots have antipodes in the Pacific Ocean where submerged hotspots or impact structures could yet be identified. All hotspots antipodal to those associated with flood basalt provinces or formed in continental crust are, or were, in oceanic crust suggesting links between major deep-ocean impacts, greater impact/seismic efficiency, and the creation of antipodal hotspot pairs. In general, `spotless' areas [5] occur opposite to continental masses, and no hotspot volcanism is found at or antipodal to known continental impact structures. [1] Rampino and Caldeira, GRL (1992) 2011; [2] Schultz and Gault, The Moon (1975) 159; [3] Boslough et al., GSA Spec. Pap. 307 (1996) 541; [4] Roddy et al., Int. J. Impact Eng. (1987) 525; [5] Vogt, JGR (1981) 9

anti podal hotspots