New from Snet: Lithologs, a new tool to create lithological/sedimentological logs online..
The impact winter model and the end of the age of the dinosaurs
Source info:
| Author: | |
|---|---|
| Date: | 2020-07-01 00:02:56 |
| Blog: | Letters from Gondwana  |
| URL: | https://paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2020/06/30/the-impact-winter-model-and-the-end-of-the-age-of-the-dinosaurs/ |
Summary:
“Lucifer’s Hammer killed the dinosaurs,” said US physicist Luis Alvarez, in a lecture on the geochemical evidence he and his son found of a massive impact at the end of the Cretaceous period. A year later, Pemex (a Mexican oil company) identified Chicxulub as the site of this massive asteroid impact. The crater is more than 180 km (110 miles) in diameter and 20 km (10 miles) in depth. The impact released an estimated energy equivalent of 100 teratonnes of TNT, induced earthquakes, shelf collapse around the Yucatan platform, and widespread tsunamis that swept the coastal zones of the surrounding oceans. Global forest fires might have raged for months. Photosynthesis stopped and the food chain collapsed. The decrease of sunlight caused a drastic short-term global reduction in temperature. This phenomenon is called “impact winter”. Cold and darkness lasted for a period of years. Three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth disappeared, including non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, marine reptiles, ammonites, and planktonic foraminifera.Content analysis:
Keywords:
Uncategorized
Ads: