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This is about the supervolcano hypothesis. Note that this and the Alvarez asteroid hypothesis aren't mutually-exclusive; a significant impact event could in fa
by mordant 8y ago
This is about the supervolcano hypothesis.
Note that this and the Alvarez asteroid hypothesis aren't mutually-exclusive; a significant impact event could in fact trigger vulcanism on a massive scale.
There's plenty of evidence that the K-T impactor was real and slammed into the Earth. It alone might've caused the massive die-offs, or it might've triggered vulcanism and/or venting of poisonous gas deposits from beneath the seabed.
- bryanlarsen 8y agoAccording to the article, the vulcanism starts two hundred thousand years before the impact.
- EdwardDiego 8y agoSure, started, but... http://science.sciencemag.org/content/350/6256/76 http://science.sciencemag.org/content/350/6256/76 > The existing Deccan Traps magmatic system underwent a state shift approximately coincident with the Chicxulub impact and the terminal-Cretaceous mass extinctions, after which ~70% of the Traps' total volume was extruded in more massive and more episodic eruptions. Initiation of this new regime occurred within ~50,000 years of the impact, which is consistent with transient effects of impact-induced seismic energy. Then there's the possibility of another impactor coincident in time to Chicxulub: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_crater https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_crater
- Jedd 8y agoThis was discussed in TFA.