1 / 19

Extinction of Dinosaurs

Extinction of Dinosaurs. By Jenn Collins, Meghan McCurdy, & Jen Bayer. Questions to Consider . Name the theories outlining the dinosaur extinction. How long ago did the asteroid hit the earth? What are mantle plumes? Why could mantle plumes have caused the extinction of dinosaurs?

chaviva
Download Presentation

Extinction of Dinosaurs

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Extinction of Dinosaurs By Jenn Collins, Meghan McCurdy, & Jen Bayer

  2. Questions to Consider • Name the theories outlining the dinosaur extinction. • How long ago did the asteroid hit the earth? • What are mantle plumes? • Why could mantle plumes have caused the extinction of dinosaurs? • What did too much CO2 result in?

  3. Theories • Asteroid • Volcano • Climate Change • All theories are highly debated

  4. Asteroid Theory

  5. The Alvarez Asteroid Impact Theory • Proposed in 1980 • Luis Alvarez (Physicist) and son Walter Alvarez (Geologist) • Most Accepted Theory

  6. What Happened??? • 65 mya an asteroid hit the earth • 4-9 miles in diameter • 120 mile wide, 1 mile deep

  7. Yucatan Peninsula, in Gulf of Mexico Approached at an angle from the South East Where? How?

  8. Volcanism Theory

  9. Extinction caused by Mantle Plumes? • Mantle plume: volcanic eruption that starts within the mantle • Heat causes eruption on earth • Up to 1,000 km in diameter • Eruptions can last between 1-2 million years

  10. Where would it have taken place? • Mantle plume eruption under Indian Ocean • Found through microfossil assemblages • Today activity can be seen in Iceland, Hawaii, Easter, Reunion, Tristan, Louisville, and Ethiopia

  11. How are dinosaurs impacted? • Lava, ashes, and gas would have effect on climate • “Destabilized environment” causing evolution • May have caused predomination of mammals

  12. More evidence… • Deccan region in India covered by lava flows • Presence of iridium found in “layer” of dinosaur extinction • Shocked crystals in iridium caused by explosions or eruptions only • Gradual decline in # of dinosaur species… caused by volcanoes?

  13. Climate Theory

  14. What happened??? • Continents shifted • New mountains rose • Sea levels gradually dropped

  15. What was the result? • Change in the air temperature • Weather pattern change • New kinds of plants • Colder temperature • Possibly caused dinosaurs to be sluggish and less able to hunt food

  16. Too much Carbon Dioxide resulted in: • Making the climate too hot • Change in the weather systems and rainfall patterns • Decrease in the number male sperm produced, due to a warm climate which could reduce population size • Overheated dinosaurs

  17. What happened to the atmosphere? • High levels of Carbon Dioxide • Oceans became stagnant • Extensive volcanism and dust formation • Change in climate • Supernova Explosion • Competition with other animals

  18. Answers to Questions: • Three theories are: Asteroid, Volcano & Climate Change. • The asteroid hit the earth 65 mya. • Mantle plumes are large volcanic eruptions that come from the mantle of the earth. • Plumes casue great amounts of lava, ashes, and gas that would have had a great effect on the climate. • Too much CO2 resulted in a hotter climate and a change in weather systems.

  19. The End!

More Related