4 replies to this topic

[iSilurian]

Yea, just out of interest, i figured id make a quick blurb about the K-T extinction.  More commonly known as the bolide impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Basically, some scientists...their names arent important, theyre old people , they came across this layer of rock in the earth.  In the geologic record, its a layer that is about 65 million years old.  It seperates the Cretaceous (K) from your tertiary (T).  Cretaceous and Tertiary are...geologic names assigned to rocks of particular ages.

If you examine fossils within the earth, what you will find are a vast variety of fossils, all sorts of dinosaurs and mammals and sea critters and such.  But right above that rock layer, above the K-T boundary, all life (not all but a large percentage) just kind of disappears.

http://en.wikipedia....80%93T_boundary



See, if you see the green color, you have the cretaceous.  Tertiary isn't labeled on this particular diagram, but i liked this one because it had nice pictures .  U can also see the Silurian there in purple in between 400-450 million years ago, for those of you who have taken notice of my account name.

Anyway...the boundary between the Cretaceous and the Paleogene/Cenozoic/Tertiary, the boundary consists of a rare earth known as iridium.  And, the K-T layer can be found in various locations around the world.



Iridium, is a prominent element found in meteorites.  So, people began to wonder, well, is this global layer of iridium the result of a meteorite impact?

So scientists ran around to see what else they could learn about the K-T rocks, what they found were things like...heavily burned soils.  And melted rock fragments.  With use of physics, it can be seen that something with immense energy essentially turned rocks instantaneously into molten rock. And that molten rock cools off in very recognizable ways.  It shears and gets stretched and...yea.  Its called shocked quartz.



So, now we have scientists with a handful of evidence.  Then later on, in todays time and more recently, a handful of meteorite craters have been discovered that actually are roughly of the same age (65 mya) as the iridium layer (chuxulub crater).  Right.  So this is why you have people saying that dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid or asteroids.
http://en.wikipedia....hicxulub_Crater


On top of that, on the other side of the world, the Deccan Traps, which are these...massive basalt beds, basically show us that extreme vulcanism at roughly the same time as the K-T impact and all the evidence that followed.

So, here is a brief overview for those who may be interested in what some geologists spend their time doing.  And it also holds a lot of implications to religious thought, for those who enjoy contemplating these things.

Oh, and one more thing,  once the dinosaurs were not gobbling up our ancestors, it finally allowed mammals to proliferate around the world, and to become the dominant world rulers that we are today.

So, it means a lot if you think about it.

Thats my 2 second overview, i hope everyone enjoys and feel free to ask questions if you have any.

Edited by iSilurian, 10 December 2011 - 01:05 AM.

[Ya Aba 3abdillah]

ya mama's an ape

[iSilurian]

Ya Aba 3abdillah, on 10 December 2011 - 07:10 AM, said:

ya mama's an ape

Yes, my mama is of the family hominidae, very good Ya aba .



Nice to hear from you btw, its been some time.

[Ya Aba 3abdillah]

So in essence, as the theory goes, it was a meteor shower as opposed to a single meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. Some event certainly occurred that left only crocs as the only survivors? It's interesting as to why they were wiped out everywhere, and pockets of existence didn't continue. Perhaps the shower was a barrage more intense than is first thought?

Remember seeing this story a few months ago - http://rt.com/news/d...nanza-far-east/ regarding a region in Russia that discovered a full skeleton; they also mentioned the possible role algae played http://rt.com/news/s...iped-dinosaurs/ . Perhaps the meteor shower caused a lot of damage, including causing deep holes that triggered volcanic eruptions. If large amounts of nutrients were released from deep sediments, and given the right environment, that could then kick off a massive algae bloom which then impacts the food chain? Add to that Alvarez's (one of your unnamed scientists? ) hypothesis about plumes of CO2 clouds, and not much can survive, other than roaches, another ancient creature. Essentially it's a doomsday scenario, and the Islamic prophecies somewhat describe the destruction of the Earth as a prelude to Judgement day in like nature, so too Christian beliefs.

Real intriguing stuff.
Thanks for sharing the interesting info buddy, keep'em coming.

[iSilurian]

Ya Aba 3abdillah, on 10 December 2011 - 04:18 PM, said:

So in essence, as the theory goes, it was a meteor shower as opposed to a single meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. Some event certainly occurred that left only crocs as the only survivors? It's interesting as to why they were wiped out everywhere, and pockets of existence didn't continue. Perhaps the shower was a barrage more intense than is first thought?

Yea, from my understanding, everyone is a fan of the Chixulub crater and the single impact concept, but if i recall correctly, there is published research on craters of similar ages that exist on the planet. Id have to go look it up again.  With the Deccan traps on the other side of the planet, u simultaneously have all of these massive fluctuations in planetary greenhouse gas levels and things of that nature.  There are plenty of ways the delicate balance of nature could be changed on a global scale. Crocodiles were not the only survivors.  Very few mammals lived, avian dinosaurs lived, a very slim amount of foraminifera lived on etc.  Pockets of life did live on, which is what we narrow down to be what are considered our ancestors. (with regards to paleo)

Ya Aba 3abdillah, on 10 December 2011 - 04:18 PM, said:

Remember seeing this story a few months ago - http://rt.com/news/d...nanza-far-east/ regarding a region in Russia that discovered a full skeleton; they also mentioned the possible role algae played http://rt.com/news/s...iped-dinosaurs/ . Perhaps the meteor shower caused a lot of damage, including causing deep holes that triggered volcanic eruptions. If large amounts of nutrients were released from deep sediments, and given the right environment, that could then kick off a massive algae bloom which then impacts the food chain? Add to that Alvarez's (one of your unnamed scientists? ) hypothesis about plumes of CO2 clouds, and not much can survive, other than roaches, another ancient creature. Essentially it's a doomsday scenario, and the Islamic prophecies somewhat describe the destruction of the Earth as a prelude to Judgement day in like nature, so too Christian beliefs.

Real intriguing stuff.
Thanks for sharing the interesting info buddy, keep'em coming.

Ya, sounds good. and thanks.