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Most scientists believe that the Cretaceous extinction event was caused by a 6 mile wide asteroid that impacted Earth at what is now the Yucatan Peninsula 65.5 million years ago. The impact would have thrown tremendous amounts of dust high into the atmosphere, which would have blocked the sun for months. Without sunlight, the plants would have died, and without the plants, so would any herbivorous animals. The carnivores would have then died, too.
Another theory popular with scientists is that climate change was the cause of the extinction. Before the asteroid impact, a huge volcanic trap (a large lava flow) called the Deccan Traps had been erupting for about three million years. The amount of carbon dioxide it released into the atmosphere caused tremendous global climate change, and dramatically decreased the variety of dinosaur species.
It is also very plausible that it was a combination of these two factors.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoAs far as the last mass extinction (there have been several) the Cretaceous-Tertiary event - believed to be an asteroid or cometary nucleus that slammed into what we call today the Yucatan Peninsula - is believed by most scientists to be the cause of the mass extinction, and not just of dinosaurs, but of about half of all species living on earth and in the seas at that time.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoThey think either the ring of fire, a meteorite or a severe earthquake from what i have heard.
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Why did many planets die at the end of the mesozoic?
Scientists believe the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, or the plants dying at the end of the Mesozoic Era, was caused by a massive asteroid/comet impact. The theory suggests that the impact had catastrophic effects on the environment, including an impact winter, which prevented the plants from carrying out photosynthesis.
What might have caused the mass extinction at the end of the paleozoic era?
The mass extinction, known as the Permian extinction, affected both plants and animals on land and in the seas. Scientists do not know what catastrophic events caused the mass extinction, many kinds of organisms suddenly became extinct, as much as 90% of Marine species may have died out.
What caused the last mass extinction?
The Permian mass extinction occurred about 248 million years ago and was the greatest mass extinction ever recorded in earth history exterminating more than 95% of all life on EarthTwo theories have been proposed - the impact of a huge meteorite or comet over 10 kilometres in diameter, or a massive and prolonged volcanic eruption. The volcanic theory appears to be taking the lead at the present time.
When was the first mass extinction?
540 million years ago was the first mass extinction
When did organisms suffer the largest mass extinction known?
The most devastating mass extinction occurred in the Late Permian (~250 million years ago).
What caused each mass extinction?
Asteroids.
What may have caused the first mass extinction 65 million years ago?
An asteroid impact caused a mass extinction about 65 million years ago
Relationship between extinct and mass extinction?
Mass extinction is when many animals go extinct within a short period of time caused by the same variables/factors leading to the mass extinction.
How do you use the word mass extinction in a sentence?
We are still not sure what caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, though an asteroid impact seems to be the popular theory.Scientists believe we may be heading towards another mass extinction event.
Specific mass extinction of living organisms and global climatic in geologic history are inferred by most scientists to have been caused by what event?
1 the impct of asterious or large metors on earth surface
What event do scientist think may have caused the mass extinction at the end of the Paleozoic?
the climate change during the shifting of the plates that was causing the making of Pangea
What is some catastrophic events that caused periods to come to an end?
mass extinction
The mass extinction at the end of the Mesozoic Era was caused by .?
a comet impacting the earth
What is the K-T extinction?
The k-t extinction marks the transition from the cretaceous to the tertiary period in which it is hypothesized that a meteorite struck the Earth and caused a mass extinction.
What was the mass extinction in the mesozoic era caused by?
You are probably asking about the mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Mesozoic boundary, about 65 million years ago. We know that there was a major meteoric impact in the Yucatan peninsula at that time, which was at least partially involved in the mass extinction; some scientists believe that there were other contributing factors, but it remains a complicated and difficult issue to investigate.
What was the mass extinction that was most likely caused by the formation and retreat of glaciers?
"It was the Cretaceous-Tertiary or the K-T Extinction." - WrongThe K-T Extinction was the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs, which was more widely believed to be caused by a heavenly body colliding with the Earth.The mass extinction that involved a large period of glaciation was in truth the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction, which was the earliest mass extinction.The extinction is associated with a period of glaciation. First, sea levels dropped as glaciers formed. Later, as the glaciers melted, the sea level rose. The cause of this glaciation remains a mystery. One suggestion is land plants caused it by absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The drop in carbon dioxide could then have caused global cooling.
What is the effect of mass extinction?
The effect of mass extinction is extinction, death of a mass
