Volcanos not to blame for wiping out dinosaurs – it was an asteroid, say experts

VOLCANIC ACTIVITY did not kill off dinosaurs, scientists say after studying marine fossils.

Instead, they believe the eruptions may have helped shaped life on Earth after a mass extinction event wiped out 75 per cent of the planet’s species around 66 million years ago.

The research, in which experts from the University College London and University of Southampton were involved, attempts to address the ongoing debate as to whether the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction was caused by a series of volcanic eruptions or an asteroid collision or both.

Geological records indicate the environmental impact from the massive volcanic eruptions in India, which caused a huge rock formation known as the Deccan Traps, happened 200,000 years before the K-Pg event. According to the scientists, this indicates volcanic activity did not directly contribute to the death of dinosaurs.

Instead, they are standing by the original argument that the K-Pg event was caused by a sixmile long asteroid that crashed on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, which resulted in the 120-mile wide Chicxulub impact crater. Professor Paul Bown, of the University College London’s Earth Sciences and the study coauthor, said: “Most scientists acknowledge that the last, and bestknown, mass-extinction event occurred after a large asteroid slammed into Earth 66 million years ago.

“But some researchers suggested volcanic activity might have played a big role too and we’ve shown that is not the case.”

The researchers examined marine fossils to find out more about the ocean temperatures and carbon-cycle changes

These microscopic fossils, from the seabed near Newfoundland in Canada, carry the geological record of the moment when dinosaurs became extinct, known as the K-Pg boundary.

Results showed that the volcanic gas emissions occurred 200,000 years before the K-Pg event.