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Thu 16 Sep, 2004 05:49 pm
I see that there are many scientist and engineers and wanna-a-be scientist (i belong under that cateogry) so i was wondering what you all's theories were on why dinosuars were wiped out? I believe that the ice age was the deciding factor in this... just because of reptiles... they have been around for hundreds of thousands of years and have gone seemingly unchanged since then... and reptiles live in southern regions that, though suffered some effects from the ice age were not totally changed, stayed at a warmer tempature.... but this is just what i believe...
The most accepted theory was a huge media impact at the Yucatan (sp?) peninsula. The dust from the explosion blocked out the sun for several years, wiping out most life on the planet. The evidence still exists today in the form of a thin layer of material that stretches across the entire planet.
is there not aswell a gaint hole in the eather where said media struck? so is that the theory you believe to be true?
there is, but it's difficult to see because these days it's underwater. Apparently one of the various types of satellite photography shows it quite vividly.
Some sites that deal with the issue.
Dinosaur Extinction page
New Scientist/Dinosaurs
There's heaps more.
thats a huge creator... did it just recently fill up? like i guess in the last century or something.. thanks for the sites... loads of info.... my dream as a child used to be to be a palentologist
The meteor theory is the prevailing one, but there are others. Dr. Bakker postulates that during ice ages when the water goes down and land bridges connect continents, animals travel to new areas and carry their diseases with them. Perhaps, this along with the meteor along with climate change all contributed.
There is a good series on Dinosaurs that PBS still runs ocassionally or you can buy it on tape.
Another bone of contention between scientists is whether the dinosaurs were cold-blooded or warm-blooded. Here's a link that makes the case for either:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/ectothermy.html
The meteor crater that Wilso suggests must be there from the massive collision is called the Carribean Sea. Various imaging techniques from infra red, through visible, into the very hard X-ray indicate something like a crater which would be expected from such an event.
Kelly
It's not a "media" impact like I wrote above:-)
When I was in the Boy Scouts back in the 60s there was a particularly awful brand of freeze dried food we took along camping called "Bernards". The joke going around our troop was that the dinosaurs died out because a mad scientist went back in time and fed Bernards to them.
KellyS wrote:The meteor crater that Wilso suggests must be there from the massive collision is called the Carribean Sea. Various imaging techniques from infra red, through visible, into the very hard X-ray indicate something like a crater which would be expected from such an event.
Kelly
So this impact would not be the one that was in mexico then im guessing... or am i totally off base with my facts? because i thought that there was a meter that struck somewhere in mexico...
Maybe the dinos were hunted to extinction to produce the Bernards, Jim.
mmmm leathery meat... gotta love it! I love your avatar roger
Wilso wrote:It's not a "media" impact like I wrote above:-)
Yeh, I thought it was a bit of a stretch to blame the media for the demise of the dino's
what do you mean by media if i may ask?
It was a typo Seed. I meant to write "meteor" but obviously I had a brain short circuit at the time (a not uncommon phenomenon).
ah so i see... happens to me all the time...
Seed wrote:KellyS wrote:The meteor crater that Wilso suggests must be there from the massive collision is called the Carribean Sea. Various imaging techniques from infra red, through visible, into the very hard X-ray indicate something like a crater which would be expected from such an event.
Kelly
So this impact would not be the one that was in mexico then im guessing... or am i totally off base with my facts? because i thought that there was a meter that struck somewhere in mexico...
Double check your geography. You are/were correct. The Yucatan peninsula projects a long way from Mexico into the Carribean. It is the most frequently used marker point when looking at maps and charts to locate the crater. Think of it as a very dull pointer pointing directly at the center of the crater, which is a long way under a lot of water.
Kelly
well im glad to know that im not as stupid as it seems sometime.... :-D once again thanks Kelly
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