Super Volcanoes Killed the Dinosaurs or an Asteroid? What’s your take!

The famous Asteroid theory dominating ‘dinosaur extinction’ that has prevailed for more than three decades has been finally challenged for the first time by a new ‘volcanic eruption theory’. A group of researchers have argued that an asteroid that crashed in to the earth some 65 million years ago may not have been the cause of dinosaur extinction.

Instead, according to them that impact may have been just a prelude to the main event, when a wave of volcanic eruptions spewed out massive clouds of sulfur dioxide. The clouds would have brought showers of acid rain along with them. These researchers are basing their volcanic theory on studies of an area in India called the Deccan Traps. This area was convulsed with volcanic activity around 65 million years ago.

The famous asteroid theory claims that a six-mile-wide asteroid slammed in to Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula creating the Chicxulub crater and cooling the climate so drastically that the majority of life forms went extinct in what is known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction. But according to geologist Gerta Keller and her colleagues, the impact occurred well before the massive die-off began.

The researchers have discovered four waves of massive eruptions that have spreads sheets of thick basalt across the land for more than 500 miles. These eruptions are estimated to have appeared between 67.5 and 65 million years ago in about four individual eruption pulses.

On the other hand, while examining the sediment layers of the crater, it appears to have occurred about 300,000 years before the K-T with virtually no effects to biota. Keller said, “There is essentially no extinction associated with the impact.

The researchers further built their argument by claiming that an asteroid impact wouldn’t kick up enough dust and sulfur dioxide to alter the climate around the planet. However, they say that the super-volcanoes may have spewed 10 billion to 150 billion tons of sulfur dioxide into the air with each pulse of eruption.

As much as I foresee an interesting and challenging debate beginning to erupt between two groups of researchers holding their ground, I am quite curious to find out which school of thought wins the debate and the mighty ownership to the cause of ‘dinosaur extinction’. So far all my votes are up for the volcanic eruption people. Which side do you see yourself?