What is one hypothesis for the mass extinction at the end of the cretaceous period?

Many scientists believe that the collision of a large asteroid or comet nucleus with Earth triggered the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species near the end of the Cretaceous Period.

1. What happened during the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period?
2. What is one hypothesis for the mass extinction?
3. What are two hypotheses for the Cretaceous Tertiary mass extinction?
4. What evidence supports the impact hypothesis for the end-Cretaceous extinction?
5. What caused the Cretaceous mass extinction?
6. What are hypotheses?
7. How do hypotheses on the extinction of the dinosaurs relate to photosynthesis?
8. What two events likely caused the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous?
9. What additional observations and findings supported the asteroid impact hypothesis?
10. Which event is specific to the Cretaceous mass extinction quizlet?
11. What is the evidence for an impact event at the end Cretaceous and how could this have caused a global mass extinction?
12. What evidence in the fossil record supports the explanation that volcanic activity caused the Cretaceous extinction?
13. What evidence suggests that an impact by an asteroid or meteorite may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs?

What happened during the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period?

Best known for killing off the dinosaurs, the end-Cretaceous mass extinction also caused many other casualties. Ammonoids (marine mollusks), pterosaurs (gliding reptiles), mosasaurs (swimming reptiles), and a host of other plants and animals died out completely or suffered heavy losses.

What is one hypothesis for the mass extinction?

The Alvarez hypothesis posits that the mass extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and many other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth.

What are two hypotheses for the Cretaceous Tertiary mass extinction?

The impact hypothesis states that an asteroid hit Earth sending a cloud of dust and debris into the stratosphere, blocking out the sun, stalling photosynthesis and killing plants. This would have resulted in the collapse of the global food chain causing extinction in some, but not all species.

What evidence supports the impact hypothesis for the end-Cretaceous extinction?

A mass extinction occurs when at least 60 percent of species are wiped out within 1 million years. What evidence supports the impact hypothesis for the end-Cretaceous extinction? Sedimentary rocks from the K-Pg boundary layer contain large amounts of iridium.

What caused the Cretaceous mass extinction?

Many scientists believe that the collision of a large asteroid or comet nucleus with Earth triggered the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species near the end of the Cretaceous Period.

What are hypotheses?

A hypothesis is an assumption, an idea that is proposed for the sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true. ... In non-scientific use, however, hypothesis and theory are often used interchangeably to mean simply an idea, speculation, or hunch, with theory being the more common choice.

How do hypotheses on the extinction of the dinosaurs relate to photosynthesis?

This event would have shut down photosynthesis, drastically cooled the planet and contributed to the mass extinction that marked the end of the age of dinosaurs. ... As the spherules fell back to Earth, they would have been heated by friction to temperatures high enough to spark global fires and broil Earth's surface.

What two events likely caused the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous?

The Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction coincided with two major global environmental perturbations: heightened volcanism associated with the Deccan Traps and the Chicxulub asteroid impact (Fig.

What additional observations and findings supported the asteroid impact hypothesis?

What additional observations and findings supported the asteroid-impact hypothesis? Scientists have found glass spherules, shocked quartz, and tektites in the K-T layer. These findings are consistent with a collision or explosion that generated an immense amount of heat and high-energy shock waves.

Which event is specific to the Cretaceous mass extinction quizlet?

Mass the size of Mount Everest that hit Earth at North America, killing all North American large mammals in what was known as the late Cretaceous Mass Extinction event.

What is the evidence for an impact event at the end Cretaceous and how could this have caused a global mass extinction?

As originally proposed in 1980 by a team of scientists led by Luis Alvarez and his son Walter, it is now generally thought that the K–Pg extinction was caused by the impact of a massive comet or asteroid 10 to 15 km (6 to 9 mi) wide, 66 million years ago, which devastated the global environment, mainly through a ...

What evidence in the fossil record supports the explanation that volcanic activity caused the Cretaceous extinction?

Lava flows like these provide evidence of a rash of volcanic activity for at least 500,000 years leading up to the extinction of the dinosaurs. The metal iridium, which is similar to platinum, is very rare on Earth's surface but is more common in asteroids and in molten rock deep within the planet.

What evidence suggests that an impact by an asteroid or meteorite may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs?

What evidence most strongly suggests that an impact by an asteroid or meteorite may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? Sedimentary rocks contain a layer of iridium, a mineral uncommon on Earth. Fossils show that dinosaurs suffered from cold and starvation. There have been several near misses in recent years.