How do scientists know that a meteorite killed the dinosaurs?
In: Other
There is a distinct line in the layers of earth that can be found all over the planet called the KT boundary No dinosaur fossils have ever been found above this line. Another interesting thing about the KT boundary is it contains a very high concentration of a mineral called iridium, which is one of the rarest minerals on Earth. Where the element is rare on earth and its common in the KT boundary, it gave us the idea that Iridium came from space, turns out in asteroids and comets Iridium is quite common. The theory was an asteroid or comet filled with Iridium slammed into the earth and the resulting dust and debris spread this iridium all over the planet and settled down to form the KT Boundary. As with all past mass extinction events this planet has seen the smallest animals tend to survive and the larger animals do not, so the large dinosaurs died out the smaller ones survived and continued to evolve and those small dinosaurs turned into modern day birds.
Latest Answers