Dinosaurs died out due to climate change. Scientists explained how the asteroid affected it
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The asteroid that fell to Earth 66 million years ago raised a wave of dust.
It caused a sharp change in climate and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, according to a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Reuters writes.
According to scientists’ calculations, the total amount of dust was about 2 thousand gigatons, which is 11 times the weight of Mount Everest.
The simulations showed that the fine-grained dust could block photosynthesis for 2 years, making the atmosphere opaque to sunlight.
| Photo: lighthouse/Depositphotos |
Planetologist and co-author of the study from the Royal Observatory of Belgium, Jem Burke Senel, noted that the dust remained in the atmosphere for 15 years.
Previously, scientists believed that the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs was sulfur released during the collision of an asteroid with the Earth and soot from forest fires.
But the dust was actually underestimated. After all, silicate particles with a size of approximately 0.8-8.0 micrometers formed a global cloud layer consisting of granite and gneiss rocks, crushed during a strong impact.
After that, the Earth’s surface temperature dropped by about 15°C.
“It’s been cold and dark for years,” – noted planetary scientist and co-author of the study Philipp Claes.
Because of this, photosynthesis stopped, plants partially died, as did some herbivores. Predators were left without prey and died. In marine spaces, the death of tiny phytoplankton led to the destruction of food webs.
The dinosaurs, apart from their avian descendants, were lost, as were the marine reptiles that dominated the seas and many other groups.
But there were winners in this disaster. Thus, due to the death of dinosaurs, mammals got the opportunity to become the protagonists of food chains.
“Biotic groups that were not adapted to survive in conditions of darkness, cold and lack of food for nearly 2 years would have experienced a mass extinction. Fauna and flora that could enter a dormant phase – for example through seeds, cysts or hibernation in burrows – and were able to adapt to a general lifestyle – not dependent on one particular food source – generally survived better than small mammals.”said the scientist.
Read also: Lived before dinosaurs: scientists discovered the oldest creature on Earth
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