Asteriods, Dinosaurs, and Geology: Catastrophic Events and the Theory of Mass Extinction
Overview
Fossils were first determined to be the remains of extinct animals in the nineteenth century. This realization carried with it the concept of extinction, something that did not play a major part in the religion-dominated science of the day. As the science of geology developed, so did the understanding that, every so often, a very large percentage of species on the Earth vanished for no apparent reason. There have been at least 10 mass extinctions recorded in the fossil record in the past 600 million years. While many reasons for this have been proposed, there is only one such event for which the cause is known, that which precipitated the extinction of the dinosaurs. This catastrophic event, caused by the impact of a large body such as a comet or small asteroid on the Earth's surface, posed a completely novel approachto understanding our geologic past. It also helped spur awareness of events ranging from nuclear disarmament to the effects of potential asteroid impacts on the modern world.
Background
Dinosaurs were first brought to the public's attention in the nineteenth century when it was realized that their fossils represented the remains of huge reptilian creatures that no longer existed.
This page contains 201 words.
Asteriods, Dinosaurs, and Geology: Catastrophic Events and the Theory of Mass Extinction article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 1,829 words
(approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our Dinosaur Article
