Double Impact

A study published in the journal Science reports of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley who have proposed that volcanic eruption aided by an asteroid impact wiped out dinosaurs from the face of the earth. Experts for long have been debating among themselves as to what caused dinosaurs’ extinction – asteroid impact or volcanic eruptions.

According to researchers, super volcanoes known as Deccan Traps which are now in India doubled their eruptions 50,000 years after an asteroid hit earth 65 million years ago. The theory also states that an asteroid or comet impact which caused a huge crater 180 km wide off the coast of Mexico triggered plumbing of the Deccan Traps. It led to eruptions for tens of thousands of years.

The simultaneous occurring of these two events ejected massive quantities of toxic gases and debris into the atmosphere around the world which cut off sunlight for thousands of years causing global climate change. Scientists also stated that 50,000 years is a blink of an eye as far as geological history is concerned.