The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass ExtinctionsThe discovery of the giant Chicxulub impact crater, buried off the coast of Mexico, unveiled the solution to one of Earth's greatest mysteries--what killed the dinosaurs. Scientists uncovered physical evidence to explain the mass extinction that rocked the Earth 65 million years ago. Step-by-step, The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions tells this great scientific detective story. Charles Frankel recounts the birth of the cosmic hypothesis, which holds that the crash of a meteor on the Earth's surface killed two-thirds of life and all the dinosaurs. He first provides a dramatic account of the impact and its aftermath. Frankel then goes on to detail the controversy that preceded the acceptance of the cosmic hypothesis, the search for the crater, its discovery and ongoing exploration, and the effect of the giant impact on the biosphere. In addition, he reviews other mass extinctions in the fossil record and the threat of asteroids and comets to our planet today. More than 70 photographs and diagrams enhance and help illustrate the material. Filled with drama and interesting science, The End of the Dinosaurs will readily appeal to both the general reader fascinated with the subject and the specialist always searching for more clues to this great mystery. Charles Frankel has written a number of articles on the earth sciences in books and magazines. His many books include Volcanoes of the Solar System (Cambridge University Press 1996). |
Contents
The impact hypothesis | 19 |
The controversy | 37 |
In search of the crater | 61 |
The discovery of Chicxulub crater | 80 |
Scenario of a catastrophe | 111 |
Impacts and other extinctions | 141 |
The impact hazard | 173 |
The historical record | 176 |
Watching the sky | 190 |
| 205 | |
| 220 | |
Common terms and phrases
acid Alan Hildebrand Alvarez appears asteroids and comets astrobleme astronomers atmosphere biosphere blast bolide breccia carbon catastrophe Chicxulub crater Chicxulub impact comet Shoemaker-Levy comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 cometary continental Deccan Traps devastated dinosaurs dust Earth Earth-crossing ecosystem ejecta End-Cretaceous End-Devonian End-Ordovician End-Triassic eruptions estimated event explosion Figure fireball fossil record fragments geologists geology giant ground zero heat pulse impact crater impact melt impactor iridium anomaly isotope K-T boundary K-T clay K-T crisis K-T layer kilometers km in diameter Late Cretaceous limestone m.y. ago Manicouagan Manson Manson crater marine mass extinction massacre megatons meteoritic meters Mexico Michael Rampino million years ago near-Earth North America oceans orbit P-TR paleontologists period Photograph planet plankton projectile salvo scenario scientists sediment shocked quartz Shoemaker-Levy 9 Siberian Traps Solar System species spinels strata sulfur surface tektites temperature theory thick thousands Tom Gehrels trajectory tsunami deposits Tunguska Tunguska event vaporized volcanic wave Yucatan