Meteorites provide a convenient explanation for the mass extinction event. However, it has come to be recognized that the truth of the mass extinction is more complex than a meteorite. At the end of the dinosaurs, more disasters were on the way. From changes in the composition of marine fossils and soils, we know that climate change began before the meteorites arrived. It’s caused by the largest volcano ever built. Geologists believe that volcanic activity began a million years before the impact and continued for one hundred thousand more years after the impact.
This volcano is located in what is now India. The brown area in the image is the size of France. Today, the area is left with a huge igneous landscape. We call this the Deccan Plateau Shield.
Large amounts of smoke from volcanoes remain in the atmosphere, blocking out sunlight and causing a drop in global temperatures. The extinction of marine microorganisms is directly related to this cause.
We know dinosaurs were different from the reptiles of today, they weren’t cold-blooded, but they weren’t warm blooded mammals either. They should not be able to cope with cold temperatures as well as mammals, so a 5-7 degree drop in temperature could pose a threat. At the same time, the temperature drop also has the influence to the plant. The loss of vegetation reduced the food supply for herbivores; the loss of herbivores reduced the food supply for carnivores. Disruption of the food chain could trigger the extinction of many dinosaur species.
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