A Short Introduction to the Study of the Extinction of the Dinosaurs

It is known that for about half a million years, spanning the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, one of the greatest volcanic eruptions of all time was going on, forming the Deccan Traps of western India. The Deccan Traps are basaltic deposits, as are the eruptions of Kilauea, and it is quite possible that volcanics could be the source of the Iridium Spike. The dinosaurs actually died off gradually: not very suddenly as this theory suggests. While most of the scientific community heartily embraces the theory, the majority of paleontologists reject it. Many paleontologists are willing to believe that a meteor impact could have occurred, but don't accept that it caused the extinctions. It could have been the last straw that finished off an already dying breed.…