Theories Explaining the Demise of the Dinosaurs
The chapter of life which saw the rise of the dinosaurs is one of the most fascinating periods in our earth’s history. It is often the subject which brings about young children’s first exposure to science. When these children learn about these intriguing prehistoric beasts, one of their primary inquiries concerns the cause of their annihilation. What could have led to the demise of all those creatures, who lived very successfully for millions of years? This question has plagued experts and curious children alike for decades. In the early 1990s, a “smoking gun” was discovered – purported to solve the mystery of how the dinosaurs met their fate. This discovery was the Chicxulub crater in Yucatan, Mexico. The claim was that this 180 kilometer crater was the impact scar left by an asteroid that collided with the earth. The asteroid was so large and landed with such force that it effectively ended the dinosaurs reign over the earth. However, recent evidence and research reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that this could not have been the case, because the Chicxulab crater predates the mass extinction by roughly 300,000 years. Rather, the evidence suggests that two or more impacts caused the mass extinction experienced by dinosaurs.
Fossil records inform us that the mass extinction occurred 65 million years ago. This landmark coincides with and marks the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary. There appeared to be relative consensus among scientific professionals that an asteroid impact caused the mass extinction. According to this theory, “debris from the asteroid’s impact would have superheated the atmosphere so that vegetation burst i...
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...osaur Impact Theory Challenged. Internet: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3520837.stm
iv[4] Morgan, Jason. Chicxulub Impact Predates the K-T Boundary Mass Extinction. January 20, 2004. Page 9
v[5] Enchanted Learning. Dinosaur Extinction. Location of the Impact Crater.
Internet: http://www.cooldinos.com/subjects/dinosaurs/extinction/Asteroid.html
vi[6] Rincon, Paul. Dinosaur Impact Theory Challenged. Internet: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3520837.stm
vii[7] Ibid
viii[8] Enchanted Learning. Dinosaur Extinction. The K-T Extinction.
Internet: http://www.cooldinos.com/subjects/dinosaurs/extinction/Asteroid.html
ix[9] Highfield, Roger. Dinosaur Extinction Theory ‘A Myth.’ The Telegraph – UK. March 1, 2004. Internet: http://www.rense.com/general49/tho.htm
I think it is clear that the grimly serious nature of the tale, and in particular, the kind of existence that Sarty has. Because of his father 's penchant for barn burning and his clear resistance or conflict with any form of authority, he finds himself cut off from society and isolated. In addition, he has to constantly struggle with his own sense of right and wrong, and whether to disobey his father by revealing his guilt. This is of course what he nearly does at the beginning of the story, and his father realises this, and beats him for it. However, by the end of the story, this is what he decides to do, and we are left with a moving image of Sarty looking up at the constellations above him and then walking away from his father and family, without looking
The struggle for Sarty is strong because of the great emphasis his father, Abner places on loyalty to one’s blood no matter the cost. Sarty might have been able to make his own choices of right and wrong, had it not been for the impact of his father’s words. His struggle becomes apparent because he doesn’t want to lie in court, but also feels strong loyalty to his father. He reminds himself that his father’s enemies are his own. “The smell and sense just a little fear because mostly of despair and grief, the old fierce pull of blood. He could not see the table where the Justice sat and before which his father and his father’s enemy (our enemy he thought in that despair: ourn! Mine and hisn both! He’s my father!) stood. (Faulkner 172) This demonstrates to the reader that Sarty wants
What prompts Sarty to betray his own moral character is his fear of Abner, who he describes as the “black, flat, and bloodless . . . voice harsh like tin and without heat like tin”(279). Time and again, Sarty has witnesse...
“...99.9 per cent of all [species] that have ever existed are now extinct.” (Benton 1) After one hundred and sixty million years of domination, the reign of the dinosaurs ended in fire and ice. Sixty five million years ago, the largest volcanoes in the history of the Earth erupted across what is now India, effectively annihilating the dinosaurs by spewing out noxious gas and ash, that effectively blocked out the sun killing off most vegetation and breaking the food chain, leaving the dinosaurs to starve. Compared to other groups of animals the dinosaurs were the most vulnerable to such a climatic event and the result was the end of the dinosaurs’ glorious evolutionary history.
“Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” is written by Stephen Jay Gould, professor of geology and zoology at Harvard. This essay is one of more than a hundred articles on evolution, zoology, and paleontology published by Gould in national magazines and journals. It tells about scientific proposals for the extinction of dinosaurs – a confusing but an exciting problem that humanity tries to solve. By analyzing and describing each of the claims for the reptiles’ demise – sex, drugs, and disasters – Gould differentiates bad science from good science and explains what makes some theories silly speculations, while the other, a testable hypothesis.
Sarty's inner turmoil centers around his sense of loyalty to his father and his own conflict with knowing his father's actions are wrong. Through Faulkner's use of stream-of-consciousness narration, the reader is aware of Sarty's thoughts. In one instance, Sarty alludes to Mr. Harris as "his father's enemy (our enemy he thought in that despair, ourn, mine and hisn both! He's my father!)" (2176). Upon hearing the hiss of someone accusing his father of burning barns, Sarty feels "the old fierce pull of blood" and is blindly thrust into a fight, only to be physically jerked back by his father's hand and his cold voice ordering him to get in the wagon.
However, Sarty’s father is up to his old habits once more, he calls for the can of oil and commands Sarty to bring it to him. Having no other choice, Sarty runs “towards the stable: this the old habit, the old blood which had been bequeathed him… which had run for so long…” Before he realizes, “I could keep on… I could run on and on and never look back, never need to see his face again. Only I can’t. I can’t” (48). Sarty is stuck in the same predicament as he was in the first scene, he knows the evil nature of his father and what he intends to do with the can of oil. This time however, he realizes that he has a choice to run and not follow his father’s orders, and for the first time finds himself questioning his loyalty to his family. Sarty’s father realizes this as well and makes Lennie, Sarty’s mother hold him down while he goes off to burn Major de Spain’s barn. At this point however, Sarty has made his decision, choosing justice over family ties, and managing to escape his mother’s grasp, runs as fast as he can to warn the Major. Able to warn the Major in time he runs in the direction of his father ““knowing it was too late yet still running even after he heard the shot…pausing now without knowing he had ceased to run, crying “Pap! Pap!” running on among the invisible trees, panting, sobbing, “father! Father!”” (51) Sarty calls his father “pap,” a more specific name which shows closeness, yet by the end he refers to him as father, a more general term which symbolizes his breaking away from the “the old fierce pull of blood”
The K-T Extinction is supported by 3 pieces of evidence. According to the EarthViewer app, the crater caused by the impact of the 10 km-diameter asteroid was identified in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. This evidence proves the K-T extinction because there it is physical evidence that exists from the mass extinction event. Additionally, "Fossil Data by Era and Period" shows that during the Cretaceous period, there was evidence of a diversity of dinosaurs from the fossils. However, during the Tertiary period, there was no evidence of dinosaurs, seemingly nonexistent. This is another piece of evidence because the K-T extinction happened at the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary period. The Tertiary period wouldn't
What is it that finally makes Sarty defy his father and his blood? Was it his hope of redemption and a normal life? Was it his discovery that some people lived in comfort and happiness instead of terror, grief and despair? Was it even that last day that showed Sarty the possibility of reform in his father? We cannot know what the last straw was, but we do know that Sarty chose to define himself by honor, integrity, and a clean conscience instead of the anger and misplaced retribution that Abner held in such high regard.
The most significant event of the Cretaceous era came at its end. Nearly 65 million years ago, the second most severe mass extinction in earth’s history occurred. This resulted in the loss of around 80% of species living at the time. Though nowhere near as severe as the end-Permian mass extinction, the end-Cretaceous extinction is the most well known mass extinction event. This is due to the violent event that caused it the extinction, as well as the chapter of earth’s history that it closed: the Dinosaurs. The Cretaceous Event ( often shortened to K-T event) Of the animals that were killed off were the flying reptiles (pterosaurs) and the last few mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, both early marine reptiles. Many mollusks and species of microscopic plankton were killed. Terrestrial plants suffered mass extinction as well. Almost 60% of terrestrial plants were lost. This led to high extinction rates among insect populations, especially insects that were highly specialized to feed on just a few types of plants had it the worst. It took approximately 9 million years for the global insect populations to recover from the Cretaceous extinction. Immediately after the extinction, the earth saw an explosion of short term species who respond well to fire, or other external disturbance. Evidence of the catastrophe comes from a thin rock layer deposited worldwide just after the impact. It is dominated by fossil plants whose descendants recover quickly after fires of other disturbances, such as Fire Weed in Alaska. The causes of the Cretaceous extinction are still being debated by paleontologists. Scientists agree that the main cause of the extinction was a...
According to the Uniform Crime Report, a violent crime occurs on an average of every twenty-six seconds in the United States (UCR, National Data). Young people, primarily between the ages of 17 and 19 and in their early twenties, commit the vast majority of crime (Barkan and Bryjak, 33). It is also common for individuals at this age to attend college. Based on the Uniform Crime Report (Table 9), twenty-four colleges and universities have increased enrollment rates from 2005 until 2012 in New York State alone. Despite the consistent increase in the number of individuals continuing their education, it appears that the amount of violent crime has decreased among college campuses. This contradicts the common crime myth that crime is increasing throughout the United States when in fact it is actually slightly decreasing or remaining constant. It is possible for the relationship between increasing enrollment rates and decreasing rates of violent crime to be explained by the common misconception that crime is actually decreasing. However, there is evidence that supports this inverse relationship is due to the underreporting of crime among college campuses, which often happens because the college doesn’t want to damage its reputation. As a result, they choose to deal with the crime themselves rather than getting the authorities involved.
seems like it happened so sudden, as geologic time goes, that almost all the dinosaurs
Several mass extinctions have occurred during the Earth’s history. The Cretaceous – Tertiary Boundary (K-T) Extinction caused the loss of at least three-quarters of all species known at that time including the dinosaurs. The cause of this mass extinction is a controversial subject among scientists but the fossil evidence of it’s occurrence is abundant.
The mass extinction of the dinosaurs is still a mystery today, but there are some theories today that suggest what happened. One of the more widely accepted theories is the asteroid theory. This theory suggests that an asteroid with an approximate diameter of 6-15 km, hit the earth with a force of five billion atomic bombs. Another theory that they believe could of happened is the volcano theory, that many volcanoes erupted and wiped the dinosaurs out.
There have been reports of increased violence on U.S. college campuses since the early 1980s. Alcohol-related problems have included vandalism, fighting, injuries, and rape. However, as in the past, crime on campuses frequently was not reported to authorities or not divulged by institutions. Therefore, it is difficult to know if there has been an increase in incidences or just increased reporting. Roark (1987: 367) has suggested that "although comparative data from previous years are difficult to obtain, it seems to many student affairs professionals that there is an increase in violence on campuses." One study reported that residence hall advisors mediated more physical confrontations between students in the mid-1980s compared to previous years. College campuses are communities populated with individuals at high risk for unintentional and violent injury, the vast majority of whom are single and experiencing freedom from home and parental supervision for the first time. Despite broad-based concern about violence on campus, accurate information about the scope and nature of this problem is hard to come by. Nevertheless, there is general agreement that since the 1960s crime and vio...