Characteristics of KT Boundary - Essay Example

This unique layer in terms of its contents and age is believed to have been created sixty-five million years ago. Geologists believe this demarcating line to be a clue to the extinction of dinosaurs and the spread of mammals on the earth. The contents of this layer are mainly clay in the bottom and in the upper layer, it has got mixtures of minerals like quarts and broken pieces of prismatic crystal substances. The presence of iridium in this layer is very high. Supporting the theory of the mass impact as the presence of it is very less on earth whereas it is abundant in asteroids.

The thickness of KT Boundary: Panelists unanimously agree that there is variation in the thickness of the layer. It becomes thinner in Northern America and Canada. But in Italy, it is just one centimeter in thickness. The panelists observed that the line gets thinner when it moves from Southern American states into the Northern American states to Canada. The thickness of the layer is three centimeters in America whereas it is only 1 cm thick in Italy owing to the climate impacts on the boundary.

KT Boundary and the Extinction of Dinosaurs: Most scientists believe that dinosaurs became extinct because of a single catastrophic event; a massive asteroid impact and gradually the earth witnessed the spread of mammals. The fall of the asteroid led to a kind of situation in the atmosphere where there was no sunlight and thus there was no process of photosynthesis which made a greater crack in the food chain which led to massive extinction. As a result, comparatively bigger animals got extinct whereas mammals and other minor organisms could survive as they were able to hibernate. Scientists think that dinosaurs wanted a large area to live in and they could not withstand the impact of asteroid fall and the aftereffects. In the talk, panelists tell us of crocodiles and turtles who could live underneath the water after the mass impact.

Alternate Theory: Melvyn Brag after probing through many questions on the cataclysmic event that led to the extinction of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals asks Simon Kelley whether there is any other theory to substantiate the extinction of dinosaurs other than the massive impact. The answer is ‘no’. The alternate theory of great volcanic eruption and flow of lava that led to massive extinction is not much supported in the discussion. Jane Francis also observes that the alternate theory does not support the uniqueness of time and age of the K T boundary across the planet.