Re: "No Bolides!"

[pwillis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Paul Willis)]

>I believe that the dinosaurs became extinct due to climatic change and not by
>an impact of a comet or a large meteorite!  The demise was of the dinosaurs
>was mainly due to the drying up of the shallow sea ways and other climate
>changes!  If a bolide impact destroyed the dinosaurs it would have wiped out
>every living thing not just dinosaurs!  Many organisms survived the K/T
>boundary mass extiinction!  It is as if the comet had the name dinosaur
>because it only destroyed them and not other forms of life!  The effects of a
>bolide impact as described would have wiped out all animals and certainly
>more species than survived the K/T boundary extinctions!  What is the current
>thought on this?
>Regards,
>Mike! :) :)

More recent texts that I have seen suggest that 85% of all species of
animals and plants (not just the dinosaurs) were wiped out at the K/T
boundary. If this is a single-event catastrophy, the loss of 85% of species
represents the loss of 99.9% of individuals. While not being a strong
argument in its self, the proportion of organisms that were effected by the
K/T event is much greater than you anticipate.

Cheers, Paul

pwillis@ozemail.com.au