What exactly killed the Dinosaurs? + more videos | #aumsum #kids #science #education #children

Most people believe that an asteroid killed all dinosaurs, but that wasn’t the only reason. Dinosaurs were already declining due to volcanism, far before the asteroid impact. Super volcanic eruptions spewed out lava, dust, soot and various gases into the atmosphere. This triggered a drastic climate change, slowly reducing the dinosaur count.

Then, around 66 million years ago, a 6-mile-wide asteroid crashed into the earth in Yucatán Peninsula.

How do we know?

Scientists found a layer in rocks, called K-PG boundary. It is rich in Iridium. Iridium isn’t found on earth’s surface, but is abundant in asteroids, proving that an asteroid crashed the earth. This caused large rocks to blast into the air and fall back as molten rocks. Huge tsunamis worsened the condition, eventually making dinosaurs extinct.