The Day the Mesozoic Died By Evan Beard Could you imagine a blast with the equivalent of 100,000 nuclear missiles? That would be the force that created the KT (Cretaceous Tertiary) boundary. The KT boundary was a rock layer formed when the impact of the asteroid that is believed to have killed the dinosaurs occurred. The impact was so huge, it caused a permanent rock layer consisting of materials left over from the impact. Below the KT boundary, the rock layer contains only fossils from the cretaceous period. After the KT boundary, the fossils are only from the early tertiary period. Scientists have NOT found any dinosaur fossils after the KT boundary, so they predict that the same force that created the KT boundary had killed the dinosaurs. …show more content…
Scientists believe that when the meteor struck, it had not only caused the extinction of dinosaurs, but created the KT layer. This was produced as the Alvarez theory. It came through the findings of dinosaur fossils and bones only beneath the KT boundary. When the meteorite struck, It was believed to have a huge impact on the climate. Ash filled the sky, sun became non-existent. This made almost all plant life die off. This then impacted all herbivorous animal life that hadn’t been wiped out during the impact. This included small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, large mammals, and dinosaurs, In turn causing a lack of resources for carnivorous life. Standing Evidence Today still, we see evidence all around us that contributes to the asteroid impact. For instance, the chicxulub crater in the gulf of mexico had the same size and age as the predicted asteroid, Also as stated earlier, many plant and animal species (most outstanding being the dinosaurs) are not found above the KT layer. The KT layer also contains materials such as shocked quartz and ejecta, which can only be created through a large impact. The KT boundary is found all over the world and in all places, the same materials that make it up are all