25 February 2009

'Dinosaur-killing' impact did not start global wildfires 25FEB09

Published online 23 February 2009 Nature doi:10.1038/news.2009.112 Corrected online:
24 February 2009
NATURE NEWS

'Dinosaur-killing' impact did not start global wildfires
by Philip Ball
Burnt oil and gas, not vegetation, may have caused the soot layer at the end of the Cretaceous period.
The impact of a huge asteroid or comet at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago is generally held responsible for the sudden demise of 60–80% of all species on Earth. But new results challenge the common idea that the extinctions were partly caused by global wildfires triggered by the violent impact.
... full story:
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090223/full/news.2009.112.html

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