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Did Volcanoes Drive Dinos to Extinction?
Scientists question 30-year-old crater theory
By Ambreen Ali
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Posted Dec 17, 08 2:51 PM CST
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(Newser)
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Colossal, repeated volcanic eruptions in India 65 million years ago released sulfuric gases that sent the dinosaurs, well, the way of the dinosaurs, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. A group of scientists at a Bay Area conference this week is questioning the decades-held theory that a meteor killed off dinosaurs. Crater theory proponents, meanwhile, say the Deccan volcanoes may have had an "interesting contributory role," but weren't the prime cause of extinction.
Lava-covered dinosaur eggs in the Deccan area boost the new theory being considered by the 14,000-scientist gathering. The greenhouse extinction possibility has been been "vastly underestimated" and the crater theory hastily accepted, the lead author says. She age-dated minerals presumably from the Chicxulub crater that suggest the meteorite hit 300,000 years before dinosaurs died off.