When the non-automatic dinosaurs became extinct, the Earth-literally changed. Scientists believe that they finally know why

The rocks that were formed immediately before and after the remarkably different dinosaurs are extinct, and now tens of millions of years, scientists believe that they have identified the perpetrator-and the matter was not so Chicxulub asteroid impact.

in Ticket Posted on Monday in the magazine of Communications Earth & Environment, the researchers argue that the dinosaurs physically affected their surroundings so much that its disappearance led to flagrant changes in the land scene, and thus the geological record.

Specifically, its collective extinction-an event known as the collective extinction of the Cretaceous period (or K-PG)-enables the dense forests to grow, fix the deposits, and the formation of rivers with wide factors, or curves.

“Often when we think about how life changes through time and how environments change through time, the climate usually changes, and therefore, it has a specific impact on life, or this mountain has grown, and therefore, it has a specific impact on life,” said Luke Weaver, the world of excavations at the University of Michigan, statement.

“It is rarely believed that life itself can change climate and landscape. The arrow is not only one direction.”

River deposits, not the pond deposits

Wafer and his colleagues focused their studies on the Williston basin, which is spread throughout Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota; The BIGHORN basin, in the north of Wyoming. The formation of Williston Basin’s Fort UNIOT is after the extinction of non -Avian dinosaurs, and includes colored rock layers described by Weaver as the likes of Pajama lines. Under the formation of Fort Union, there is a water -rich soil similar to the external edges of the flood.

Previous research assumed that colored layers are evidence of the pond deposits caused by high sea levels. But the team’s new investigation revealed that “the pajamas lines were not in fact a pond deposit at all. They are the deposits of the points tape, or the deposits that are formed within a large zigzag in the river,” said Wifer.

“So, instead of looking at a quiet and calm place, what we already looks is very active inside the zigzag,” he explained.

Above and under the river deposits these were layers of charcoal created by the plant material, which the team believed was formed thanks to the impact of stability of thick forests, which can prevent rivers from frequent floods. Stable rivers do not distribute clay, silt and sand through the plains of flooding, so the membership still accumulates often instead.

Iridium anomaly

After that, the researchers turned into the so -called “IRIDIUM AnOLY” – a layer of IRIDIUM rich rocks – which were deposited on parts of our planet when the Earth Chicxulub is hit. As such, IRIDIUM anomalies represent the K-PG border.

In BIGHORN Basin, Weaver analyzed samples of a thin line of red clay between the formation of dinosaurs and the formation of subsequent mammals. “Lu and here, Iridium anomaly was in contact between these two compositions, as geology changes,” Wifer said.

“This discovery convinced us that this is not just a phenomenon in the Williston basin. This may be true everywhere throughout the western interior of North America.”

However, the researchers were confused. They suspected that dinosaurs have formed their environment in one way or another that affected geology, but after Warfar only stumbled through a series of conversations on how to form live animals such as elephants, their ecosystems are finally “Lightbulb”. These ancient reptiles should be “ecosystem engineers” in their time.

“The dinosaurs are huge. It must have a kind of influence on this vegetation,” Wifer said.

He and his colleagues argue that when the Dinosaurs were alive, they settled plants, and as a result of their huge size, they affected the cover of trees, most likely forming sporadic landscape with scattered trees. This meant that rivers that did not contain broad signs were flooded often. In the wake of its collective extinction, the forests flourished, the sediments, the built -in point tapes, and the structured rivers were settled.

“For me, the most exciting part of our work is evidence that dinosaurs may have had a direct impact on its ecosystems,” said Courtney Sprin, the study author, said.

“Specifically, the effect of their extinction may not be observed only by the disappearance of their fossils in the rock record, but also by changes in the sediments themselves.”

It is clear that the Earth felt the loss of dinosaurs in more than one way. However, I am happy with that Tyrannosaurus Rex It no longer exists (and do not make me start Meraxes Gigas).