Love, passion and Dinosaur extinction
Ritesh Arya and Munish
Arya
168,
Arath Bazar, Kasauli, Himachal
Pradesh, India. 173204
Email:aryadrillers@gmail.com
Abstract
The present paper is based on observations made
by the author during hydrogeological investigations done at Tiger Male, an
observation post in Changthang area about 200 miles from Leh.. It is located in the high altitude, cold
mountain deserts of Ladakh Himalayas. The aim of this project was to provide
sustainable drinking water to the troops stationed on the Indo-Tibetan (China) Border
by developing groundwater resources from a borehole, drilled with the help of
suitable rig mounted on a truck.
However, unusual observations made by the
author regarding the geology of the region and the abnormal behaviour of the animal
(lizards) during the drilling/welding operations caught on a video, made him think
otherwise. In the present paper the author has tried to correlate these annotations
to propose a new theory for the selective extinction of Dinosaurs on one hand and
on the other hand have tried to explain the taphonomic processes involved in
their preservation in those uncertain geological conditions prevalent during the
K/T times.
Introduction
This theory is based on observations made by
the author during a trip to Tiger Male in Ladakh Himalayas during the summers
of 2004. Tiger Male located on the banks of River Indus, is an observation post
of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on the Indo Tibetan (now Chinese)
Border. The region represents the picturesque location amidst the dry mountain
ranges in the Changthang region (“Chang”means north and “thang” means plains) about
200 miles from Leh,. The only source of drinking water in summers is the water
in Indus River but in winters as the temperatures
sink to -450C water in the river freezes, snow/ice has to be melted
in order to obtain drinking water. The water supply system, thus, is not
sustainable. The present project was conceptualised by the author in
coordination with the engineers of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), to
provide sustainable drinking water to the troops stationed there by exploring
and developing the groundwater resources.
The region falls in the high altitude, cold and
mountainous deserts with an average altitude of more than 3000 meters above the
mean sea level. It experiences extreme temperatures (varies from +250C
in summers to -450C in winters) and climatic conditions (hot and dry
in summers whereas winters are cold and freezing). The meandering Indus River
in the vicinity geologically represents, Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone which
signifies the tectonic collision (about 65-70 million years ago) and suturing (about
50-53 million years ago) between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate. In the present time it presents a natural
boundary separating India
from Tibet
(now China).
The geomorphological reconstruction of the area clearly shows a huge U shaped
glaciated valley formed by the Indus glacier
during the ice ages.
Tiger Male, a place where no remains of the
Dinosaurs have been reported, is being used to propose a new theory to explain
the selective extinction of the Dinosaurs. This region is significant as
geologically (as explained below) it signifies the era during which the Mother
Earth witnessed many upheavals ranging from earthquakes, volcanic activities,
resulting due to the tectonic collision and suturing of Indian plate with the
Eurasian plate followed by subduction of the former under the later, intrusion
of granites, changing the entire face of the earth in those times. This even
can be Biologically related with the extinction (Dinosaurs, ammonites etc.) and
evolution of certain species (mammals and angiosperms) on one hand and geographically giving it a new look in
the form of rising Himalayas in the north and Deccan Traps in the south on the
other hand.
Many theories and hypothesis have been put
forth on this account in the past, most of them either incomplete or vague while
the others gave self contradictory explanations to selective extinction and the
taphonomic processes involved in their preservation in totality. In recent
times theories related with Asteroid Impact in Mexico and Deccan
volcanism in India
about 65 million years at the K/T boundary had found favours with the
scientific fraternity all over the world, but not without questions. Based on the
geological (related with granite intrusions) and biological (related with abnormal
behaviour of the lizards) observations made during the drilling project at
Tiger Male, the author tries to correlate these two phenomenons and propose a
new theory to explain the selective extinction besides understanding the
various taphonomic processes involved in their preservation inspite of the
geologically uncertain environment prevalent during those times.
The
Hydrogeological conditions
The region at Tiger Male lies in the 7th
Hydrostratigraphic zone proposed by Arya (1996). Inspite of the fact that river
Indus flows in the vicinity, peaks of the area
are covered with snow/ice throughout the year and the area itself represents a
paleoglaciated valley, finding of groundwater at first glance seemed impossible
as granites seemed to be the dominant lithology. However, after detailed
investigations done by the author presence of grey well bedded sedimentary
sequence represented by the limestone bands on the foothills of the granite
hill were found which could be the potential source for the movement and accumulation
of the groundwater resources leading to its development by drilling
borewell. Based on the hydrogeological
data collected from other localities in Ladakh and after establishing the
Hydrostratigraphic correlation it was strongly felt that the probable site for
the exploitation of groundwater resources in the region was the contact between
limestone and granites which had intruded them. The site for drilling the
borewell to exploit groundwater resources was therefore explored and identified
a few meters away from the limestone granite contact in the limestone rich
beds. After carefully examining the site by hydrogeological investigation, the
drilling work was started.
The outcrop sections at Tiger Male are marked
by massive granite hills which intruded into the sedimentary sequence of the
lime stone beds, these limestone beds represented the deepest part of the Tethys Sea
in the past. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the area as interpreted
from the outcrops exposed on these barren, lofty and colourful mountain ranges
clearly shows a mega geological event in the past. The volcanic activity
occurred in form of granite intrusions in the the ocean floor. This granite
intruded the sedimentary sequence comprising of sandstone/siltstone/shale/clay
and limestone beds of Tethys and dissected the sandstone/siltstone/shale/clay
sequence from the limestone beds deposited in the ocean floor over the years.
Today these batholiths emerge as massive gigantic granite hills in the area. This
activity probably resulted due to the weak zones and crakes created in the
ocean bed by the bending/subduction of Indian Plate below the Eurasian Plate
after the initial collision around 65 -70 million years ago. This intrusion phenomenon
is also observed in Zanskar-Leh-Khardungla-Nubra
Valley and almost all
along the Suture Zone.
The magma intruded in the form of granites all
along the Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone. The extent of these batholiths can be
traced to thousands of miles all along the suture zone in the subcontinent.
Accurate dating of these granites has been a problem mainly due to the
inaccessibility of the area and the restrictions imposed by the ministry of
defence because of its closeness with the Indo-China and Pakistan
border. Dates of these massive granite intrusions have ranged from more then
120 million years to few million years. However, systematic dating of these
granites could play significant role in calculating the timings of these
granite intrusions on one hand and the various activities associated with it on
the other. Though the age of these granites is not certain, but it can be said
with certainty that these intrusions were not a result of a single eruptional
activity but represent episodes of intrusion.
This event can be witnessed in the form of criss-crossing of primary and
secondary intrusions in the outcrop sections in Leh and are very predominant in
the Chumathang-Puga belt in Changthang (4 hours drive from Leh).
Similar activities
have been reported from Hindu Kush Himalayas in Asia-Pacific region, Alps
in Europe and Sierra
Nevada in Western America making
granite intrusion a global phenomenon.
The enormity of this event can be considered a
cause for the global mass extinction. Besides graveyards of Dinosaurs fossils
being unearthed on peninsular part, huge collection of ammonite fossils have
been recovered from the various sites exposed in Lahaul Spiti in Himalayas. Their selective extinction is still a matter
of debate and discussion. But one point which needs attention to explain this but
has been ignored in the past by the scientists is that, different animals
behave and react differently to the sudden changes in the environment.
Thus, in all
probability timing
of one of these massive episodic granite intrusions could have coincided with the subduction of the Indian plate
below the Eurasian plate at about the same time as the Cretaceous-Tertiary
K/T event, which is generally believed to have wiped out the entire
Dinosaurs from this earth, around 65
million years ago.
Coincidently, this time period in the
geological history coincides with various other events such as Deccan volcanism in peninsular India; asteroid impact in Mexico and
selective extinction and evolution of flora and fauna.
But before I add on to this theory I would
first like to complete the analysis of my observations made during the project
of providing drinking water for the troops stationed in Tiger Male
Drilling, welding and Dinosaur Extinction
The drilling rig which arrived from Leh after
moving in the sandy deserts all along the Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone was
positioned in the selected site. After offering the prayers the drilling work was
started. We all were waiting curiously
for the groundwater to ooze from an anticipated depth of about 25 -30 meters
below the ground. Few hours after the drilling commenced an unusual activity was
observed at the site. A group of small lizards gathered around the drilling
site. It is a well known fact that different animals behave differently under
seismic conditions. As per the records available majority of them would become
restless, behave abnormally, while others would come out of their hibernation sites
below the ground and then gaze at the things as they are happening from a
considerable distance.
Lizards! at height of more then 3500 meters
above the mean sea level and in these extreme climatic conditions was just
unbelievable. There were many questions which needed an answer. Lizards are
cold blooded reptiles, how would they survive the extreme harsh winters in
these cold mountain deserts? I was busy asking these questions to myself when I
noticed that it was not one or two lizards but there were herds of them. Each
lizard, I don’t know from where they came were behaving very abnormally. These
small wonderful creatures just crowded the site of drilling and if I am not
wrong they were just few meters, yes I mean it 1-2 meters away from the site of
drilling. The vibrations in the earth could be felt by us about 8-10 meters
away from the drilling site. Lizards would just gaze at the drilling action in
progress with their feet’s matching the action of their necks. They were scrutinising
the drilling action not only with curiosity but also with care. Yes it was a
great site to watch the lizards, small but they had become fearless of the
presence of men and loved to enjoy the drilling. Later I realized that they
wanted to move very close to the site of drilling. After pondering for sometime
I realized that it was not the drilling work which fascinated them but it was
the action of vibrations originated due the drilling action in the earth which
actually fascinated the lizards. Their behaviour was really abnormal they had
become fearless and the sound and earth vibration would move these small
creatures here and there but not far away from the drilling site. I think they
were totally absorbed by the shocks created in the earth by the drilling.
This was just the beginning of it and the story
did end here. In between the drilling the casing pipes had to be lowered to
protect the drilled bore from being collapsed. Hence welding had to be done so
that joint is made in the pipes and they are lowered. The drilling compressor
was put off. The welding generator was started so that the pipes could be
welded. The drama of these lizards assumed new heights on seeing the sparks originating
from the contact of the electrodes and the pipes took place while welding. I
witnessed that these lizards not only became uncontrolled and rushed to the
welding sites which were giving lights and sparkles but they were so captivated
that they would move very close to the welder and at times would climb on the shoes of the welder. The welder who was
also confused and shocked by the unusual behaviour had to literally push these
wonderful creatures back out of
fear. But gradually when we learnt about the
fact that they were not meaning any harm to the welder but it was only their
passion for the sparks which was driving them so close to the welding site, he
really let them walk freely.
Love and
Passion: The Main Cause
The love of these reptiles for the vibrations
in the earth and their passion for the sparks were really unmatched for. This
could be only compared with the activities of the Moth/butterfly who would lay
down their lives for the love of light. Unable to distinguish between the
difference of light from the candle or the bulb these moths would just burn
themselves without giving it a thought and in the process end their lives. Love
and passion can really end ones life.
Others like humans have no passion for light
but for sex yes. In today’s world AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is
a phenomenon which is slowly creeping up in our society and is the cause of
slow death. Every one is going to have sex and AIDS virus will increase logarithmically
and gradually weakening the progeny in near future causing death or in other
words aiding in the process of extinction.
Processes, agents and agencies of mass
extinctions may differ from time to time and may depend on the affinities and
behaviour of the dominant species at that time hence cannot be generalized.
The vibrations in the earth caused due to
drilling action in this story could be related with the shocks generated by the
tectonic collision of India and China about 60-65 million years ago on one hand
and the volcanic activity(both caused due to the intrusion of the granites on one
hand and Deccan volcanism) on the other. The sparks from the welding electrodes
could be similarly correlated with the sparks produced by the massive volcanic
activity in the past. The love and passion of the Dinosaurs for both these
activities might have ended their lives. Since these activities were episodic
therefore the extinction was not a one time event but was episodic and could
well be explained in the multiple layers of rocks from where Dinosaur fossils
have been unearthed.
Deccan volcanism was episodic, granite
intrusion was episodic, earthquakes which triggered Tsunamis and flash floods
were also episodic. These entire natural geological phenomenon and other
aspects related with them were interlinked and together led to the selective episodic
death and their preservation in the past.
The earthquakes would cause lot of tremors in
the earth forcing these huge creatures to move towards the epicentre. The
volcanoes erupted periodically with lot of sparks and fireworks. These lights
attracted the Dinosaurs in a similar fashion as the moths today are attracted
towards the light of the candle which really ends their lives. They keep on
turning to these lights even though they are severely burnt once, until they
die. A similar process was observed by the author, when the sparks from the welding,
seems to have hypnotised these lizards which moved fearlessly to the welding
site without any problem.
All this was just looking like another film and
I was watching it with curiosity. Mesmerized
and flabbergasted to see their love and affection for the vibrations
caused by the drilling action and their passion to be with the sparking lights
generated by the action of the welding rods. The show continued for the hours
when finally we had to go to another site.
I had video-graphed
the entire episode.
The aftermaths of these episodes continued to
haunt me. I was just trying to analyse the observations and finally I knew what
they were heading for yes their love, affection and passion for the vibrations
and light and sparks really lead to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The earthquakes also generated massive waves in
the sea, the Tsunamis which rose to great heights and caused lot of flooding on
land causing death of creatures on one hand and on the other leading to the
preservation of already dead creatures with the massive sand bodies. Since all the Dinosaurs would not accumulate
in the same time or die in the same time therefore their end was not at once. But
every time the cycle was repeated they died at the same site because of the
fact that the epicentre of earthquake might have remained the same and secondly
the Granite intrusion in the north and Deccan volcanism continued to flow from
the same region for that particular time causing uninterrupted changes in
climate and geochemistry in the oceans and land.
This is by far the best explanation which was
available for the big event which was witnessed in those times. However there
may be some lacunas probably related with dating of the granite intrusions and
their relationship with the Deccan volcanism and
the K/T event. Secondly, how far we can relate the behaviour of the lizards
with that of the Dinosaurs or the moths?
The Main
Questions
The questions such as why I have mentioned the above details in this paper and what is the relation of the data, collected
at a place which has till date not reported sighting of any bone or fossil
related to Dinosaurs or other creatures flourishing during those times, to do
with the extinction of the Dinosaurs must be cropping the mind of the readers. Well, with the help of the details gathered
from the works of past scientists it seemed that more then 101 self
contradicting theories to explain the extinction of Dinosaur had been proposed
by the scientists in the past. Majority of these theories have already died out
and others have not been accepted without questions.
Broadly speaking these theories and hypothesis
can be divided into 2 main categories
- Gradual extinction
- Abrupt extinction.
The Gradual
Extinction advocating gradual extinction mainly due to gradual death caused due to competition, change in climate, evolution
of angiosperms and mammals , diseases, etc. theory got a bolt after the
findings of David Fastovsky who analysised and published his findings in the
October 2004 issue of Geology. According
to him ``Dinosaur diversity was increasing logarithmically throughout
their 160 million years on Earth,'' ``their increasing diversity seems to have
been fuelled by the evolution of new innovations that allowed them to explore
new habitat''. This puts an end to all the theories which advocate gradual
decline as the cause leading to their extinction from this earth.
The Abrupt Extinction proposing an abrupt
extinction related with the Asteroid
impact, Deccan volcanism, Acid rains, and
flash floods gained momentum with the scientists in the past. As these
events were supposed to be of global nature and cause tremendous changes on
land, sea and environment to cause mass extinction. Important question which
remains unanswered is why the dinosaur or ammonites died whereas other mammals
and reptiles along with amphibians survived. Or to put it in other words, what
was the cause of the Selective mass
extinction in land and sea?
The Asteroid Impact: After the findings of Gerta Keller
and her colleagues from Princeton
University in 2004 many
questions were raised against these theories which still need an answer. Keller
revealed that the asteroid impact which formed the Chicxulub crater submerged
off Mexico's
Yucatan
peninsula in America
and more than 110 miles wide which had been identified as the K-T impact crater
and was the remnant of the dinosaur-killing event, crashed 300000 years before
dinosaurs died out. Moreover the source for the iridium anomaly found near the
K/T Boundary was thought be the meteorite from the outer space. But its global
nature could not be established and now volcanism is being thought to be the
most important source.
The Deccan
volcanism: Similarly
the Deccan volcanism in peninsular India is now
supposed to start 500000 years before the K/T event about 70 million years.
Till now these two events were considered to first cause global warming by
raising the temperatures due to the volcanic activity, then the clouds formed
due to gases blocked the sun rays causing global cooling and acid rains, these caused
rapid environmental changes. Unable to adapt to these speedy changing events,
finally led to extinction of the Dinosaurs. Though these theories were
convincing but the explanation provided by the scientists who initially
proposed these theories and later others who blindly supported them failed to
explain the cause of selective extinction of Dinosaurs and other species and
the taphonomic processes involved in their preservation in the past.
Earthquakes and Global
Flash Flood: This
theory was proposed by Michael J. Oard to explain the mass extinction of
the dinosaurs which were buried rapidly by sediments during the global flood.
This was also acceptable to the scientific community, since many of the
dinosaur fossil sites do appear to be mass graveyards buried by fluvial
sediments. But this failed to explain the reoccurrence of Dinosaurs fossils at
the same site in the multiple layers.
The main drawback of this theory was that the explanation provided for
the event was unsatisfactory. The author feels that this event may have caused
loss of Dinosaur life but was not a killer in itself to cause mass extinction..
These flash floods might have caused the death of few Dinosaurs but their main
significance was to aid in the taphonomic process which ultimately led to their
preservation by bringing with them thick
piles of sand which covered the Dinosaurs and acted as a medium for their safe
burial,. The author strongly feels that these flash floods acted as a medium to
preserve the already dead Dinosaurs and was not the event which caused their
extinction. The cause of their death
might have been something else and is discussed below.
Massive granite intrusions were never thought
to be the cause of these extinctions in the past. Nor was any thought given to
the behaviour of the creatures to the sudden changes in the environment.
The author strongly feels that any new theory
proposed to explain the extinction of Dinosaurs should definitely answer the
questions which remain unanswered by the scientists in the past. It should be
simple and acceptable to all. Therefore the new theory should emphasise on
answering the following points:
1.
What
were the reasons for the selective extinction of Dinosaurs and certain other
species of plants and animals in land and sea?
2.
Is
asteroid impact and Deccan volcanism the only
events to cause global impact to cause mass extinction or some other important
event is still missing?
3.
Cause
of iridium anomaly on global scale at K/T boundary meteorite or volcanism?
4.
Behaviour
of Dinosaurs and other forms of life which became extinct on the event of
earthquake volcanoes and flash Floods.
5.
Events
which could aid in taphonomic process
for preservation of the Dead Dinosaurs
6.
Is
plate tectonics collision, suturing, subduction and northward movement anything
to do directly or indirectly with the extinction?
7.
Is
the massive granite intrusions, the batholiths extending 1000’s of miles across
the Himalayas, Alps,
Sierra Nevada the main cause?
The New Theory
With all this in background and the intrusion
of the massive granite at Tiger Male coupled with the biological observations
made at the time of drilling to provide drinking water to the troops. An
attempt is being made to correlate these and many other important questions
related not only with the extinction of the Dinosaurs but also the various
taphonomic processes involved in their preservation, inspite of the extreme
geological conditions prevalent during those times. I strongly felt that I was definitely heading
for a very new and convincing theory and hypothesis to explain the selective
extinction of Dinosaurs and other species in the past.
Based on the observations made at Tiger Male
the author proposes a new theory to answer the above questions and attempts to explain
the selective extinction of Dinosaurs and various agencies responsible for
their preservation.
Before proposing the new theory two assumptions
are made
1.
The
timings of the massive granite intrusions all over the world coincided with the K/T event
in the past.
2.
Behaviour of the lizards was more or less similar
to the Dinosaurs
3.
Dinosaurs
would also react to vibrations and sparks in a manner very similar to the lizards at Tiger male.
The new theory suggests that the massive granite intrusions, the batholiths
in the Himalayas, Alps
and Sierra Nevada and the Deccan
volcanism in the peninsular India
could have been the reasons behind the iridium anomalies found at the K/T boundary
all over the world. Various other factors discussed later in this paper
globally influenced the climate and paleoenvironmental
conditions and produced a period of global warming
which caused selective extinction on land and sea during the K/T event around
65 million years ago. Findings by other scientists
suggest that volcanism caused biotic stress almost as great as the mass
extinction itself.
The author strongly feels that a structural and
tectonic relationship exists between the Deccan
volcanism in the peninsular India
and granite intrusions in Himalayas. The
tectonic collision, suturing and subduction of the Indian plate below the
Eurasian Plate, coupled with northward movement of Indian plate caused tectonic
stresses, lateral tension and structural deformity in it, in the form of a bend(noted
in the form of Delhi Hardwar range. The rise in the Arravali range could be
related to these structural anomalies of the past which is nothing but
ramifications of the tectonic forces active in those times causing these
deformations. The stress of this activity in the south was released and
balanced at a place in Peninsula India where the
plate bend and lot of weak planes in the form of faults, fissures and cracks
were created. These were the places from where massive basaltic flows emerged
leading to accumulation of the Deccan traps
over the years. So Deccan volcanism and
granite intrusion are the two faces of the same coin, incomplete and
unexplainable without one another. A depression was created south of the suture
zone, later this formed the basin for the foreland deposition of the sediments
which eroded from the Himalayas and
accumulated in this basin. Theories of hot spots and others related to Deccan volcanism alone seem unconvincing because they
highlighted only one aspect and failed to explain the other. So we have the
presence of global phenomenon which can explain the occurrence of the massive
volcanism both in the land and the sea capable of
causing various biotic and abiotic stresses of great magnitude leading to mass
extinction and could also satisfactorily explain the presence of source for the
iridium anomaly.
Earthquakes which were outcome of collision,
suturing, subduction later volcanic activity triggered many changes not only on
the land and sea but also among the animals and plants which behave abnormally
during those times. Relationship of earthquakes and animals is a well known
phenomenon and presently lot of research is going on to use certain animals to
predict the earthquakes in China
and Japan. Tsunamis which were simultaneously triggered
by the earthquakes in the seas during those times caused giant flooding in the
sea and covered the land with the sand.
All these agencies acted together
simultaneously, in which one event took place after another to ensure the end
of Dinosaur Era on one hand and preservation of the dead creatures in the past
on the other.
Looking in totality, the whole environment
seemed to act in tune with each other not only aiding in the completion of the
massive event of extinction which took place but also ensured the taphonomic
preservation of the specimens so that they may be unearthed 65 million years
after their death to be studied again with same mysteries surrounding them when
they were alive.
Summary
The observations both geological (related with
the granite intrusion helped us to find the new source for the iridium anomaly
at the K/T boundary on one hand) and biologically (helped to correlate the
abnormal behaviour of the lizards) made at the time of drilling of borewell at
Tiger Male closely point to a new theory to explain the extinction of the
Dinosaurs.
We had
the source for the massive seismic volcanic and flash flooding activity of
global nature at the K/T times which could have resulted due to collisional
tectonics, suturing, subduction of the Plates, intrusions of huge granites,
(the batholiths in Himalayas, Alps and Sierra Nevada)
and Deccan volcanism. All of these massive
geological processes triggered episodic earthquakes to generate Tsunamis, which
caused giant flash floods. The
explanation for the selective extinction of the Dinosaurs could be related to their
love for vibrations (earthquakes) and their passion for sparks(volcanoes) which
drove them to the selective extinction whereas the Tsunamis caused huge floods
which aided in the taphonomic processes which ultimately led to their preservation
in the era of geological uncertainties. Other small creatures survived K/T
because they were not attracted by these violent processes active in the past
in those times or in other words they never fell in love and were not
passionate about the geological processes.
