New research shows that their environment was very dangerous

Apr 9, 2012 07:53 GMT  ·  By
Cretaceous dinosaurs needed to steer clear of numerous wildfires, new study shows
   Cretaceous dinosaurs needed to steer clear of numerous wildfires, new study shows

Between 145-65 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, dinosaurs needed to steer clear of widespread fires, new research indicates. Scientists were recently able to demonstrate that naturally-occurring fires were commonplace during those days.

The new investigation was carried out by experts at the Royal Holloway University of London and The Field Museum of Natural History, in Chicago. Their work appears in the latest online issue of the scientific journal Cretaceous Research.

In order to reach this conclusion, investigators first had to analyze charcoal deposits in the geological record, spanning this entire period. They were thus able to build a global database indicating just how often wildfires occurred at a large scale.

It is also important to keep in mind here that a runaway greenhouse effect took place during the Cretaceous, meaning that average temperatures were a lot higher than they are in modern times.

Under these conditions, lightning strikes would have had a much greater chance of triggering a fire. The team believes that these atmospheric phenomena were the main triggers of wildfires in the Cretaceous. At the same time, atmospheric oxygen concentrations were significantly higher than they are today.

This “was why fires were so widespread. As at such periods – unlike today – plants with higher moisture contents could burn,” explains Field Museum investigator and report author, Ian Glasspool.

“Charcoal is the remnant of the plants that were burnt and is easily preserved in the fossil record,” adds project leader and Royal Holloway professor, Andrew C. Scott, as quoted by Astrobiology Magazine.

“Until now, few have taken into account the impact that fires would have had on the environment, not only destroying the vegetation but also exacerbating run-off and erosion and promoting subsequent flooding following storms,” he goes on to say.

The new research paints a picture of a very dangerous environment for Cretaceous dinosaurs. This period was the third in the Mesozoic Era, preceded by the Jurassic and Triassic, and its end is marked by the disappearance of dinosaurs, during the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-T) extinction event.