刘文勇黄金阅读70版本：陨石撞击和恐龙的灭绝.docxVIP

智课网TOEFL备考资料 刘文勇黄金阅读70版本：陨石撞击和恐龙的灭绝 摘要：最新版《刘文勇黄金阅读7.0版本》高清PDF格式支持免费下载，下面是小编整理的刘文勇黄金阅读：MeteoriteImpactandDinosaurExtinction陨石撞击和恐龙的灭绝，希望对大家备考托福阅读有所帮助。刘文勇黄金阅读7.0版本:MeteoriteImpactandDinosaurExtinctionThereisincreasingevidencethattheimpactsofmeteoriteshavehadimportanteffectsonEarth,particularlyinthefieldofbiologicalevolution.SuchimpactscontinuetoposeanaturalhazardtolifeonEarth.Twiceinthetwentiethcentury,largemeteoriteobjectsareknowntohavecollidedwithEarth.Ifanimpactislargeenough,itcandisturbtheenvironmentoftheentireEarthandcauseanecologicalcatastrophe.Thebest-documentedsuchimpacttookplace65millionyearsagoattheendoftheCretaceousperiodofgeologicalhistory.ThisbreakinEarthshistoryismarkedbyamassextinction,whenasmanyashalfthespeciesontheplanetbecameextinct.Whilethereareadozenormoremassextinctionsinthegeologicalrecord,theCretaceousmassextinctionhasalwaysintriguedpaleontologistsbecauseitmarkstheendoftheageofthedinosaurs.Fortensofmillionsofyears,thosegreatcreatureshadflourished.Then,suddenly,theydisappeared.ThebodythatimpactedEarthattheendoftheCretaceousperiodwasameteoritewithamassofmorethanatrilliontonsandadiameterofatleast10kilometers.Scientistsfirstidentifiedthisimpactin1980fromtheworldwidelayerofsedimentdepositedfromthedustcloudthatenvelopedtheplanetaftertheimpact.ThissedimentlayerisenrichedintheraremetaliridiumandotherelementsthatarerelativelyabundantinameteoritebutveryrareinthecrustofEarth.Evendilutedbytheterrestrialmaterialexcavatedfromthecrater,thiscomponentofmeteoritesiseasilyidentified.By1990geologistshadlocatedtheimpactsiteitselfintheYucatregionofMexico.Thecrater,nowdeeplyburiedinsediment,wasoriginallyabout200kilometersindiameter.Thisimpactreleasedanenormousamountofenergy,excavatingacraterabouttwiceaslargeasthelunarcraterTycho.Theexplosionliftedabout100trilliontonsofdustintotheatmosphere,ascanbedeterminedbymeasuringthethicknessofthesedimentlayerformedwhenthisdustsettledtothesurface.Suchaquantityofmaterialwouldhaveblockedthesunlightcompletelyfromreachingthes