The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions [Hardcover]

Charles Frankel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521474477 | ISBN-13: 978-0521474474 | Publication Date: October 13, 1999 | Edition: 1

The discovery of the giant Chicxulub impact crater, buried off the coast of Mexico, unveiled the solution to one of Earth's greatest mysteries--what killed the dinosaurs. Scientists uncovered physical evidence to explain the mass extinction that rocked the Earth 65 million years ago. Step-by-step, The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions tells this great scientific detective story. Charles Frankel recounts the birth of the cosmic hypothesis, which holds that the crash of a meteor on the Earth's surface killed two-thirds of life and all the dinosaurs. He first provides a dramatic account of the impact and its aftermath. Frankel then goes on to detail the controversy that preceded the acceptance of the cosmic hypothesis, the search for the crater, its discovery and ongoing exploration, and the effect of the giant impact on the biosphere. In addition, he reviews other mass extinctions in the fossil record and the threat of asteroids and comets to our planet today. More than 70 photographs and diagrams enhance and help illustrate the material. Filled with drama and interesting science, The End of the Dinosaurs will readily appeal to both the general reader fascinated with the subject and the specialist always searching for more clues to this great mystery. Charles Frankel has written a number of articles on the earth sciences in books and magazines. His many books include Volcanoes of the Solar System (Cambridge University Press 1996).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Approximately 65 million years ago, at the close of the Cretaceous era, Earth underwent a major bout of extinctions. Seventy percent of all species, including all of the dinosaurs, died out in a relatively short time. In this attractive volume, Frankel (Volcanoes of the Solar System) attempts to pinpoint the cause of this devastation. Summarizing a wealth of scientific information, he argues that either a comet or a huge asteroid slammed into Earth near Puerto Chicxulub, Mexico, releasing a massive amount of energy. The smoke from the enormous fires that ensued, coupled with the colossal amount of debris flung into the atmosphere by the impact, blocked sunlight, changed climate worldwide and led to the extinctions. A true science detective, Frankel marshals his facts, outlines the search for culprits, describes the scene of the crime and portrays the other sleuths on the case. He gives short shrift to alternative explanations (such as volcanic activity) for the mass extinction, however. His well-informed book, initially published in France in an earlier version, concludes with one chapter providing inconclusive evidence linking many of Earth's other major extinction events to impacts, and another chapter discussing steps that can be taken to avert future collisions. 67 halftones, nine line diagrams. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Every schoolchild now knows that the dinosaurs were killed off by a meteor, but it took a while for scientists to accept the idea. Here's the story of how they changed their minds, by science writer Frankel (Volcanoes of the Solar System, not reviewed, etc.). The discovery of Chicxulub crater in Mexico was the crucial clue in one of the great scientific detective stories of modern times. For more than a century, paleontologists had spun theories to explain the sudden disappearance of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous era, some 65 million years ago. The first clear indication that the extinction was sudden, rather than evolutionary, was the famous paper by Luis Alvarez and others, showing an increase in the rare element iridium in strata associated with the end of the Cretaceous, and suggesting a meteor impact as the cause. The geological community, not used to the notion of extraterrestrial causes for earthly events, at first resisted the suggestion. But other scientists documented additional signs of meteoric activity: shocked quartz crystals, caused only by significant meteor impacts, and tektites, droplets of ejected material that cool into glass spheres. By this point, some scientists had begun to search for the impact craterno sure thing, since there were two chances out of three that the meteor had landed in the ocean. Nonetheless, scientists were largely convinced by the discovery of the Chicxulub crater, which matched all the criteria for the ``smoking gun'' in this mystery. Frankel devotes a chapter to describing the probable aftereffects of the impact, from shock waves to burning ejecta to poisonous chemicals. He then expands his scope to look at the possibility that other mass extinctions were caused by impacts and at the possible implications of these discoveries for human civilization. A workmanlike job, covering the main events and key players of one of the great stories in modern science. (67 photos, 9 ilustrations) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 236 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (October 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521474477
• ISBN-13: 978-0521474474
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #774,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars End of the Dinosaurs., April 10, 2000

By 

Atheen M. Wilson "Atheen" (Mpls, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions (Hardcover)

So many theories of the KT extinctions have been forwarded by scientist and lay person alike that it is almost refreshing to have it come down to the confrontation between two, or a few, major theories, in this case the "impactist" and "volcanist" theories. Frankel does a fine job of presenting a balanced and fair account of the contenting theories, particularly Courtillot's Deccan Traps volcanism (for which see Evolutionary Catastrophies or my review of it) and their supporting data. He is, however, thoroughly in the impactist camp. He gives an excellent description of the astroid and of how scientists were able to work out its size, the size of its crater, and its subsequent atmospheric and environmental effects. This is probably the best of the three books (T. Rex and the Crater of Doom, Evolutionary Catastrophies, and End of the Dinosaurs) I've recently read on the subject, although all three are worth reading.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent, Well-Written Thesis, July 11, 2007

By 

C. Finden (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions (Hardcover)

Charles Frankel's book "The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions" is a well-written, thoroughly researched thesis on the theory of a meteor impact that resulted in the mass extinctions of dinosaurs and other species 65 million years ago.

The author requires no prior knowledge of geology, astronomy, archeology, or paleontology. Instead, he carefully outlines all of the accumulated scientific evidence from these fields of science and presents a convincing argument in support of the impact theory as the cause of the mass extinctions documented in the fossil record. He also presents opposing theories and his arguments against them. The book is nicely illustrated with interesting photographs that supplement the salient points of each chapter.

The book is an easy read, especially for a scientific thesis, and is constructed concisely and intuitively, without the repetitiveness often suffered in similar non-fiction works. I enjoyed reading it on vacation in the Caribbean where I was delighted to be able to spot, in some exposed cliffs, the K-T geologic boundary the author describes so well!

I later shared the book with my 14 year old son, who used the book as his primary resource for a school paper on the subject of an important historical event. My son also found the book to be fascinating, lucid, and eminently readable.

I highly recommend this outstanding work of non-fiction.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Little Book, May 26, 2002

By 

Mark K. Mcdonough "Mark McDonough" (Reston, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The End of the Dinosaurs: Chicxulub Crater and Mass Extinctions (Hardcover)

This great little book is far more than promised by the title -- although I must admit that I grabbed it because of the title, so I can hardly fault them for picking something dinosaur oriented.

Yes, we get a history of the scientific controversies leading to the widespread acceptance of a meteorite/comet strike as the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs. But there's more: the book reviews the evidence for associations between bolide strikes and all of the major mass extinctions in earth history. In prose that's clear, but not dry, Frankel reveals what we know -- and don't know -- about these events. Good illustrations and intelligent speculation round out a first-rate and quite up-to-date overview of a rapidly developing field.

One subtext of Frankel's work is how scientist adapt (and in some cases don't adapt) to new evidence. For example, the Siberian Tunguska explosion of 1908 is now widely acknowledged to have been a strike from a comet fragment, but only 20 or so years ago you could read about it primarily in UFO magazines and "mysteries of the unexplained" books. Because science lacked an explanation for it, the explosion was largely ignored.

I second the recommendation of "The Eternal Frontier."