Massive volcanoes, meteorite impacts delivered one-two death punch to dinosaurs. (http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-11-massive-volcanoes-meteorite-impacts-one-two.html)
Quote(PhysOrg.com) -- A cosmic one-two punch of colossal volcanic eruptions and meteorite strikes likely caused the mass-extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period that is famous for killing the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, according to two Princeton University reports that reject the prevailing theory that the extinction was caused by a single large meteorite.
Princeton-led researchers found that a trail of dead plankton spanning half a million years provides a timeline that links the mass extinction to large-scale eruptions of the Deccan Traps, a primeval volcanic range in western India that was once three-times larger than France. A second Princeton-based group uncovered traces of a meteorite close to the Deccan Traps that may have been one of a series to strike the Earth around the time of the mass extinction, possibly wiping out the few species that remained after thousands of years of volcanic activity...
I love good quality research!
This is the first I've heard of a meteorite hitting near the Deccan Traps. Very interesting. This one kind of ties in with your earlier thread about the Siberian Traps (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=6727.0).