The Alvarez hypothesis posits that the mass extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and many other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth.

2010年3月9日 · An international panel of experts has ruled in favor of the theory proposed in 1980 by the late Berkeley Lab physicist Luis Alvarez and his son Walter, a UC Berkeley geologist, that a large asteroid struck the earth 65 million years ago, triggering the extinction of the dinosaurs.

With the crater discovery, the Alvarez asteroid theory theory moved from hypothesis to a widely accepted explanation for the dinosaur extinction. It showed how a cosmic collision could reshape life on Earth, setting the stage for the rise of mammals and, eventually, humans.

In 1980, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Walter Alvarez and his geologist son Walter published a theory that a historic layer of iridium-rich clay was caused by a large asteroid colliding with Earth.

The Alvarez hypothesis posits that the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and many other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on

Reasons are given to indicate that this iridium is of extraterrestrial origin, but did not come from a nearby supernova. A hypothesis is suggested which accounts for the extinctions and the iridium observations.

The Alvarez Hypothesis: The original hypothesis is the basis for several subsequent variations on the theme that a large extraterrestrial object collided with the Earth, its impact throwing up enough dust to cause the climatic change.

In 1980, Alvarez’s team published their hypothesis linking the iridium spike and the dinosaur extinction for other scientists to consider. This caused a huge debate and more exploration.

Once again, Luis Alvarez came to the rescue with some calculations and an elaborated hypothesis. Talks with his colleagues led him to focus on the dust that would have been thrown into the atmosphere by a huge aster-Fig. 10. Lack of plutonium contradicts the supernova hypothesis. Fig. 11.

In 1980 physicist Luis Alvarez and his son, geologist Walter Alvarez, both of the University of California, were working together on a geology expedition in Italy. They accidentally discovered...