ORBITING DEBRIS HYPOTHESIS

[DanaPagel@aol.com]

ORBITING DEBRIS EXTINCTION HYPOTHESIS


     Alvarezs meteor extinction theory correctly places a large meteor hit
at the correct time; however, Hildebrands Chicxulub impact site was only the
last of many.  If that one meteor was sufficient to eliminate Dinosauria, why
is there not a large quantity of fossils IN the K-T boundary layer?  Such a
supposed catastrophic event would create an ideal environment for
fossilization -- large quantities of dead animals, quick sterile burial, and
no scavengers.  The thick shelled ammonites create excellent and abundant
fossils -- yet they are an inch away from the iridium boundary layer.

     When the earth was young, before animal life, a vast ring of debris
formed above the earth.  This was caused from the original coalescence of the
earth and the subsequent frequent meteor bombardment of the early solar
system.  As millions of solar orbits passed the earth slowly accumulated a
thicker atmosphere.  The air density increase enabled easier development of
more massive animal life, because as an animal increases in size the mass to
surface area ratio increases.  As this ratio increases the gas exchange of
oxygen with carbon dioxide becomes more difficult because of the relative
surface area of the animal available.  Greater air density makes the gas
exchange process more efficient and the animals physiology comes to rely
upon this constant.  As millions of additional years pass, atmosphere
accumulation continues and ever larger animals evolve.  This thick atmosphere
also increases and evenly distributes rainfall.  For a given area of land
there is more cubic feet of water vapor above it.  That water vapor descends
as rainfall more evenly because earthly surface irregularities, such as
mountains, are now relatively smaller in comparison to the atmosphere and
influence weather patterns less.  The more uniform environment creates
larger, stabler ecosystems for animal evolution.  Higher atmospheric density
also makes possible flying creatures that would not be able to generate
enough lift in todays thin air, such as dragonflies with six foot wingspans
and pterodactyls.  The large tenuous atmosphere grows until reaching the
earths orbiting ring.  What was once a stable orbit experiences atmospheric
drag and the whole lower ring enters a decaying orbit.  This large quantity
of rock takes millennia to strike the earth; however, in doing so it scatters
a significant amount of air away from the earths gravitational field.  Since
the atmosphere is now volumetrically decreasing at a rapid rate compared to
how fast it accumulated, the larger animal species cannot adapt fast enough
and slowly suffocate.  Smaller animal species selectively survive due to
easier gas exchange processes.  Creatures who already require a small mass to
surface area ratio for aerial flight and sustained energy expenditures also
survive.  All these winged creatures have to do is adopt a more sedentary
lifestyle on the land -- most land predators are now conveniently extinct.
 Creatures who supplement the gas exchange of their lungs with dermatological
gas exchange are also likely to survive, such as amphibians.  Creatures with
very short lifespans can also evolve fast enough to survive as a species,
such as mammals.  After all the material in orbital decay has struck the
earth the cycle repeats.  The air that was lost in the previous cycle is
still in the earths solar path and is accumulated again over millions of
years.  A new set of large animals evolve, the next higher layer of orbiting
debris is encountered by the atmosphere and mass extinction occurs again.
 This cycle consumed the ring of debris before the observations of man.