re: late cretacean extinctions

["Michael" <tons@ccs.netside.com>]

I am guilty of trying to start a thread about this.  I believe that 
dinosaurs were becoming extinct in the Maastrictian and a major 
bolide struct the earth then.  Now, if they were becoming extinct and 
I think the fossil record shows that, then an asteriod striking the 
earth didn't help matters at all.  In fact it may have been the straw 
that broke the camels back.  Perhaps it altered a normal process of 
mass extinction.

There are other explanations though.  Amajor bolide strike may have been 
incidential. Has anyone looked at the possibility that our sun may be 
the source of major extinctions.  Even the moon could shift enough to 
cause problems with the food chain.  So the fact that a major bolide 
did strike the earth does not necessarily mean_it_ was_the cause of 
the dinosaurs extinction.  Of course, when you see smoke think fire.

Has anybody dated other major strikes to see if they caused mass 
extinction?

Michael Teuton