Re: Night comes to the Cretaceous

["Norton, Patrick" <Patrick.Norton@state.me.us>]

Sherry said:

<I just think it is wrong to close our minds to other ideas-this includes   
the
 impact hypothesis, too!> SNIP <The people who dare question the sacred   
Alvarez theory are not a bunch of morons.>

Alvarez said as much in his book "T-rex and the crater of doom." Early in   
the 80's, it was his team that analyzed the chemistry of the K/T boundary   
clay and pointed to an impact in the ocean rather than on continental   
crust. He blames that analysis for several years of wasted effort looking   
for the crater on ocean floors. It was only after the Chixalub crater was   
discovered on continental crust that Alverex et al figured how his   
analysis had misled him. He also credits the Dartmouth team of Officer et   
al--a group he calls "relentless critics"--for forcing the impact   
proponents to thoroughly test all aspects of the hypothsis. These are   
both examples of a hypothesis being strengthened through constant   
questioning. No reason that questioning should stop now.