Invisible form of matter cited in dinosaur extinction theory

Explanations for why the dinosaurs died off just keep getting more complicated.

According to a new theory, the dinosaurs bit the dust because Earth happened to pass through a clump of invisible matter in space. This matter was annihilated in Earth's interior in a process that generated so much heat that volcanoes began to erupt on the surface. This volcanism, in turn, killed off the dinosaurs by dramatically altering the climate.

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Indian physicist Samar and Afsar Abbas put this idea forth in an astrophysics paper available on the World Wide Web (http://xxx/abs/astro-ph/9612214) They say it can explain why mass extinctions in the fossil record seem to coincide with large-scale outpourings of lava on Earth's surface.

Most scientists believe that the dinosaurs and two-thirds of all other life forms were killed off 65 million years ago when a giant meteorite struck Earth. But some believe that the massive volcanism eruptions that took place in India around that time were instead the cause of the extinctions.

Dr. abbas and abbas attribute this volcanism to Earth's passing through a clump of dark matter, the mysterious stuff that astronomers can't see but believe comprises as much as 90 percent of the universe.

The scientists say their theory also applies to another extinction, the greatest that ever occurred on Earth, 250 million years ago. Their idea could explain why massive volcanic eruptions took place in Siberia at that time, the researchers wrote.