The research suggests the K-T boundary was deposited in about 10,000 years. He said the short period lent support to the theory that the dinosaurs were wiped out in a sudden, catastrophic event such as the impact of an extraterrestrial body. Single impact The constant rate of accumulation of helium-3 also indicates that the impactor was not part of a comet shower or bombardment. If you increase the dust flux, you increase the helium-3 flux. And so if you don't see an increase in the helium-3 in these sediments, it rules out a large number of comets coming in.
Scientists think they know where the suspected asteroid or comet came down.
Even so, some scientists still hold to the theory that massive volcanic eruptions at about the same time were a more likely cause for the end of the dinosaurs. Certainly, this type of volcanism would have had a major effect on global climate, and probably did disrupt the food chains upon which much life depended, but Mukhopadhyay said the event occurred over too long a period. The Deccan Traps erupted over much longer timescales - over 500,000 years or more. If the recovery of life starts after only 10,000 years, it is hard for us to see how the traps are influencing the mass extinction. The helium-3 research is published in the journal Science.