" Dust and soot ejected high into the atmosphere would have blocked sunlight for months, if not years, bringing photosynthesis to a grinding halt. The initial blast wave and global wildfires would have been followed by a prolonged period of "impact winter.
How Volcanic Activity and Impact Winter Led to Ammonites' Extinction
Furthermore, their complex coiled shells, while hydrodynamically efficient and perhaps used for buoyancy control, may have been a liability in the chaotic aftermath of the impact. The ammonites' specialization and intricate life cycle, which was finely tuned for the stable and productive Cretaceous seas, left them ill-prepared for the sudden, multi-front assault of the K-Pg event.
This gas would have combined with water vapor to form sulfuric acid, leading to a sharp and sudden drop in ocean pH. The nautilus, a distant relative that also survived the extinction event, has a simpler, more robust shell and a different reproductive strategy, releasing fewer, larger offspring that are better equipped to survive harsh conditions.
How Volcanic and Impact Winter Effects Devastated Ammonites
These marine mollusks, distant relatives of today’s nautilus and octopus, were not just passive inhabitants of ancient oceans but were, in fact, apex predators and incredibly successful survivors. Their reliance on a healthy, sunlit ocean made them a canary in the coal mine, and they perished as the ecosystem they dominated collapsed.
More About Why did ammonites go extinct
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