A group of researchers from UC Berkeley has proposed that when an asteroid crashed into earth around 66 million years ago, its impact might have led to the eruption of thousands of volcanoes on the other side of the planet. Both the factors could have led to the end of dinosaurs.

It is a highly debated topic as what killed the dinosaurs. Yet again, the debate is heating up one more time with this new research. Lead researcher Mark Richards, UC Berkeley geologist, stated that the massive asteroid strike triggered a wave of volcanic eruptions on the other side of the planet.

Richards affirmed that there are chances that the Deccan Traps eruptions could have played an important role in the mass extinction 66 million years ago. These eruptions are known flood basalts and 'were among the largest in the history of the planet, and would have buried all of California a mile deep in lava', stated Richards.

However, the asteroid impact caused a gigantic crater in the ocean flood of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and it is the main cause of the event that ended most of the world's dinosaurs and three-quarters of all other life of earth to extinction.

Both the events could have created a lot of toxic gases enough to darkened earth, lowered global temperatures and made it very difficult to live on earth. The report has been published on Friday in the Geological Society of America Bulletin.

"Obviously I'm delighted that the Berkeley team is finally accepting Deccan volcanism as critical in causing the mass extinction", said Gerta Keller, a Stanford-trained geologist at Princeton University, who is one of the leading proponent of the theory that volcanic eruptions caused the mass extinctions.