尽管人们的普遍共识是6600万年前一颗巨大的小行星与地球的相撞促成了接踵而至的物种大灭绝(其中包括恐龙)，但新的证据显示，这一撞击触发了更强烈的火山活动，从而进一步加重了物种灭绝。

   印度孟买东部德干地盾的分层熔岩流。

   对火山活动的这些新的测量可能是迄今为止最精确的，它们表明在撞击的5万年内，德干火山的爆发率有了急剧的增加。为了取得对该印度境内火山爆发范围内火山活动的了解，Paul Renne等人对火成岩矿物进行了高分辨率氩年代测定。这些数据与岩石分层结合揭示了该火山区域的某些分区在小行星撞击之前就已经有活跃的火山活动。继小行星与地球撞击之后，该研究组指出，那里的一个特定分区的火山平均爆发频率出现急剧下降，但熔岩体积(每单次火山爆发事件的熔岩体积)则有所增加，使得平均岩浆喷发率增加了约两倍。作者们说，从高频-低容量喷发过渡至低频-高容量喷发表明岩浆管道系统发生了根本性变化。这种大容量熔岩喷发在物种大灭绝后持续了约50万年，它反映了物种灭绝和海洋生态系统初步复苏间的时间轴。因此，作者们提出，白垩纪物种灭绝或源自小行星撞击和火山活动增加的叠加效应。

   原文链接：State shift in Deccan volcanism at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, possibly induced by impact

    原文摘要：Bolide impact and flood volcanism compete as leading candidates for the cause of terminal-Cretaceous mass extinctions. High-precision 40Ar/39Ar data indicate that these two mechanisms may be genetically related, and neither can be considered in isolation. The existing Deccan Traps magmatic system underwent a stateshift approximately coincident with the Chicxulub impact and the terminal-Cretaceous mass extinctions, after which ~70% of the Traps' total volume was extruded in more massive and more episodic eruptions. Initiation of this new regime occurred within ~50,000 years of the impact, which is consistent with transient effects ofimpact-induced seismic energy. Postextinction recovery of marine ecosystems was probably suppressed until after the accelerated volcanism waned.