Kathleen Reed, age 8, of Winston Salem, N.C., for her question:

WERE THERE VOLCANOES IN THE DAYS OF THE DINOSAURS?

Certainly the dinosaurs were bothered by fiery volcanoes. No doubt some of the giant reptiles perished in the seething eruptions. What's more, some of the dinosaurs must have been swamped when the seas flooded over much of the land. However, these disasters happened at different times and in different places.

The dinosaurs ruled the earth for more than 100 million years. During those long ages, many changes were made on the face of the earth. When they first came to power, the earth was building mountains in the west and the east of our continent. And as usual volcanoes erupted to help this mountain making. Later these upheavals calmed down. But then the seas flooded much of North America. About 100 million years ago, shortly before the dinosaurs departed, more volcanoes erupted to help build the Rockies and the Andes.