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Life and death in the Chicxulub impact crater: a record of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Smith, V.; Warny, S.; Grice, K.; Schaefer, B.; Whalen, M.T.; Vellekoop, J.; Chenot, E.; Gulick, S.P.S.; Arenillas, I.; Arz, J.A.; Bauersachs, T.; Bralower, T.; Demory, F.; Gattacceca, J.; Jones, H.; Lofi, J.; Lowery, C.M.; Morgan, J.; Nuñez Otaño, N.B.; O'Keefe, J.M.K.; O'Malley, K.; Rodriguez-Tovar, F.J.; Schwark, L.; IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 Scientists (2020). Life and death in the Chicxulub impact crater: a record of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Clim. Past 16(5): 1889-1899. https://hdl.handle.net/10.5194/cp-16-1889-2020
In: Climate of the Past. Copernicus: Göttingen. ISSN 1814-9324; e-ISSN 1814-9332
Peer reviewed article  
Available in  Authors 
    Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Open access 361179 [ download pdf ]
Keyword
    Marine/Coastal
Authors  Top 
  • Smith, V.
  • Warny, S.
  • Grice, K.
  • Schaefer, B.
  • Whalen, M.T.
  • Vellekoop, J.
  • Chenot, E.
  • Gulick, S.P.S.
  • Arenillas, I.
  • Arz, J.A.
  • Bauersachs, T.
  • Bralower, T.
  • Demory, F.
  • Gattacceca, J.
  • Jones, H.
  • Lofi, J.
  • Lowery, C.M.
  • Morgan, J.
  • Nuñez Otaño, N.B.
  • O'Keefe, J.M.K.
  • O'Malley, K.
  • Rodriguez-Tovar, F.J.
  • Schwark, L.
  • IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 Scientists
Abstract
    Thermal stress on the biosphere during the extreme warmth of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was most severe at low latitudes, with sea surface temperatures at some localities exceeding the 35 ∘C at which marine organisms experience heat stress. Relatively few equivalent terrestrial sections have been identified, and the response of land plants to this extreme heat is still poorly understood. Here, we present a new record of the PETM from the peak ring of the Chicxulub impact crater that has been identified based on nannofossil biostratigraphy, an acme of the dinoflagellate genus Apectodinium, and a negative carbon isotope excursion. Geochemical and microfossil proxies show that the PETM is marked by elevated TEXH86-based sea surface temperatures (SSTs) averaging ∼37.8 ∘C, an increase in terrestrial input and surface productivity, salinity stratification, and bottom water anoxia, with biomarkers for green and purple sulfur bacteria indicative of photic zone euxinia in the early part of the event. Pollen and plants spores in this core provide the first PETM floral assemblage described from Mexico, Central America, and the northern Caribbean. The source area was a diverse coastal shrubby tropical forest with a remarkably high abundance of fungal spores, indicating humid conditions. Thus, while seafloor anoxia devastated the benthic marine biota and dinoflagellate assemblages were heat-stressed, the terrestrial plant ecosystem thrived.
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