Imperial College London
Alternate

ProfessorJoannaMorgan

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Emeritus Professor of Geophysics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 6423j.v.morgan

 
 
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Location

 

1.46CRoyal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Bralower:2020:10.1029/2020av000208,
author = {Bralower, TJ and Cosmidis, J and Fantle, MS and Lowery, CM and Passey, BH and Gulick, SPS and Morgan, JV and Vajda, V and Whalen, MT and Wittmann, A and Artemieva, N and Farley, K and Goderis, S and Hajek, E and Heaney, PJ and Kring, DA and Lyons, SL and Rasmussen, C and Sibert, E and Rodríguez, Tovar FJ and TurnerWalker, G and Zachos, JC and Carte, J and Chen, SA and Cockell, C and Coolen, M and Freeman, KH and Garber, J and Gonzalez, M and Gray, JL and Grice, K and Jones, HL and Schaefer, B and Smit, J and Tikoo, SM},
doi = {10.1029/2020av000208},
journal = {AGU Advances},
pages = {1--27},
title = {The habitat of the nascent chicxulub crater},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020av000208},
volume = {1},
year = {2020}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - An expanded sedimentary section provides an opportunity to elucidate conditions in the nascent Chicxulub crater during the hours to millennia after the CretaceousPaleogene (KPg) boundary impact. The sediments were deposited by tsunami followed by seiche waves as energy in the crater declined, culminating in a thin hemipelagic marlstone unit that contains atmospheric fallout. Seiche deposits are predominantly composed of calcite formed by decarbonation of the target limestone during impact followed by carbonation in the water column. Temperatures recorded by clumped isotopes of these carbonates are in excess of 70°C, with heat likely derived from the central impact melt pool. Yet, despite the turbidity and heat, waters within the nascent crater basin soon became a viable habitat for a remarkably diverse cross section of the food chain. The earliest seiche layers deposited with days or weeks of the impact contain earliest Danian nannoplankton and dinocyst survivors. The hemipelagic marlstone representing the subsequent years to a few millennia contains a nearly monogeneric calcareous dinoflagellate resting cyst assemblage suggesting deteriorating environmental conditions, with one interpretation involving low light levels in the impact aftermath. At the same horizon, microbial fossils indicate a thriving bacterial community and unique phosphatic fossils including appendages of pelagic crustaceans, coprolites and bacteriatunneled fish bone, suggesting that this rapid recovery of the base of the food chain may have supported the survival of larger, higher trophiclevel organisms. The extraordinarily diverse fossil assemblage indicates that the crater was a unique habitat in the immediate impact aftermath, possibly as a result of heat and nutrients supplied by hydrothermal activity.
AU  - Bralower,TJ
AU  - Cosmidis,J
AU  - Fantle,MS
AU  - Lowery,CM
AU  - Passey,BH
AU  - Gulick,SPS
AU  - Morgan,JV
AU  - Vajda,V
AU  - Whalen,MT
AU  - Wittmann,A
AU  - Artemieva,N
AU  - Farley,K
AU  - Goderis,S
AU  - Hajek,E
AU  - Heaney,PJ
AU  - Kring,DA
AU  - Lyons,SL
AU  - Rasmussen,C
AU  - Sibert,E
AU  - Rodríguez,Tovar FJ
AU  - TurnerWalker,G
AU  - Zachos,JC
AU  - Carte,J
AU  - Chen,SA
AU  - Cockell,C
AU  - Coolen,M
AU  - Freeman,KH
AU  - Garber,J
AU  - Gonzalez,M
AU  - Gray,JL
AU  - Grice,K
AU  - Jones,HL
AU  - Schaefer,B
AU  - Smit,J
AU  - Tikoo,SM
DO  - 10.1029/2020av000208
EP  - 27
PY  - 2020///
SN  - 2576-604X
SP  - 1
TI  - The habitat of the nascent chicxulub crater
T2  - AGU Advances
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020av000208
UR  - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020AV000208
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/84570
VL  - 1
ER  -
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