Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Organic matter from the Chicxulub crater exacerbated the K-Pg impact winter

    Access Status
    Open access via publisher
    Authors
    Lyons, S.L.
    Karp, A.T.
    Bralower, T.J.
    Grice, Kliti
    Schaefer, Bettina
    Gulick, S.P.S.
    Morgan, J.V.
    Freeman, K.H.
    Date
    2020
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Lyons, S.L. and Karp, A.T. and Bralower, T.J. and Grice, K. and Schaefer, B. and Gulick, S.P.S. and Morgan, J.V. et al. 2020. Organic matter from the Chicxulub crater exacerbated the K-Pg impact winter. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 117 (41): pp. 25327-25334.
    Source Title
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    DOI
    10.1073/pnas.2004596117
    Additional URLs
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7568312/
    ISSN
    0027-8424
    Faculty
    Faculty of Science and Engineering
    School
    School of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS)
    Funding and Sponsorship
    http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100982
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90120
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    An asteroid impact in the Yucatán Peninsula set off a sequence of events that led to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction of 76% species, including the nonavian dinosaurs. The impact hit a carbonate platform and released sulfate aerosols and dust into Earth's upper atmosphere, which cooled and darkened the planet - a scenario known as an impact winter. Organic burn markers are observed in K-Pg boundary records globally, but their source is debated. If some were derived from sedimentary carbon, and not solely wildfires, it implies soot from the target rock also contributed to the impact winter. Characteristics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Chicxulub crater sediments and at two deep ocean sites indicate a fossil carbon source that experienced rapid heating, consistent with organic matter ejected during the formation of the crater. Furthermore, PAH size distributions proximal and distal to the crater indicate the ejected carbon was dispersed globally by atmospheric processes. Molecular and charcoal evidence indicates wildfires were also present but more delayed and protracted and likely played a less acute role in biotic extinctions than previously suggested. Based on stratigraphy near the crater, between 7.5 × 1014and 2.5 × 1015g of black carbon was released from the target and ejected into the atmosphere, where it circulated the globe within a few hours. This carbon, together with sulfate aerosols and dust, initiated an impact winter and global darkening that curtailed photosynthesis and is widely considered to have caused the K-Pg mass extinction.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • The first day of the Cenozoic
      Gulick, S.P.S.; Bralower, T.J.; Ormö, J.; Hall, B.; Grice, Kliti ; Schaefer, Bettina; Lyons, S.; Freeman, K.H.; Morgan, J.V.; Artemieva, N.; Kaskes, P.; De Graaff, S.J.; Whalen, M.T.; Collins, G.S.; Tikoo, S.M.; Verhagen, C.; Christeson, G.L.; Claeys, P.; Coolen, Marco ; Goderis, S.; Goto, K.; Grieve, R.A.F.; McCall, N.; Osinski, G.R.; Rae, A.S.P.; Riller, U.; Smit, J.; Vajda, V.; Wittmann, A. (2019)
      Highly expanded Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary section from the Chicxulub peak ring, recovered by International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)-International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) Expedition ...
    • Rapid recovery of life at ground zero of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction
      Lowery, C.; Bralower, T.; Owens, J.; Rodríguez-Tovar, F.; Jones, H.; Smit, J.; Whalen, M.; Claeys, P.; Farley, K.; Gulick, S.; Morgan, J.; Green, S.; Chenot, E.; Christeson, G.; Cockell, C.; Coolen, Marco; Ferrière, L.; Gebhardt, C.; Goto, K.; Kring, D.; Lofi, J.; Ocampo-Torres, R.; Perez-Cruz, L.; Pickersgill, A.; Poelchau, M.; Rae, A.; Rasmussen, C.; Rebolledo-Vieyra, M.; Riller, U.; Sato, H.; Tikoo, S.; Tomioka, N.; Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J.; Vellekoop, J.; Wittmann, A.; Xiao, L.; Yamaguchi, K.; Zylberman, W. (2018)
      The Cretaceous/Palaeogene mass extinction eradicated 76% of species on Earth1,2. It was caused by the impact of an asteroid3,4on the Yucatán carbonate platform in the southern Gulf of Mexico 66 million years ago5, forming ...
    • Paleowildfire at the end-Triassic mass extinction: Smoke or fire?
      Fox, Calum P.; Holman, Alex ; Rigo, M.; Al Suwaidi, A.; Grice, Kliti (2022)
      Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are routinely used as proxies for wildfire in geological sediments associated with large igneous province (LIP) driven CO2 increases and mass extinction events. One example is the ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.