Chicxulub and the Exploration of Large Peak-Ring Impact Craters through Scientific Drilling

Kring, D. A.; Claeys, Philippe; Gulick, Sean P. S.; Morgan, Joanna; Collins, G. S.

doi:10.1130/gsatg352a.1

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The community has probed that question in two ways. First, an effort has been made to locate evidence of shock metamorphism at mass extinction horizons, which has generated contradictory results (e.g., Retallack et al, 1998 for the end-Permian; and Bice et al, 1992;Patzer et al, 2004;Kring et al, 2017a for the Late Triassic). The second approach has been to locate ejecta from other large impact events and determine if they are correlated with extinctions (e.g., Grey et al, 2003;Pálfy, 2004;Clutson et al, 2018).…”

Section: The Role Of Impacts and Impact Ages In Earth's Biospherementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Earth's impact craters larger than *2 to 4 km in diameter are of complex morphology and structure, such as the *3.8 km-diameter Steinheim Basin in Germany characterized by a pronounced central peak (uplift) and the *25 km-diameter Nördlinger Ries with an *10 km-wide inner ring of uplifted target rock and a well-preserved blanket of proximal impact ejecta surrounding the crater (e.g., Stöffler et al, 2002Stöffler et al, , 2013Kring, 2005;. The 180 km-diameter Chicxulub crater on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico is a peak-ring basin similar in morphology and structure to the Schrödinger Basin on the Moon (Kring, 1995;Kring et al, 2016Kring et al, , 2017aMorgan et al, 2016). The deeply eroded Vredefort impact structure in South Africa, probably *250 to 300 km in original diameter, may represent the remnants of a terrestrial multiring basin (e.g., Melosh, 1989;Spudis, 1993;Therriault et al, 1997;French, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Earth's Impact Events Through Geologic Time: A List of Recommended Ages for Terrestrial Impact Structures and Deposits

2020

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This article presents a current (as of September 2019) list of recommended ages for proven terrestrial impact structures (n = 200) and deposits (n = 46) sourced from the primary literature. High-precision impact ages can be used to (1) reconstruct and quantify the impact flux in the inner Solar System and, in particular, the Earth-Moon system, thereby placing constraints on the delivery of extraterrestrial mass accreted on Earth through geologic time; (2) utilize impact ejecta as event markers in the stratigraphic record and to refine bio-and magnetostratigraphy; (3) test models and hypotheses of synchronous double or multiple impact events in the terrestrial record; (4) assess the potential link between large impacts, mass extinctions, and diversification events in the biosphere; and (5) constrain the duration of melt sheet crystallization in large impact basins and the lifetime of hydrothermal systems in cooling impact craters, which may have served as habitats for microbial life on the early Earth and, possibly, Mars.

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Section: The Role Of Impacts and Impact Ages In Earth's Biospherementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earth's Impact Events Through Geologic Time: A List of Recommended Ages for Terrestrial Impact Structures and Deposits

2020

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“…Samples of the Chicxulub peak ring were recovered from 617.33 meters below the seafloor (mbsf) to 1334.68 mbsf at Site M0077 (Morgan et al, 2016 , 2017; Kring et al, 2017b ). The uppermost part of the peak ring is composed of ∼104 m of breccia with impact melt fragments (reworked suevite, Unit 2 of the logged core; Morgan et al, 2017 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Sulfur Isotope Fractionation in the Chicxulub Hydrothermal System

2021

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Target lithologies and post-impact hydrothermal mineral assemblages in a new 1.3 km deep core from the peak ring of the Chicxulub impact crater indicate sulfate reduction was a potential energy source for a microbial ecosystem (Kring et al., 2020 ). That sulfate was metabolized is confirmed here by microscopic pyrite framboids with δ 34 S values of -5 to -35 ‰ and ΔS sulfate-sulfide values between pyrite and source sulfate of 25 to 54 ‰, which are indicative of biologic fractionation rather than inorganic fractionation processes. These data indicate the Chicxulub impact crater and its hydrothermal system hosted a subsurface microbial community in porous permeable niches within the crater's peak ring.

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“…The impact crater at Chicxulub (Yucatán Peninsula, México) is the only terrestrial crater on Earth with a well-preserved peak ring (Hildebrand et al, 1991;Schulte et al, 2010;Morgan et al, 2016;Kring et al, 2017;Gulick et al, 2019). The asteroid impact is linked to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction event, which wiped out 76% of all species worldwide (Sepkoski, 1996), along with a near-global loss of vegetation (Kring, 2007;Vajda and Bercovici, 2014;Brugger et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater

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The Chicxulub crater was formed by an asteroid impact at ca. 66 Ma. The impact is considered to have contributed to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction and reduced productivity in the world’s oceans due to a transient cessation of photosynthesis. Here, biomarker profiles extracted from crater core material reveal exceptional insights into the post-impact upheaval and rapid recovery of microbial life. In the immediate hours to days after the impact, ocean resurge flooded the crater and a subsequent tsunami delivered debris from the surrounding carbonate ramp. Deposited material, including biomarkers diagnostic for land plants, cyanobacteria, and photosynthetic sulfur bacteria, appears to have been mobilized by wave energy from coastal microbial mats. As that energy subsided, days to months later, blooms of unicellular cyanobacteria were fueled by terrigenous nutrients. Approximately 200 k.y. later, the nutrient supply waned and the basin returned to oligotrophic conditions, as evident from N2-fixing cyanobacteria biomarkers. At 1 m.y. after impact, the abundance of photosynthetic sulfur bacteria supported the development of water-column photic zone euxinia within the crater.

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Chicxulub and the Exploration of Large Peak-Ring Impact Craters through Scientific Drilling

Cited by 23 publications

References 19 publications

Earth's Impact Events Through Geologic Time: A List of Recommended Ages for Terrestrial Impact Structures and Deposits

Earth's Impact Events Through Geologic Time: A List of Recommended Ages for Terrestrial Impact Structures and Deposits

Microbial Sulfur Isotope Fractionation in the Chicxulub Hydrothermal System

Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater

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