Environmental effects of Deccan volcanism across the Cretaceous–Tertiary transition in Meghalaya, India

Gertsch, B.; Keller, Gerta; Adatte, Thierry; Garg, Rahul; Prasad, Vandana; Berner, Zsolt; Fleitmann, Dominik

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2011.08.015

Cited by 84 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Kaolinitedominated marls may result from more humid and warmer climate or from lower sea level and more proximal environments, owing to the poor buoyancy of kaolinite (see above). This general climatic pattern, with warm and humid conditions during the late Maastrichtian followed by cooler and drier conditions during the early Danian, agrees with previous palynological and mineralogical studies of the Poty Quarry (Mabesoone et al 1968; and global climatic trends observed worldwide (Robert & Chamley 1990;Pardo et al 1999;Adatte et al 2002;Gertsch et al 2011b). …”

Section: Palaeoclimatic Evolution: Clay Mineralogysupporting

confidence: 86%

The Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary (KTB) transition in NE Brazil

Gertsch¹,

Keller

Adatte

et al. 2013

JGS

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At 7800 km from Yucatan the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (KTB) transition of the Poty Quarry, NE Brazil, is the most distant locality with published accounts of Chicxulub impact-tsunami deposits, impact spherules and Ir anomaly. New investigations based on sedimentology, biostratigraphy, mineralogy and geochemistry fail to confirm these reports. Latest Maastrichtian planktic foraminiferal zones CF1 below an erosive and bioturbated disconformity and early Danian zone P1a(1) above indicate a short hiatus, with the KTB clay (zone P0), the Ir anomaly and the characteristic negative δ 13 C excursion missing. The disconformity coincides with the globally recognized latest Maastrichtian sea-level fall. Above the disconformity, an upward-fining micro-conglomerate with abundant reworked Cretaceous foraminifera, sub-angular phosphate clasts, calcitic and phosphatic spheroids along with an early Danian zone P1a(1) assemblage is interpreted as a gravity-flow deposit. Common spheroids throughout the late Campanian-Maastrichtian appear to be chamber infillings of the benthic foraminifer Dentalina alternata. Minor Ir anomalies in thin clay layers of zone Pla and no evidence of the Chicxulub impact reveal that the Poty Quarry section remains a very important example of the complex global environmental and sea-level changes observed in KT sequences from North America to Central America that are commonly misinterpreted as impact-tsunami events.Supplementary materials: Data for trace elements are available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18585. research-articleResearch Article170X10.1144/jgs2012-029B. GertschThe KTB Transition in NE Brazil 2013 at Mount Royal University on June 14, 2015 http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/ Downloaded from B. GERTSCH ET AL. 250 macrofossils were noted, described and photographed for the record.Poty Well-B and the quarry exposures were sampled at 3-5 cm intervals across the suspected KTB and at 5-10 cm intervals through an event deposit (described below), bioturbated intervals and the Danian. The Maastrichtian was sampled at 20 cm intervals. In the laboratory, samples were processed for foraminiferal extraction using standard methods .The PGE, and carbon and oxygen isotopes were analysed on powdered bulk-rock samples at the Institute for Mineralogy und Geochemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. PGE were measured by isotope dilution high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) after pre-concentration and matrix reduction by Ni-fire assay (Kramar et al. 2001). Carbon and oxygen isotope measurements were carried out using a Delta V Advantage ratio mass spectrometer equipped with an online carbonate preparation line (GasBench) with separate vials for each sample (Thermo Finnigan, Bremen, Germany). The results are expressed on the V-PDB scale with standard deviations <0.05% for δ 13 C and <0.1% for δ 18 O.Mineralogical analyses were carried out at the Geological Institute of the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Bulk-rock and clay mineral assemblages were analysed by X-r...

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Section: Palaeoclimatic Evolution: Clay Mineralogysupporting

confidence: 86%

The Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary (KTB) transition in NE Brazil

Gertsch¹,

Keller

Adatte

et al. 2013

JGS

Self Cite

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“…3B) (Keller et al, 2008;Self et al, 2008). Subsequently, the KTB was also identified in central India (Keller et al, 2009b), NE India about 800 km from the DVP (Gertsch et al, 2011). In SE India the mass extinction was documented in intertrappean sediments A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 93%

Upheavals during the Late Maastrichtian: Volcanism, climate and faunal events preceding the end-Cretaceous mass extinction

Keller

Punekar

Mateo

2016

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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“…All others (Ir anomaly, clay and red layers, δ 13 C shift) are KTB-supporting criteria that cannot stand alone as KTB markers because they are not unique events. In India, all of these KTB markers are present in the Meghalaya section (Gertsch et al 2011), but to date the Ir anomaly and δ 13 C shift have not been documented in the Krishna-Godavari Basin due to lack of suitable marine sequences with high-resolution sample spacing.…”

Section: Fig4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Deccan Volcanism Linked to the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Mass Extinction: New Evidence from ONGC Wells in the Krishna-Godavari Basin

Keller

Bhowmick

Upadhyay

et al. 2011

Journal of the Geological Society of India

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A scientific challenge is to assess the role of Deccan volcanism in the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (KTB) mass extinction. Here we report on the stratigraphy and biologic effects of Deccan volcanism in eleven deep wells from the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) Basin, Andhra Pradesh, India. In these wells, two phases of Deccan volcanism record the world's largest and longest lava mega-flows interbedded in marine sediments in the K-G Basin about 1500 km from the main Deccan volcanic province. The main phase-2 eruptions (~80% of total Deccan Traps) began in C29r and ended at or near the KTB, an interval that spans planktic foraminiferal zones CF1-CF2 and most of the nannofossil Micula prinsii zone, and is correlative with the rapid global warming and subsequent cooling near the end of the Maastrichtian. The mass extinction began in phase-2 preceding the first of four mega-flows. Planktic foraminifera suffered a 50% drop in species richness. Survivors suffered another 50% drop after the first mega-flow, leaving just 7 to 8 survivor species. No recovery occurred between the next three mega-flows and the mass extinction was complete with the last phase-2 megaflow at the KTB. The mass extinction was likely the consequence of rapid and massive volcanic CO 2 and SO 2 gas emissions, leading to high continental weathering rates, global warming, cooling, acid rains, ocean acidification and a carbon crisis in the marine environment.Deccan volcanism phase-3 began in the early Danian near the C29R/C29n boundary correlative with the planktic foraminiferal zone P1a/P1b boundary and accounts for ~14% of the total volume of Deccan eruptions, including four of Earth's longest and largest mega-flows. No major faunal changes are observed in the intertrappeans of zone P1b, which suggests that environmental conditions remained tolerable, volcanic eruptions were less intense and/or separated by longer time intervals thus preventing runaway effects. Alternatively, early Danian assemblages evolved in adaptation to high-stress conditions in the aftermath of the mass extinction and therefore survived phase-3 volcanism. Full marine biotic recovery did not occur until after Deccan phase-3. These data suggest that the catastrophic effects of phase-2 Deccan volcanism upon the Cretaceous planktic foraminifera were a function of both the rapid and massive volcanic eruptions and the highly specialized faunal assemblages prone to extinction in a changing environment. Data from the K-G Basin indicates that Deccan phase-2 alone could have caused the KTB mass extinction and that impacts may have had secondary effects.

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Environmental effects of Deccan volcanism across the Cretaceous–Tertiary transition in Meghalaya, India

Cited by 84 publications

References 71 publications

The Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary (KTB) transition in NE Brazil

The Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary (KTB) transition in NE Brazil

Upheavals during the Late Maastrichtian: Volcanism, climate and faunal events preceding the end-Cretaceous mass extinction

Deccan Volcanism Linked to the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Mass Extinction: New Evidence from ONGC Wells in the Krishna-Godavari Basin

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