Hydrothermal alteration associated with the Chicxulub impact crater upper peak-ring breccias

Simpson, Sarah; Osinski, G. R.; Longstaffe, Fred J.; Schmieder, M.; Kring, D. A.

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116425

Cited by 26 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…2B). Perlitic cracks were observed in this interval by Kring et al (2020) as well, while Simpson et al (2020) also documented more abundant Na-dachiardite and analcime zeolites at these depths. At core level 60_1_82 (678.06 mbsf), a gradual transition is visible to a core interval with less core loss and less pervasive hydrothermal alteration features.…”

Section: Graded Suevite Unit (71001-62088 Mbsf)mentioning

confidence: 69%

“…8E). Previous work on the effects of the post-impact, alkalineintermediate hydrothermal system on the suevites in the M0077A core documented secondary alteration throughout the entire sequence but especially in the lower portion of unit 2B (Simpson et al, 2020). This high-porosity (30%-40%) and high-permeability interval (at depths of 706-689 mbsf) is also marked by the largest amount of core loss in the M0077A suevite sequence (Fig.…”

Section: Graded Suevite Unit (71001-62088 Mbsf)mentioning

confidence: 76%

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Formation of the crater suevite sequence from the Chicxulub peak ring: A petrographic, geochemical, and sedimentological characterization

et al. 2021

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This study presents a new classification of a ∼100-m-thick crater suevite sequence in the recent International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)-International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) Expedition 364 Hole M0077A drill core to better understand the formation of suevite on top of the Chicxulub peak ring. We provide an extensive data set for this succession that consists of whole-rock major and trace element compositional data (n = 212) and petrographic data supported by digital image analysis. The suevite sequence is subdivided into three units that are distinct in their petrography, geochemistry, and sedimentology, from base to top: the ∼5.6-m-thick non-graded suevite unit, the ∼89-m-thick graded suevite unit, and the ∼3.5-m-thick bedded suevite unit. All of these suevite units have isolated Cretaceous planktic foraminifera within their clastic groundmass, which suggests that marine processes were responsible for the deposition of the entire M0077A suevite sequence. The most likely scenario describes that the first ocean water that reached the northern peak ring region entered through a N-NE gap in the Chicxulub outer rim. We estimate that this ocean water arrived at Site M0077 within 30 minutes after the impact and was relatively poor in rock debris. This water caused intense quench fragmentation when it interacted with the underlying hot impact melt rock, and this resulted in the emplacement of the ∼5.6-m-thick hyaloclastite-like, non-graded suevite unit. In the following hours, the impact structure was flooded by an ocean resurge rich in rock debris, which caused the phreatomagmatic processes to stop and the ∼89-m-thick graded suevite unit to be deposited. We interpret that after the energy of the resurge slowly dissipated, oscillating seiche waves took over the sedimentary regime and formed the ∼3.5-m-thick bedded suevite unit. The final stages of the formation of the impactite sequence (estimated to be <20 years after impact) were dominated by resuspension and slow atmospheric settling, including the final deposition of Chicxulub impactor debris. Cumulatively, the Site M0077 suevite sequence from the Chicxulub impact site preserved a high-resolution record that provides an unprecedented window for unravelling the dynamics and timing of proximal marine cratering processes in the direct aftermath of a large impact event.

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Section: Graded Suevite Unit (71001-62088 Mbsf)mentioning

confidence: 69%

Section: Graded Suevite Unit (71001-62088 Mbsf)mentioning

confidence: 76%

Formation of the crater suevite sequence from the Chicxulub peak ring: A petrographic, geochemical, and sedimentological characterization

et al. 2021

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“…An explanation for the increase in cell abundance is the preferential channeling of fluids, and thus potentially nutrients and energy supplies, between the less-permeable limestone/marl layers above the crater and the underlying higher porosity suevite, despite the relatively low TOC in the suevite compared with the postimpact sedimentary rocks. These impact-altered, elevated-porosity materials are thought to have allowed for fluid flow, leading to their hydrothermal alteration after the impact ( Simpson et al, 2020 ). The high porosity of the suevite (∼35%), higher than typical marine sedimentary environments ( Parkes et al, 2005 ; Tanikawa et al, 2018 ), is directly linked to the deposition of this material by ocean resurge prior to its eventual burial after the impact ( Christeson et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shaping of the Present-Day Deep Biosphere at Chicxulub by the Impact Catastrophe That Ended the Cretaceous

Cockell

Schaefer²,

Wuchter³

et al. 2021

Front. Microbiol.

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We report on the effect of the end-Cretaceous impact event on the present-day deep microbial biosphere at the impact site. IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 drilled into the peak ring of the Chicxulub crater, México, allowing us to investigate the microbial communities within this structure. Increased cell biomass was found in the impact suevite, which was deposited within the first few hours of the Cenozoic, demonstrating that the impact produced a new lithological horizon that caused a long-term improvement in deep subsurface colonization potential. In the biologically impoverished granitic rocks, we observed increased cell abundances at impact-induced geological interfaces, that can be attributed to the nutritionally diverse substrates and/or elevated fluid flow. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed taxonomically distinct microbial communities in each crater lithology. These observations show that the impact caused geological deformation that continues to shape the deep subsurface biosphere at Chicxulub in the present day.

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“…5a) are due to breakdown of pyroxene with diopside cores and hedenbergite rims. Finally, we speculate that sparitic calcite and clay minerals in the green silicate phase replaced a hyaloclastic to peperitic phase (Hooten and Ort 2002), as a consequence of pervasive, post-cratering hydrothermal overprint of the impactites (Kring et al 2020;Simpson et al 2020). It cannot be excluded, however, that portions of equigranular calcite (Fig.…”

Section: Melt Rock Formationmentioning

confidence: 87%

Ocean resurge-induced impact melt dynamics on the peak-ring of the Chicxulub impact structure, Mexico

Schulte

Wittmann

Jung

et al. 2021

Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch)

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Core from Hole M0077 from IODP/ICDP Expedition 364 provides unprecedented evidence for the physical processes in effect during the interaction of impact melt with rock-debris-laden seawater, following a large meteorite impact into waters of the Yucatán shelf. Evidence for this interaction is based on petrographic, microstructural and chemical examination of the 46.37-m-thick impact melt rock sequence, which overlies shocked granitoid target rock of the peak ring of the Chicxulub impact structure. The melt rock sequence consists of two visually distinct phases, one is black and the other is green in colour. The black phase is aphanitic and trachyandesitic in composition and similar to melt rock from other sites within the impact structure. The green phase consists chiefly of clay minerals and sparitic calcite, which likely formed from a solidified water–rock debris mixture under hydrothermal conditions. We suggest that the layering and internal structure of the melt rock sequence resulted from a single process, i.e., violent contact of initially superheated silicate impact melt with the ocean resurge-induced water–rock mixture overriding the impact melt. Differences in density, temperature, viscosity, and velocity of this mixture and impact melt triggered Kelvin–Helmholtz and Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities at their phase boundary. As a consequence, shearing at the boundary perturbed and, thus, mingled both immiscible phases, and was accompanied by phreatomagmatic processes. These processes led to the brecciation at the top of the impact melt rock sequence. Quenching of this breccia by the seawater prevented reworking of the solidified breccia layers upon subsequent deposition of suevite. Solid-state deformation, notably in the uppermost brecciated impact melt rock layers, attests to long-term gravitational settling of the peak ring.

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Hydrothermal alteration associated with the Chicxulub impact crater upper peak-ring breccias

Cited by 26 publications

References 46 publications

Formation of the crater suevite sequence from the Chicxulub peak ring: A petrographic, geochemical, and sedimentological characterization

Formation of the crater suevite sequence from the Chicxulub peak ring: A petrographic, geochemical, and sedimentological characterization

Shaping of the Present-Day Deep Biosphere at Chicxulub by the Impact Catastrophe That Ended the Cretaceous

Ocean resurge-induced impact melt dynamics on the peak-ring of the Chicxulub impact structure, Mexico

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