Testing the terrestrial δ13C Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) chemostratigraphic marker

Grandpre, Rachel; Schauer, Andrew J.; Samek, K.; Veeger, A.I.; Ward, Peter D.; Fastovsky, David E.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.04.015

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Such a release of isotopically light carbon, however, should have resulted in a negative CIE throughout the system, including terrestrial biomass and deep‐sea benthic foraminifera. A CIE ranging from −1.0 to −2.8‰ has been reported in terrestrial organic matter (e.g., Arens & Jahren, ; Maruoka et al, ; Schimmelmann & DeNiro, ) and plant biomarkers (Arinobu et al, ), although the statistical significance of the CIE in bulk terrestrial records has been challenged (Grandpre et al, ). It is difficult to argue that a large‐scale release of isotopically light carbon persisted for the time‐scale of the CIE in sedimentary records (>10 5 years), i.e., much longer than the mixing time of the oceans, without a similarly sized CIE in deep‐sea benthic foraminifera.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable Isotope Constraints on Marine Productivity Across the Cretaceous‐Paleogene Mass Extinction

Sepúlveda

Alegret

Thomas

et al. 2019

Paleoceanog and Paleoclimatol

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The effects of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction (~66 Ma) on marine primary and export productivity remain debated. We studied changes in carbon and nitrogen cycling in eight neritic and upper bathyal sections with expanded K/Pg boundary clay layers in the western Tethys and northeastern Atlantic Ocean, by measuring stable carbon isotopes of bulk carbonate (δ 13 C carb ) and organic matter (δ 13 C org ), nitrogen isotopes in bulk organic matter (δ 15 N), and selected compound-specific carbon isotopic records (δ 13 C lipid ). Negative carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) in δ 13 C carb , δ 13 C org, and δ 13 C lipid are temporally and spatially heterogeneous as well as decoupled from each other, suggesting that factors affecting the δ 13 C of dissolved inorganic carbon, as well as isotopic fractionation during carbon fixation across the K/Pg, are more complex than commonly assumed. The negative CIEs in δ 13 C org and δ 13 C lipid at each site are smaller in amplitude and shorter in duration than those in δ 13 C carb , but in most sections both carbon pools recovered to preboundary conditions within the time of deposition of the boundary clay layer (<10 3 -10 4 Kyr) or shortly thereafter. This rapid recovery is supported by limited δ 15 N data, which mostly suggests moderate or minor changes in redox conditions (except in Denmark), marine productivity, and phytoplanktonic nitrate utilization in the earliest Danian. Our results indicate that carbon cycling and primary productivity in neritic and upper bathyal regions recovered to preboundary levels faster (<10 4 Kyr) than in oceanic regions (10 5 -10 6 years), likely sustained by resilient noncalcifying phytoplankton with resting stages, consistent with modeling and proxy studies.Plain Language Summary Sixty-six million years ago, at the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene Periods (K/Pg boundary), a meteorite impacted the Earth during a time of active volcanism causing the mass extinction of marine and terrestrial species. Despite decades of research, the consequences of the mass extinction to marine photosynthesis and the cycling of carbon in the ocean remain contentious. We investigated the light and heavy stable isotopes of carbon preserved in rocks of ancient seafloor along continental margins of the western Tethys and northeastern Atlantic Oceans to establish for how long the cycling of carbon may have been disrupted. Our results indicate that the response of marine productivity and carbon cycling following the impact was heterogenous for thousands and tens of thousands of years but that it recovered to pre-K/Pg boundary levels hundreds of thousands of years earlier than open ocean regions. We suggest that resilient phytoplankton without carbonate skeletons living along continental margins may have recolonized surface waters relatively quickly after this mass extinction event.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable Isotope Constraints on Marine Productivity Across the Cretaceous‐Paleogene Mass Extinction

Sepúlveda

Alegret

Thomas

et al. 2019

Paleoceanog and Paleoclimatol

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“…Powders were reacted with 100% phosphoric acid at 70 • C using a Gasbench II connected to a ThermoFisher Delta V Plus mass spectrometer and analysed for C and O stable isotopes at Geozentrum Nordbayern (Germany). ∆ 13 C and δ 18 O are reported in per mil (‰) relative to the Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite (V-PDB) standard. Reproducibility and accuracy were monitored by replicate analyses of laboratory standards calibrated by assigning δ 13 C values of +1.95 to NBS19 and −47.30 to IAEA-CO9, and δ 18 O values of −2.2 to NBS19 and −23.2 to NBS18.…”

Section: C-o Stable Isotope Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In marine and terrestrial geologic records, the K-Pg transition is marked by the occurrence of a diagnostic thin layer of clays, named 'K-Pg boundary clays', with high contents of siderophilic elements (e.g., iridium and other platinum group elements), and by the presence of impact-related spherulites and shocked quartz grains [1,[12][13][14][15][16]. The K-Pg transition is also associated with various pieces of geochemical evidence, such as the negative carbon excursion [3,17,18] and the sulphur and osmium anomalies [9,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Lacustrine Record for the Cretaceous–Paleogene Boundary—Yacoraite Fm., (Northwest Argentina)

et al. 2023

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The Yacoraite Fm. (Salta rift basin, Argentina) consists of a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic lacustrine succession, interbedded with volcanic ash layers and organised in four third-order stratigraphic sequences. It is one of the few sites in South America that encompass the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) transition, the position of which remains debated. Here, samples were collected along a depocentral stratigraphic section that was previously dated by zircon and carbonate U-Pb geochronology. The consistency between zircon and carbonate U-Pb ages, together with an accurate petrographic analysis, allowed the selection of carbonates potentially preserving the original geochemical signature. Accordingly, C-O stable isotopes were analysed from microbialites, oncoids, ooids and lacustrine cements. The available depositional age model from zircon geochronology defined the stratigraphic interval, potentially including the K–Pg transition. Within this interval, carbonates provided negative δ13C values consistent with the negative C anomaly recorded in various K–Pg sites elsewhere. Additionally, spherical particles resembling spherulites related to meteorite impacts were found in two samples. Accordingly, the K–Pg transition could be placed at the top of the second stratigraphic sequence. These findings encourage further investigation of the Yacoraite Fm. to gain insights into the response of South American terrestrial settings to the K–Pg palaeoenvironmental crisis.

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“…It is tempting to correlate the negative excursion in δ 13 Corg to the global negative carbon isotope excursion seen in pelagic carbonates at the K-Pg boundary (e.g. Kump, 1991), but this is not clearly expressed in organic carbon isotope records (Grandpre et al, 2013) due to local processes impacting the bulk sedimentary isotope signal. Changes in these geochemical variables are thus best interpreted as a signature of rapid mixing of organic matter from different sources and paleoenvironments, also consistent with deposition of this interval by impact-related processes outlined above.…”

Section: Direct Evidence For Mode Of Emplacement Of Spherule Bed and Depositional Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A fossiliferous spherule-rich bed at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary in Mississippi, USA: Implications for the K–Pg mass extinction event in the Mississippi Embayment and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain

Witts

Landman

Garb

et al. 2018

Cretaceous Research

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We describe an outcrop of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary exposed due to construction near New Albany, Union County, Mississippi. It consists of the Owl Creek Formation and overlying Clayton Formation. The Owl Creek Formation is rich in the ammonites Discoscaphites iris and Eubaculites carinatus, which, along with biostratigraphically important dinoflagellate cysts and calcareous nannofossils, indicate deposition occurred within the last 1 million years, most likely last 500 kyrs, of the Cretaceous. The base of the overlying Clayton Formation marks the K-Pg boundary, and consists of a 15-30 cm thick muddy, poorly sorted quartz sand containing abundant spherules representing ejecta derived from the Chicxulub impact event. Impact spherules range in size from 0.5 mm to 1 mm in diameter and are hollow and well preserved, with details such as smaller vesicular spherules enclosed within. The spherules are altered to clay minerals such as smectite and are typical of those found at K-Pg boundary sites in the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Spherules are scattered throughout the bed, and surface counts suggest an average of 4 spherules per cm 2 . Macrofossils within the spherule bed represent a rich fauna of ammonites, benthic molluscs (bivalves and gastropods), echinoids, as well as crabs and sharks. Macrofossil preservation ranges from whole to fragmentary, with most fossils preserved as internal moulds. The infill of the fossils is lithologically identical to the matrix of the spherule bed, including impact ejecta preserved within phragmocones and body chambers of ammonites, and differs from the underlying Owl Creek Formation. This suggests that the animals were either alive or loosely scattered on the sea floor at the time of deposition. Grain size changes indicate multiple events were responsible for deposition, and together with taphonomic evidence are consistent with dynamic high energy post-impact processes. Later sea level change during the Paleocene is responsible for a sharp contact at the top of the spherule bed. Geochemical evidence from the Owl Creek and Clayton Formations at this locality indicate numerous local paleoenvironmental changes affected the Mississippi Embayment at the time of the K-Pg boundary and mass extinction event.

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Testing the terrestrial δ13C Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) chemostratigraphic marker

Cited by 8 publications

References 54 publications

Stable Isotope Constraints on Marine Productivity Across the Cretaceous‐Paleogene Mass Extinction

Stable Isotope Constraints on Marine Productivity Across the Cretaceous‐Paleogene Mass Extinction

A Lacustrine Record for the Cretaceous–Paleogene Boundary—Yacoraite Fm., (Northwest Argentina)

A fossiliferous spherule-rich bed at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary in Mississippi, USA: Implications for the K–Pg mass extinction event in the Mississippi Embayment and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain

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