Type‐Maastrichtian gastropod faunas show rapid ecosystem recovery following the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary catastrophe

Abstract

The study of the global mass extinction event at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K/Pg) boundary can aid in understanding patterns of selective extinction, and survival and dynamics of ecosystem recovery. Outcrops in the Maastrichtian type area (south‐east Netherlands, north‐east Belgium) comprise a stratigraphically expanded K/Pg boundary succession that offers a unique opportunity to study marine ecosystem recovery within the first few thousand years following the mass extinction event. A quantitative analysis was performed on systematically sampled macrofossils of the topmost Maastrichtian and lowermost Danian strata at the former Ankerpoort‐Curfs quarry (Geulhem), which represent ‘snapshots’ of the latest Cretaceous and earliest Palaeogene marine ecosystems, respectively. Molluscs in particular are diverse and abundant in the studied succession. Regional ecosystem changes across the K/Pg boundary are relatively minor, showing a decline in suspension feeders, accompanied by an ecological shift to endobenthic molluscs. The earliest Paleocene gastropod assemblage retains many ‘Maastrichtian’ features and documents a fauna that temporarily survived into the Danian. The shallow, oligotrophic carbonate platform in this area was inhabited by taxa that were adapted to low nutrient levels and resistant to starvation. As a result, the local taxa were less affected by the short‐lived detrimental conditions related to K/Pg boundary perturbations, such as darkness, cooling, starvation and ocean acidification. This resulted in relatively high survival rates, which enabled rapid recolonization and recovery of marine faunas in the Maastrichtian type area.

Asteroid impact, not volcanism, caused the end-Cretaceous dinosaur extinction

“…Although some authors have argued for a latest Cretaceous decline in dinosaur diversity, other analytical studies are consistent with relatively high preextinction standing diversity, which is compatible with a sudden extinction scenario for non-avian dinosaurs ( 47 ). The extinction of only shallow-water marine organisms ( 12 , 45 , 48 – 50 ) highlights a lack of prolonged deep-water acidification, while conjoined isotopic and Earth System Modeling results show rapid oceanic acidification ( 49 ) and subsequent quick recovery ( 49 ), compatible with asteroid-induced effects in the ocean. One major implication of such a rapid event for the marine realm is that the extinction driver must have been in play for a duration shorter than the mixing time of ocean waters (∼1,000 y) ( 45 , 49 ).…”

Cephalopods from the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) Boundary Interval on the Brazos River, Texas, and Extinction of the Ammonites

“…3). This is unlike other sites in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, and northern Europe where a few widespread genera may have briefly survived into the Danian (Machalski and Heinberg, 2005;Landman et al, 2014;Vellekoop et al, 2020).…”

Recent advances in heteromorph ammonoid palaeobiology

“…In the type Maastrichtian area (The Netherlands, Belgium), ammonoids were found up to 2 m above the K/Pg boundary (Goolaerts, 2010; Jagt et al ., 2013; Vellekoop et al ., 2020). The fauna consists exclusively of heteromorphs: Eubaculites latecarinatus , Baculites spp.…”

“…and H. constrictus johnjagti (Landman et al ., 2014, 2015). These are regarded as true survivors (Vellekoop et al ., 2020), but in contrast to Denmark, the ammonoids range in age from hundreds to thousands of years after the K/Pg boundary.…”