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

Latest Cretaceous climatic and environmental change in the South Atlantic region

“…Regarding open ocean plankton, little evidence exists for loss of species or population abundance during Late Cretaceous Deccan volcanism [ Henehan et al , ]. Nevertheless, several late Maastrichtian ecological signals, such as anomalous abundances, migrations and dwarfism amongst planktic foraminifera [ Olsson et al , ; Abramovich et al , ; Keller et al , ] and calcareous nannoplankton species [ Thibault and Gardin , ; Thibault and Husson , , and references therein] and the global bloom of the dinoflagellate Manumiella seelandica [ Habib and Saeedi , ] hint toward biotic response to late Maastrichtian climate changes.…”

“…However, the contribution of latest Maastrichtian Deccan Traps volcanism and climate disruption [Archibald et al, 2010;Schoene et al, 2015] to the mass extinction continues to be under debate. et al, 2001;Abramovich et al, 2010;Keller et al, 2016] and calcareous nannoplankton species [Thibault and Gardin, 2010;Thibault and Husson, 2016, and references therein] and the global bloom of the dinoflagellate Manumiella seelandica [Habib and Saeedi, 2007] hint toward biotic response to late Maastrichtian climate changes.…”

Faunal elements from the Deccan volcano‐sedimentary sequences of India: A reappraisal of biostratigraphic, palaeoecologic, and palaeobiogeographic aspects

“…Interestingly, the rock units mostly exposed and studied (e.g., those belonging to Wai Subgroup) for palaeomagnetic analysis are well constrained within the reversal chron C29R that encompasses the K–PgB (Schoene et al, ). Nonetheless, this aspect has drawn the attention of the geoscience community across the globe, so as to study the large‐scale and short‐term effects of volcanism on the fossil biota from the Deccan‐associated sedimentary sequences (e.g., K–Pg extinctions, Lilliput effect, and related aspects; Keller, Adatte, et al, ; Keller, Khosla, et al, ; Keller, Sahni, et al, ; Keller et al, ; Keller, Punekar, & Mateo, ; Punekar, Keller, et al, ). In addition, a recent palaeomagnetic study on numerous dykes (cutting across the initial lava flow) within the western part of the DVP suggests the presence of older reversed magnetochrons corresponding to C30R and C31R, implying that the Deccan volcanic activity was initiated close to 71 Ma (Basavaiah, Satyanarayana, Deenadayalan, & Prasad, ).…”

“…The DVSS within the Rajahmundary region are composed of three distinct lava flows intercalating two intertrappean sedimentary sequences and an infratrappean sequence underlying the initial lava flow (Lakshminarayana, Manikyamba, Khanna, Kanakdande, & Raju, , and references therein). The Rajahmundary region is considered as an attractive region to study the duration, causes as well as effects of volcanism, across the K–Pg interval within the subcontinent (Courtillot & Renne, ; Keller et al, , and references therein). This is owing to presence of a good assemblage of datable marine fossils (e.g., foraminifers) from the DVSS together with availability of chronological data in terms of palaeomagnetism and absolute age from the lava flows in the Rajahmundary area (Keller et al, , ; Malarkodi, Keller, Fayazudeen, & Mallikarjuna, ).…”

“…Nonetheless, this aspect has drawn the attention of the geoscience community across the globe, so as to study the large-scale and short-term effects of volcanism on the fossil biota from the Deccan-associated sedimentary sequences (e.g., K-Pg extinctions, Lilliput effect, and related aspects; Keller et al, 2010;Keller, Punekar, & Mateo, 2016;. In addition, a recent palaeomagnetic study on numerous dykes (cutting across the initial lava flow) within the western part of the DVP suggests the presence of older reversed magnetochrons corresponding to C30R and C31R, implying that the Deccan volcanic activity was initiated close to 71 Ma (Basavaiah, Satyanarayana, Deenadayalan, & Prasad, 2018).…”