Articles | Volume 16, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1889-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1889-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 Oct 2020
Research article |
| 19 Oct 2020
| 19 Oct 2020
Life and death in the Chicxulub impact crater: a record of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum
Vann Smith
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University,
Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Sophie Warny
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University,
Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Kliti Grice
Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre, The
Institute for Geoscience Research, School of Earth and Planetary Science,
Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia
Bettina Schaefer
Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre, The
Institute for Geoscience Research, School of Earth and Planetary Science,
Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia
Michael T. Whalen
Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Johan Vellekoop
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Division of Geology, KU Leuven, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Analytical, Environmental and Geo-Chemistry (AMGC), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Elise Chenot
Institut Polytechnique Lasalle Beauvais, 19 Rue Pierre Waguet, BP 30313, 60026 Beauvais, France
Sean P. S. Gulick
Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences,
University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
Center for Planetary Systems Habitability, University of Texas at
Austin, TX 78712, USA
Ignacio Arenillas
Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra e Instituto Universitario de
Investigación de Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón, Universidad de
Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Jose A. Arz
Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra e Instituto Universitario de
Investigación de Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón, Universidad de
Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Thorsten Bauersachs
Department of Organic Geochemistry, Institute of Geosciences,
Christian Albrechts University, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Timothy Bralower
Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801, USA
François Demory
CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ, IRD, Coll France, INRAE, CEREGE,
Aix-en-Provence, France
Jérôme Gattacceca
CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ, IRD, Coll France, INRAE, CEREGE,
Aix-en-Provence, France
Heather Jones
Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801, USA
Johanna Lofi
Géosciences Montpellier, l'Université Montpellier, CNRS,
Montpellier, France
Christopher M. Lowery
Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
Joanna Morgan
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, UK
Noelia B. Nuñez Otaño
Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología (FCyT), Universidad
Autónoma de Entre Ríos, CONICET, Laboratorio de Geología del
Neógeno-Cuaternario, Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina
Jennifer M. K. O'Keefe
Department of Physics, Earth Science, and Space Systems Engineering, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY, USA
Katherine O'Malley
Department of Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
Francisco J. Rodríguez-Tovar
Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18002 Granada, Spain
Lorenz Schwark
Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre, The
Institute for Geoscience Research, School of Earth and Planetary Science,
Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia
Department of Organic Geochemistry, Institute of Geosciences,
Christian Albrechts University, 24118 Kiel, Germany
A full list of authors appears at the end of the paper.
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Short summary
A rare tropical record of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, a potential analog for future global warming, has been identified from post-impact strata in the Chicxulub crater. Multiproxy analysis has yielded evidence for increased humidity, increased pollen and fungi input, salinity stratification, bottom water anoxia, and sea surface temperatures up to 38 °C. Pollen and plant spore assemblages indicate a nearby diverse coastal shrubby tropical forest resilient to hyperthermal conditions.
A rare tropical record of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, a potential analog for future...
