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Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact

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Henehan_2019_PNAS_Rapid_CC.pdf (853.6Kb)
Date
05/11/2019
Author
Henehan, Michael J.
Ridgwell, Andy
Thomas, Ellen
Zhang, Shuang
Alegret, Laia
Schmidt, Daniela N.
Rae, James W. B.
Witts, James D.
Landman, Neil H.
Greene, Sarah E.
Huber, Brian T.
Super, James R.
Planavsky, Noah J.
Hull, Pincelli M.
Keywords
Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary
Ocean acidification
Boron isotopes
Mass extinction
GENIE model
GE Environmental Sciences
QE Geology
DAS
BDC
R2C
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Abstract
Mass extinction at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary coincides with the Chicxulub bolide impact and also falls within the broader time frame of Deccan trap emplacement. Critically, though, empirical evidence as to how either of these factors could have driven observed extinction patterns and carbon cycle perturbations is still lacking. Here, using boron isotopes in foraminifera, we document a geologically rapid surface-ocean pH drop following the Chicxulub impact, supporting impact-induced ocean acidification as a mechanism for ecological collapse in the marine realm. Subsequently, surface water pH rebounded sharply with the extinction of marine calcifiers and the associated imbalance in the global carbon cycle. Our reconstructed water-column pH gradients, combined with Earth system modeling, indicate that a partial ∼50% reduction in global marine primary productivity is sufficient to explain observed marine carbon isotope patterns at the K-Pg, due to the underlying action of the solubility pump. While primary productivity recovered within a few tens of thousands of years, inefficiency in carbon export to the deep sea lasted much longer. This phased recovery scenario reconciles competing hypotheses previously put forward to explain the K-Pg carbon isotope records, and explains both spatially variable patterns of change in marine productivity across the event and a lack of extinction at the deep sea floor. In sum, we provide insights into the drivers of the last mass extinction, the recovery of marine carbon cycling in a postextinction world, and the way in which marine life imprints its isotopic signal onto the geological record.
Citation
Henehan , M J , Ridgwell , A , Thomas , E , Zhang , S , Alegret , L , Schmidt , D N , Rae , J W B , Witts , J D , Landman , N H , Greene , S E , Huber , B T , Super , J R , Planavsky , N J & Hull , P M 2019 , ' Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact ' , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , vol. 116 , no. 45 , pp. 22500-22504 . https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1905989116
Publication
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1905989116
ISSN
0027-8424
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).
Description
J.W.B.R. was supported by ERC Starting Grant 805246 OldCO2NewArchives.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/18751

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