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

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

SUBMITTER: Henehan MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6842625 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature