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Factors Responsible for Catastrophic Extinction of Marine Organisms at the Mesozoic–Cenozoic Boundary M

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Factors Responsible for Catastrophic Extinction of Marine Organisms at the Mesozoic–Cenozoic Boundary M ISSN 00014370, Oceanology, 2011, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 640–651. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2011. Original Russian Text © M.S. Barash, 2011, published in Okeanologiya, 2011, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 683–695. MARINE GEOLOGY Factors Responsible for Catastrophic Extinction of Marine Organisms at the Mesozoic–Cenozoic boundary M. S. Barash Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovskii pr. 36, Moscow, 117997 Russia email: [email protected] Received November 17, 2009; in final form February 17, 2010 Abstract—The mass death of organisms at the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary (KT boundary) resulted in the extinction of approximately half of marine genera. Some taxa had degraded by the end of the Cretaceous to become eventually extinct either before or precisely at the KT boundary. Most of them became extinct imme diately at this boundary. The terminal Cretaceous was marked by changes in many environmental processes, which influenced the biota. These included tectonic events, powerful basalt eruptions, falls of large asteroids (impact events), anoxia, transgressions and regressions, cooling and warming episodes, and the chemistry of the atmosphere and seawater. All these factors, except for impact events, could stimulate degradation of some groups of organisms, not their extinction. The Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary was marked by major impact events, which are reflected in the occurrence of the Chicxulub, Shiva, Boltysh, Silverpit, and, probably some other impact craters. Some known craters were left by asteroids at that time or slightly earlier. At least as many asteroids undoubtedly fell into the ocean. The combination of many factors in the terminal Cretaceous harm ful for organisms and seemingly unrelated to each other may be likely explained only by a single supreme cause beyond the Solar System. DOI: 10.1134/S0001437011040047 At the boundary between the Mesozoic and Ceno years prior to the KT boundary and at the boundary zoic eras (Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, KT proper. Some universal species with simple morphol boundary), the Earth experienced perturbations that ogy survived the crisis and continued to exist in the ini involved all its external shells (lithosphere, hydro tial Cenozoic. The decline in the diversity of ammo sphere, atmosphere, and biosphere). In most sections, nites also commenced long before the KT boundary, the KT boundary is marked by a stratigraphic hiatus. and their last specimens are found a few centimeters In deepwater sediments, it is usually characterized by below this boundary. According to many investiga sharply reduced sedimentation rates. In outer shelf tions, the KT boundary is marked by mass cata areas and the upper part of the continental slope, strophic extinction of almost all the planktonic fora mostly carbonate sediments are replaced by black miniferal species. clays. All the sections exhibit reduction of CaCO3 con The El Kef stratotype section of the KT boundary tent at that boundary. (Tunisia) demonstrates lithological and geochemical This crisis resulted in the extinction of approxi features indicating drastic environmental changes at mately half of the thenexisting genera. During the that time: a drastic decrease of the CaCO3 contents in Cretaceous, some groups such as, for example, ichthy sediments; decline in δ13С (bioproductivity indicator); osaurs and plesiosaurs, were degrading, to the point of extreme concentration of iridium, Ni spinel, and becoming extinct by its end. Many groups widely organic carbon; and significant changes in the compo developed in the Cretaceous, such as inoceramids, sition of planktonic foraminiferal and nannofossil rudists, ammonites, and belemnites also became assemblages [34]. extinct at that time. The extinction of inoceramids in In recent decades researchers have intensely dis the initial late Maastrichtian is considered to be glo cussed the possible impact of the events at the KT bal, being related to the influx of oxygenrich Antarc boundary on different organisms and their gradual ver tic Bottom Water. The sections in Denmark show a sus stepwise decline (above and below the boundary) sudden disappearance of most brachiopod taxa at the or sudden extinction reflecting the catastrophic crisis. very end of the Maastrichtian simultaneously with All these models have their adherents even in situa mass extinction of plankton. tions in which the same organisms are considered in No distinct regularities in their behavior were char the same section. For example, when examining acteristic of other marine invertebrates such as, for planktonic foraminifers in the El Kef stratotype sec example, mollusks. Their diversity and abundance tion of the KT boundary (Tunisia), Smit [49] argues were decreasing for several hundreds of thousands of that almost all their Cretaceous species disappeared at 640 FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR CATASTROPHIC EXTINCTION OF MARINE 641 Site 527 Site 690 100 50% 0 100 50% 0 Zone Polarity Stage 276 247.08 Zone Polarity Stage m Tertiary m Tertiary NP2 29N 29N Survivors NP1 Survivors NP1 NP2 247.88 280 29R 29R Cretaceous Cretaceous Maastrichtian Danian P. s t o v e r i A c m e Maastrichtian Danian Micula prins. 283 248.88 Fig. 1. Reorganization of calcareous nannoplankton assemblages near the KT boundary inferred from deepsea holes drilled in the South Atlantic (DSDP Hole 527) and Weddell Sea (ODP Hole 690) (after [42], simplified). the KT boundary, except for Guembelitria cretacea, believe that mass extinction was a consequence of the while Keller [30[ arrived at the conclusion that at least combined influence of several factors: longterm envi 30% of Cretaceous species crossed the latter and con ronmental changes and strong brief impactrelated tinued to exist in the Paleocene. The issue is that the ones, for example, the large asteroid impact on the basal Paleocene layer almost in all the sections with the presentday shelf of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico). KT boundary contains some quantity of Cretaceous The quantitative analysis of nannoplankton assem foraminiferal tests. Did these specimens survive the blages, which represent an important element of pri crisis, or are they reworked? Did biodiversity decline mary production in sections enclosing the KT bound prior to the boundary? Was extinction of organisms ary, through the Tethys, Indian, and South Atlantic uniform at different latitudes? All these questions are oceans reveals that their extinction was a sudden and given ambiguous answers. For example, based on the synchronous event in all the latitudinal zones [42] analysis of microfossil assemblages, some researchers (Fig. 1). This extinction coincides with the δ13С shift at [45] believe that the event at the KT boundary was glo this level, sharp decline of carbonate sedimentation, bal. Others argue that extinction was most notable in and anomalous iridium concentration in sediments lowlatitude areas [21, 33, and others]. (Fig. 2). No substantial changes in the nannoplankton According to G. Keller and other researchers, composition happened in the terminal Maastrichtian approximately threequarters of planktonic foramin approximately 1 million years before its end, which indi iferal species became extinct at the KT boundary or cates stable environmental conditions, although, in the near the latter—tropical and subtropical species with early and middle Maastrichtian (~70–67 Ma ago), its large morphologically complex tests, which lived in assemblages experienced notable transformations. the Maastrichtian in wellstratified waters of the open Planktonic foraminifers dwelling in the surface sea at the thermocline depth or deeper. Among the layer of the ocean to depths of a few hundred meters survivors were only representatives of genera that were experienced a strong stress at the KT boundary as well. able to resist strong variations in ecological parame Analysis of their assemblages in many sections reveals ters, such as shallowwater species of wide ecological that over 90% of species became extinct at this bound tolerance that populated the upper photic layer of the ary or immediately above the latter, which is usually open ocean or stress biotopes of the coastal zone. explained by the impact event [20]. The latter authors These species became dominant elements of both note that mass extinction of planktonic foraminifers pelagic and coastal ecosystems. began near the impact level. The drastic decrease in Such a highly selective mass extinction reflects the productivity of calcareous nannoplankton and flux considerable changes in temperature, salinity, and of organic matter from the ocean surface to its bottom concentrations of dissolved oxygen and nutrients at coincided with destruction of the faunal provincial the KT boundary in the Tethys. Some researchers [31] ism. Judging from data on deepsea holes in the South OCEANOLOGY Vol. 51 No. 4 2011 642 BARASH Site 527 Cretaceous δ13 δ18 nannofossils, % Iridium, ppb Carbonates, % CPDB OPDB m 50 100 1 2 3 4 20 60 100 1 2 3 4 –0.5 0 0.5 Zone Stage 276 Low producti vity Cooling 280 Maastrichtian Danian Micula prins.283 NP1 NP2 Fig. 2. Correlation between abundance of Cretaceous microfossils and iridium and CaCO3 contents and isotopic composition of carbonates in sediments reflecting relative variations in productivity and temperature (after [42], simplified). Globigerinides сm 180 160 1 110 М 4 13C/12C 60 Ir 3 2 40 2 Т 20 1 К 0 0 3 –20 –1 –40 –2 4 –60 –3 –80 –4 0 –5 –130 –6 5 10–2 10–1 110–2 –1 0 1 2 1 m Globotruncanides ng g–1 Fig. 3. The Cretaceous (K)–Tertiary (T) boundary section outcropping near Bidart of southwestern France. Lithology: (1) white limestone, (2) red marly limestone, (3) black clay, (4) white marly limestone, and (5) gray marl. Curves show the distribution of foraminifers, iridium, and carbon isotopes (after [12] and [38], modified). Atlantic, the faunal turnover and reduction of nanno mately 10 cm thick. The latter is underlain by upper plankton production occurred during a very brief most Cretaceous marly limestones and overlain by period. The subsequent recovery of planktonic fora Tertiary strata represented at the base by red marly minifers was very dynamic following immediately the limestone a several tens centimeters thick replaced impact event.
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