NASA-CR-195169 ///_/- _/_ " C-'_/#_'/ NEW OEVELOPMENTS N94-28294 EVENT AND OTHER --THRU-- EARTH HISTORY N94-28314 150 p Unclas G3/46 0208810 ...o_ep]F1)_'F" PAPERS PRESENTED TO New Developments Regarding the KT Event and Other Catastrophes in Earth History FEBRUARY 9-12, 1994 • HOUSTON, TEXAS PAPERS PRESENTED TO NEW DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING THE KT EVENT AND OTHER CATASTROPHES IN EARTH HISTORY February 9-12, 1994 Houston, Texas Sponsored by Lunar and Planetary Institute University of Houston-Clear Lake L P I _/ear L__'_ LPI Contribution No. 825 Compiled in 1994 by LUNAR AND PLANETARY INSTITUTE The Institute is operated by the University Space Research Association under Contract No. NASW-4574 with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Material in this volume may be copied without restraint for library, abstract service, education, or personal research purposes; however, republication of any paper or portion thereof requires the written permission of the authors as well as the appropriate acknowledgment of this publication. This report may be cited as Author A. B. (1994) Title of abstract. In New Developments Regarding the KT Event and Other Catastrophes in Earth History. LPI Contribution No. 825, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston. 138 pp. This report is distributed by ORDER DEPARTMENT Lunar and Planetary Institute 3600 Bay Area Boulevard Houston TX 77058-1113 Mail order requestors will be invoiced for the cost of shipping and handling. LPI Contribution No. 825 iii Preface This volume contains papers that have been accepted for presentation at the conference on New Developments Regarding the KT Event and Other Catastrophes in Earth History, February 9-12, 1994, in Houston, Texas. The Program Committee consisted of W. Alvarez (University of California, Berkeley), D. Black (Lunar and Planetary Institute), J. Bourgeois (National Science Foundation), K. Burke (University of Houston), R. Ginsburg (Uni- versity of Miami), G. Keller (Princeton University), C. Koeberl (University of Vienna), J. Longoria (Florida International University), G. Ryder (Lunar and Planetary Institute), V. Sharpton, convener (Lunar and Planetary Institute), H. Sigurdsson (University of Rhode Island), R. Turco (University of California, Los Angeles), and P. Ward (University of Washington). The Scientific Organizing Committee consisted of W. Alvarez (University of California, Berkeley), D. Black (Lunar and Planetary Institute), K. Burke (University of Houston), R. Ginsburg (University of Miami), L. Hunt (National Academy of Sciences), G. Keller (Princeton University), L. Marin (UNAM, cd. Universitaria), D. Raup (University of Chicago), V. Sharpton (Lunar and Planetary Institute), E. Shoemaker (U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff), and G. Suarez (UNAM, cd. Universitaria). Logistics and administrative and publications support were provided by the Publications and Program Services Department staff at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. LPI Contribution No. 825 v PI_,OBDINqG PAGE BLANK NOT leK.MED Contents Mineralogical Correlations of Near-KT-Boundary Deposits in Northeastern Mexico: Evidence for Long-Term Deposition and Voicanoclastic Influence T. Adatte, W. Stinnesbeck, and G. Keller ........................................................................................... 1 Trajectories of Ballistic Impact Ejecta on a Rotating Earth W. Alvarez ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Developments in the KT Impact Theory Since Snowbird II W. Alvarez, F. Asaro, P. Claeys, J. M. Grajales-N., A. Montanari, and J. Smit ............................... 3 Impact Materials Recovered by Research Core Drilling in the Manson Impact Structure, Iowa R. R. Anderson, B. J. Witzke, and J. B. Hartung ................................................................................ 5 Testing KT Extinction Hypotheses Using the Vertebrate Fossil Record J. D. Archibald ................................................................................................................................... 6 Seymour Island: A Southern High-Latitude Record Across the KT Boundary R. A. Askin, D. H. Elliot, S. R. Jacobson, F. T. Kyte, X. Li, and W. J. Zinsmeister ........................... 7 Stable Carbon Isotopic Evidence for Cretaceous Planktic Species Survivorship and Reworking E. Barrera and B. T. Huber ........................................ The KT Boundary Along the Brazos River, Falls County, Texas: Multidisciplinary Stratigraphy and Depositional Environment D. Beeson, S. Gartner, G. Keller, N. MacLeod, J. Medus, R. Rocchia, and E. Robin ....................................................................................................................................... 9 KT Boundary in Deccan Intertrappeans: Chemical Anomalies and Their Implications N. Bhandari, P. N. Shukla, Z. G. Ghevaria, and S. M. Sundaram ................................................... 10 Geochemical Constraints on the Composition of Volatiles Released During the Formation of KT Impact Melts: Implications for Extinction Mechanisms J. D. Blum and C. P. Chamberlain ............................................ 11 Debris Flow/Turbidite Clastic Units at the KT Boundary, Northeastern Mexico B. F. Bohor and W. J. Betterton ....................................................................................................... 13 Axial Focusing of Impact Energy in the Earth's Interior: Proof-of-Principle Tests of a New Hypothesis M. B. Boslough, E. P. Chael, T. G. Trucano, M. E. Kipp, and D. A. Crawford .............................. 14 vi KT Event amd Other Catastrophes Tsunami Deposits and the KT Boundary: A Sedimentologist's Perspective J. Bourgeois ...................................................................................................................................... 16 New Evidence for Terrestrial Ecosystem Collapse at the KT and Permian/Triassic Boundaries H. Brinkhuis and H. Visscher ........................................................................................................... 17 Rift-flooding Episodes Around 65 Ma as Causes of Abrupt Sea-Level Falls: Did the KT Impact Happen During a Time of Frequent Catastrophes? K. Burke ..................................................... ,, 17 In Search of Nemesis S. Carlson, T. Culler, R. A. Muller, M. Tetreault, and S. Perlmutter .............................................. 19 New Mineralogical and Chemical Constraints on the Nature of Target Rocks at the Chicxulub Crater E. CedilIo P., P. Claeys, J. M. Grajales-N., and W. Alvarez ................... ........................................ 20 Sulfur Isotope Study of High-Calcium Impact Glasses from the KT Boundary M. Chaussidon, H. Sigurdsson, and N. Metrich ............................................................................... 21 Frasnian-Famennian Boundary: Mass Extinctions, Anoxic Oceans, Microtektite _ _ Layers, But Not Much Iridium? P. Claeys, F. T. Kyte, and J.-G. Casier ............................................................................................ 22 The KT Boundary Extinction: A Geologically Instantaneous or Gradual Event? Evidence from Deep-Sea Benthic Foraminifera R. Coccioni and S. Galeotti .............................................................................................................. 24 The KT Boundary in the Southeastern Pyrenees, Ager Basin, Northeast Spain (Lleida Province) F. Colombo ....................................................................................................................................... 25 The Influence of Large Igneous Provinces on Mass Extinctions: Where Do We Stand? V. Courtillot, J. J. Jaeger, and G. F_raud ........................................................................................ 27 Bone Beds at the Boundary: Are They a Realistic Expectation? A. H. Cutler and A. K. Behrensmeyer .............................................................................................. 28 Impacts, Extinctions, Volcanism, Glaciations, and Tectonics: Matches and Mismatches I. W. D. Dalziel .................................................................................................................................. 28 Sulfate Volatilization, Surface-Water Acidification, and Extinction at the KT Bounds5 _ ..... S. D' Hondt, H. Sigurdsson, A. Hanson, S. Carey, and M. Pilson .................................................... 29 LPI Contribution No. 825 vii Biological Changes at the KT Stratotype of El Kef (Tunisia) P. Donze, H. M_on, R. Rocchia, E. Robin, and L. Froget ............................................................... 30 Shallow Benthic Fauna: Their Extinction and Survival on the KT Boundary, Adriatic Platform, Slovenia K. Drobne, B. Ogorelec, W. Lowrie, and E. Marton ........................................................................ 31 The End-Permian Mass Extinction: A Complex, Multicausal Extinction D. H. Erwin .......................................................................... ,.., ......................................................... 33 New Evidence for Primary Fractionation of Ruthenium and Iridium in the Chicxulub Ejecta Cloud N. J. Evans, T. J. Ahrens, B. I. A. Mclnnes, and D. C. Gregoire ..................................................... 34 Habitat vs. Asteroid Fragmentation in Vertebrate Extinctions at the KT Boundary: The Good, the Bad, and the Untested D. E. Fastovsky and P. M. Sheehan ................................................................................................