Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact
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...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt1vj014xb 2023-10-25T01:42:21+02:00 Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact Henehan, Michael J Ridgwell, Andy Thomas, Ellen Zhang, Shuang Alegret, Laia Schmidt, Daniela N Rae, James WB Witts, James D Landman, Neil H Greene, Sarah E Huber, Brian T Super, James R Planavsky, Noah J Hull, Pincelli M 22500 - 22504 2019-11-05 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1vj014xb unknown eScholarship, University of California qt1vj014xb https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1vj014xb public Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol 116, iss 45 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Biological Sciences Ecology Earth Sciences Climate Change Science Life Below Water Acids Animals Carbon Cycle Carbon Isotopes Earth Planet Foraminifera Fossils History Ancient Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Oceans and Seas Seawater Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary ocean acidification boron isotopes mass extinction GENIE model article 2019 ftcdlib 2023-09-25T18:04:35Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification University of California: eScholarship |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Biological Sciences Ecology Earth Sciences Climate Change Science Life Below Water Acids Animals Carbon Cycle Carbon Isotopes Earth Planet Foraminifera Fossils History Ancient Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Oceans and Seas Seawater Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary ocean acidification boron isotopes mass extinction GENIE model |
spellingShingle |
Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Biological Sciences Ecology Earth Sciences Climate Change Science Life Below Water Acids Animals Carbon Cycle Carbon Isotopes Earth Planet Foraminifera Fossils History Ancient Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Oceans and Seas Seawater Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary ocean acidification boron isotopes mass extinction GENIE model Henehan, Michael J Ridgwell, Andy Thomas, Ellen Zhang, Shuang Alegret, Laia Schmidt, Daniela N Rae, James WB Witts, James D Landman, Neil H Greene, Sarah E Huber, Brian T Super, James R Planavsky, Noah J Hull, Pincelli M Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact |
topic_facet |
Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Biological Sciences Ecology Earth Sciences Climate Change Science Life Below Water Acids Animals Carbon Cycle Carbon Isotopes Earth Planet Foraminifera Fossils History Ancient Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Oceans and Seas Seawater Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary ocean acidification boron isotopes mass extinction GENIE model |
description |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Henehan, Michael J Ridgwell, Andy Thomas, Ellen Zhang, Shuang Alegret, Laia Schmidt, Daniela N Rae, James WB Witts, James D Landman, Neil H Greene, Sarah E Huber, Brian T Super, James R Planavsky, Noah J Hull, Pincelli M |
author_facet |
Henehan, Michael J Ridgwell, Andy Thomas, Ellen Zhang, Shuang Alegret, Laia Schmidt, Daniela N Rae, James WB Witts, James D Landman, Neil H Greene, Sarah E Huber, Brian T Super, James R Planavsky, Noah J Hull, Pincelli M |
author_sort |
Henehan, Michael J |
title |
Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact |
title_short |
Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact |
title_full |
Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact |
title_fullStr |
Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact |
title_sort |
rapid ocean acidification and protracted earth system recovery followed the end-cretaceous chicxulub impact |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1vj014xb |
op_coverage |
22500 - 22504 |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol 116, iss 45 |
op_relation |
qt1vj014xb https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1vj014xb |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1780738859619844096 |