The biology of impact craters - a review
Impact craters contain ecosystems that are often very different from the ecosystems that surround them. On Earth over 150 impact craters have been identified in a wide diversity of biomes. All natural events that can cause localized disruption of ecosystems have quite distinct patterns of recovery....
Published in: | Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |
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Cambridge University Press
2002
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/13209/ |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:13209 2023-05-15T16:00:47+02:00 The biology of impact craters - a review Cockell, Charles S. Lee, Pascal 2002 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/13209/ unknown Cambridge University Press Cockell, Charles S.; Lee, Pascal. 2002 The biology of impact craters - a review. Biological Reviews, 77 (3). 279-310. https://doi.org/10.1017/S146479310100584X <https://doi.org/10.1017/S146479310100584X> Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment Space Sciences Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2002 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1017/S146479310100584X 2023-02-04T19:28:30Z Impact craters contain ecosystems that are often very different from the ecosystems that surround them. On Earth over 150 impact craters have been identified in a wide diversity of biomes. All natural events that can cause localized disruption of ecosystems have quite distinct patterns of recovery. Impact events are unique in that they are the only extraterrestrial mechanism capable of disrupting an ecosystem locally in space and time. Thus, elucidating the chronological sequence of change at the sites of impacts is of ecological interest. In this synthetic review we use the existing literature, coupled with our own observations at the Haughton impact structure, Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada to consider the patterns of biological recovery at the site of impact craters and the ecological characteristics of impact craters. Three phases of recovery are suggested. The Phase of Thermal Biology, a phase associated with the localized, ephemeral thermal anomaly generated by an impact event. The Phase of Impact Succession and Climax, a phase marked by multiple primary and secondary succession events both in the aquatic realm (impact crater-lakes) and terrestrial realm (colonization of paleolacustrine deposits and impact-generated substrata) that are followed by periods of climax ecology. In the case of large-scale impact events (> 10(4) Mt), this latter phase may also be influenced by successional changes in the global environment. Finally, during the Phase of Ecological Assimilation, the disappearance of the surface geological expression of an impact structure results in a concomitant loss of ecological distinctiveness. In extreme cases, the impact structure is buried. Impact succession displays similarities and differences to succession following other agents of ecological disturbance, particularly volcanism. Article in Journal/Newspaper Devon Island Nunavut Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Canada Devon Island ENVELOPE(-88.000,-88.000,75.252,75.252) Nunavut Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 77 3 279 310 |
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Open Polar |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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language |
unknown |
topic |
Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment Space Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment Space Sciences Cockell, Charles S. Lee, Pascal The biology of impact craters - a review |
topic_facet |
Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment Space Sciences |
description |
Impact craters contain ecosystems that are often very different from the ecosystems that surround them. On Earth over 150 impact craters have been identified in a wide diversity of biomes. All natural events that can cause localized disruption of ecosystems have quite distinct patterns of recovery. Impact events are unique in that they are the only extraterrestrial mechanism capable of disrupting an ecosystem locally in space and time. Thus, elucidating the chronological sequence of change at the sites of impacts is of ecological interest. In this synthetic review we use the existing literature, coupled with our own observations at the Haughton impact structure, Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada to consider the patterns of biological recovery at the site of impact craters and the ecological characteristics of impact craters. Three phases of recovery are suggested. The Phase of Thermal Biology, a phase associated with the localized, ephemeral thermal anomaly generated by an impact event. The Phase of Impact Succession and Climax, a phase marked by multiple primary and secondary succession events both in the aquatic realm (impact crater-lakes) and terrestrial realm (colonization of paleolacustrine deposits and impact-generated substrata) that are followed by periods of climax ecology. In the case of large-scale impact events (> 10(4) Mt), this latter phase may also be influenced by successional changes in the global environment. Finally, during the Phase of Ecological Assimilation, the disappearance of the surface geological expression of an impact structure results in a concomitant loss of ecological distinctiveness. In extreme cases, the impact structure is buried. Impact succession displays similarities and differences to succession following other agents of ecological disturbance, particularly volcanism. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cockell, Charles S. Lee, Pascal |
author_facet |
Cockell, Charles S. Lee, Pascal |
author_sort |
Cockell, Charles S. |
title |
The biology of impact craters - a review |
title_short |
The biology of impact craters - a review |
title_full |
The biology of impact craters - a review |
title_fullStr |
The biology of impact craters - a review |
title_full_unstemmed |
The biology of impact craters - a review |
title_sort |
biology of impact craters - a review |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/13209/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-88.000,-88.000,75.252,75.252) |
geographic |
Canada Devon Island Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Canada Devon Island Nunavut |
genre |
Devon Island Nunavut |
genre_facet |
Devon Island Nunavut |
op_relation |
Cockell, Charles S.; Lee, Pascal. 2002 The biology of impact craters - a review. Biological Reviews, 77 (3). 279-310. https://doi.org/10.1017/S146479310100584X <https://doi.org/10.1017/S146479310100584X> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S146479310100584X |
container_title |
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |
container_volume |
77 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
279 |
op_container_end_page |
310 |
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1766396803468492800 |