A case for a comet impact trigger for the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum and carbon isotope excursion
We hypothesize that the rapid onset of the carbon isotope excursion (CIE) at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary (V55 Ma) may have resulted from the accretion of a significant amount of 12C-enriched carbon from the impact of a V10 km comet, an event that would also trigger greenhouse warming leading to th...
Published in: | Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11576/1882944 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00188-2 |
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ftunivurbino:oai:ora.uniurb.it:11576/1882944 2024-04-14T08:14:52+00:00 A case for a comet impact trigger for the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum and carbon isotope excursion D. V. KENT B. S. CRAMER D. WANG D. J. WRIGHT R. VAN DER VOO LANCI, LUCA D. V., Kent B. S., Cramer Lanci, Luca D., Wang D. J., Wright R., VAN DER VOO 2003 STAMPA http://hdl.handle.net/11576/1882944 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00188-2 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000183577500002 volume:211 firstpage:13 lastpage:26 numberofpages:14 journal:EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS http://hdl.handle.net/11576/1882944 doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00188-2 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-0038604801 info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2003 ftunivurbino https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00188-2 2024-03-21T17:01:51Z We hypothesize that the rapid onset of the carbon isotope excursion (CIE) at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary (V55 Ma) may have resulted from the accretion of a significant amount of 12C-enriched carbon from the impact of a V10 km comet, an event that would also trigger greenhouse warming leading to the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum and, possibly, thermal dissociation of seafloor methane hydrate. Indirect evidence of an impact is the unusual abundance of magnetic nanoparticles in kaolinite-rich shelf sediments that closely coincide with the onset and nadir of the CIE at three drill sites on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. After considering various alternative mechanisms that could have produced the magnetic nanoparticle assemblage and by analogy with the reported detection of iron-rich nanophase material at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, we suggest that the CIE occurrence was derived from an impact plume condensate. The sudden increase in kaolinite is thus thought to represent the redeposition on the marine shelf of a rapidly weathered impact ejecta dust blanket. Published reports of a small but significant iridium anomaly at or close to the Paleocene/Eocene boundary provide supportive evidence for an impact. Article in Journal/Newspaper Methane hydrate Università degli Studi di Urbino: CINECA IRIS Earth and Planetary Science Letters 211 1-2 13 26 |
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Open Polar |
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Università degli Studi di Urbino: CINECA IRIS |
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ftunivurbino |
language |
English |
description |
We hypothesize that the rapid onset of the carbon isotope excursion (CIE) at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary (V55 Ma) may have resulted from the accretion of a significant amount of 12C-enriched carbon from the impact of a V10 km comet, an event that would also trigger greenhouse warming leading to the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum and, possibly, thermal dissociation of seafloor methane hydrate. Indirect evidence of an impact is the unusual abundance of magnetic nanoparticles in kaolinite-rich shelf sediments that closely coincide with the onset and nadir of the CIE at three drill sites on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. After considering various alternative mechanisms that could have produced the magnetic nanoparticle assemblage and by analogy with the reported detection of iron-rich nanophase material at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, we suggest that the CIE occurrence was derived from an impact plume condensate. The sudden increase in kaolinite is thus thought to represent the redeposition on the marine shelf of a rapidly weathered impact ejecta dust blanket. Published reports of a small but significant iridium anomaly at or close to the Paleocene/Eocene boundary provide supportive evidence for an impact. |
author2 |
D. V., Kent B. S., Cramer Lanci, Luca D., Wang D. J., Wright R., VAN DER VOO |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
D. V. KENT B. S. CRAMER D. WANG D. J. WRIGHT R. VAN DER VOO LANCI, LUCA |
spellingShingle |
D. V. KENT B. S. CRAMER D. WANG D. J. WRIGHT R. VAN DER VOO LANCI, LUCA A case for a comet impact trigger for the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum and carbon isotope excursion |
author_facet |
D. V. KENT B. S. CRAMER D. WANG D. J. WRIGHT R. VAN DER VOO LANCI, LUCA |
author_sort |
D. V. KENT |
title |
A case for a comet impact trigger for the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum and carbon isotope excursion |
title_short |
A case for a comet impact trigger for the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum and carbon isotope excursion |
title_full |
A case for a comet impact trigger for the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum and carbon isotope excursion |
title_fullStr |
A case for a comet impact trigger for the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum and carbon isotope excursion |
title_full_unstemmed |
A case for a comet impact trigger for the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum and carbon isotope excursion |
title_sort |
case for a comet impact trigger for the paleocene/eocene thermal maximum and carbon isotope excursion |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11576/1882944 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00188-2 |
genre |
Methane hydrate |
genre_facet |
Methane hydrate |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000183577500002 volume:211 firstpage:13 lastpage:26 numberofpages:14 journal:EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS http://hdl.handle.net/11576/1882944 doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00188-2 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-0038604801 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00188-2 |
container_title |
Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
container_volume |
211 |
container_issue |
1-2 |
container_start_page |
13 |
op_container_end_page |
26 |
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1796313119349276672 |