The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary

Peter Schulte; Laia Alegret; Ignacio Arenillas; Jose Arz; Peggy Barton; Paul R. Brown; Timothy J. Bralower; Gail Christeson; Philippe Claeys; Charles Cockell; Gareth Collins; Alex Deutsch; Tamara Goldin; Kazuhisa Goto; J. Manuel Grajales-Nishimura; Richard A. F. Grieve; Sean P. Gulick; Kirk Johnson; Wolfgang Kiessling; Christian Koeberl; David Kring; Kenneth Macleod; Takafumi Matsui; Jay Melosh; Alessandro Montanari; Joanna Morgan; Clive R. Neal; Douglas J. Nichols; Richard Norris; Elisabetta Pierazzo; Greg Ravizza; Mario Rebolledo-Vieyra; Wolf Uwe Reimold; E. Robin; Tobias Salge; Robert Speijer; Arthur Sweet; Jaime Urrutia-Fugugauchi; Vivi Vajda; Michael Whalen; Pi S. Willumssen

The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary

Peter Schulte, Laia Alegret, Ignacio Arenillas, Jose Arz, Peggy Barton, Paul R. Brown, Timothy J. Bralower, Gail Christeson, Philippe Claeys, Charles Cockell, Gareth Collins, Alex Deutsch, Tamara Goldin, Kazuhisa Goto, J. Manuel Grajales-Nishimura, Richard A. F. Grieve, Sean P. Gulick, Kirk Johnson, Wolfgang Kiessling, Christian KoeberlDavid Kring, Kenneth Macleod, Takafumi Matsui, Jay Melosh, Alessandro Montanari, Joanna Morgan, Clive R. Neal, Douglas J. Nichols, Richard Norris, Elisabetta Pierazzo, Greg Ravizza, Mario Rebolledo-Vieyra, Wolf Uwe Reimold, E. Robin, Tobias Salge, Robert Speijer, Arthur Sweet, Jaime Urrutia-Fugugauchi, Vivi Vajda, Michael Whalen, Pi S. Willumssen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1252 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary ~65.5 million years ago marks one of the three largest mass extinctions in the past 500 million years. The extinction event coincided with a large asteroid impact at Chicxulub, Mexico, and occurred within the time of Deccan flood basalt volcanism in India. Here, we synthesize records of the global stratigraphy across this boundary to assess the proposed causes of the mass extinction. Notably, a single ejecta-rich deposit compositionally linked to the Chicxulub impact is globally distributed at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. The temporal match between the ejecta layer and the onset of the extinctions and the agreement of ecological patterns in the fossil record with modeled environmental perturbations (for example,
darkness and cooling) lead us to conclude that the Chicxulub impact triggered the mass extinction.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1214-1218
Number of pages	5
Journal	Science
Volume	327
Publication status	Published - 2010

Keywords

Impact
Dinosaurs
Crater
Mass extinction
KT boundary
Asteroid or comet

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ADSI140: Potential of mangrove and other coastal vegetation as buffer against elevated waves and tsunami in the Indian Ocean: An approach using images and sedimentary archives with the December 24th tsunami as a natural experiment
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HERC9: Upgrade of the Stable Isotope Laboratory
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FWOAL365: High resolution Rb_Sr and Pb isotope geochemistry: applications in archeometry and geological research
Claeys, P. (Administrative Promotor), Claeys, P. (Scientific Promotor), Goderis, S. (Collaborator), Keppens, E. (Collaborator), Renson, V. (Collaborator), Kolo, K. (Collaborator) & Mas, R. (Collaborator)
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Field work and sampling of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary and Late Eocene sections
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Cite this

Schulte, P., Alegret, L., Arenillas, I., Arz, J., Barton, P., Brown, P. R., Bralower, T. J., Christeson, G., Claeys, P., Cockell, C., Collins, G., Deutsch, A., Goldin, T., Goto, K., Grajales-Nishimura, J. M., Grieve, R. A. F., Gulick, S. P., Johnson, K., Kiessling, W., ... Willumssen, P. S. (2010). The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary. Science, 327, 1214-1218. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/327/5970/1214

@article{05502c3acd8540b7812349a924bea2cd,

title = "The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary",

abstract = "The Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary ~65.5 million years ago marks one of the three largest mass extinctions in the past 500 million years. The extinction event coincided with a large asteroid impact at Chicxulub, Mexico, and occurred within the time of Deccan flood basalt volcanism in India. Here, we synthesize records of the global stratigraphy across this boundary to assess the proposed causes of the mass extinction. Notably, a single ejecta-rich deposit compositionally linked to the Chicxulub impact is globally distributed at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. The temporal match between the ejecta layer and the onset of the extinctions and the agreement of ecological patterns in the fossil record with modeled environmental perturbations (for example, darkness and cooling) lead us to conclude that the Chicxulub impact triggered the mass extinction.",

keywords = "Impact, Dinosaurs, Crater, Mass extinction, KT boundary, Asteroid or comet",

author = "Peter Schulte and Laia Alegret and Ignacio Arenillas and Jose Arz and Peggy Barton and Brown, {Paul R.} and Bralower, {Timothy J.} and Gail Christeson and Philippe Claeys and Charles Cockell and Gareth Collins and Alex Deutsch and Tamara Goldin and Kazuhisa Goto and Grajales-Nishimura, {J. Manuel} and Grieve, {Richard A. F.} and Gulick, {Sean P.} and Kirk Johnson and Wolfgang Kiessling and Christian Koeberl and David Kring and Kenneth Macleod and Takafumi Matsui and Jay Melosh and Alessandro Montanari and Joanna Morgan and Neal, {Clive R.} and Nichols, {Douglas J.} and Richard Norris and Elisabetta Pierazzo and Greg Ravizza and Mario Rebolledo-Vieyra and Reimold, {Wolf Uwe} and E. Robin and Tobias Salge and Robert Speijer and Arthur Sweet and Jaime Urrutia-Fugugauchi and Vivi Vajda and Michael Whalen and Willumssen, {Pi S.}",

year = "2010",

language = "English",

volume = "327",

pages = "1214--1218",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

}

Schulte, P, Alegret, L, Arenillas, I, Arz, J, Barton, P, Brown, PR, Bralower, TJ, Christeson, G, Claeys, P, Cockell, C, Collins, G, Deutsch, A, Goldin, T, Goto, K, Grajales-Nishimura, JM, Grieve, RAF, Gulick, SP, Johnson, K, Kiessling, W, Koeberl, C, Kring, D, Macleod, K, Matsui, T, Melosh, J, Montanari, A, Morgan, J, Neal, CR, Nichols, DJ, Norris, R, Pierazzo, E, Ravizza, G, Rebolledo-Vieyra, M, Reimold, WU, Robin, E, Salge, T, Speijer, R, Sweet, A, Urrutia-Fugugauchi, J, Vajda, V, Whalen, M & Willumssen, PS 2010, 'The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary', Science, vol. 327, pp. 1214-1218. <http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/327/5970/1214>

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary

AU - Schulte, Peter

AU - Alegret, Laia

AU - Arenillas, Ignacio

AU - Arz, Jose

AU - Barton, Peggy

AU - Brown, Paul R.

AU - Bralower, Timothy J.

AU - Christeson, Gail

AU - Claeys, Philippe

AU - Cockell, Charles

AU - Collins, Gareth

AU - Deutsch, Alex

AU - Goldin, Tamara

AU - Goto, Kazuhisa

AU - Grajales-Nishimura, J. Manuel

AU - Grieve, Richard A. F.

AU - Gulick, Sean P.

AU - Johnson, Kirk

AU - Kiessling, Wolfgang

AU - Koeberl, Christian

AU - Kring, David

AU - Macleod, Kenneth

AU - Matsui, Takafumi

AU - Melosh, Jay

AU - Montanari, Alessandro

AU - Morgan, Joanna

AU - Neal, Clive R.

AU - Nichols, Douglas J.

AU - Norris, Richard

AU - Pierazzo, Elisabetta

AU - Ravizza, Greg

AU - Rebolledo-Vieyra, Mario

AU - Reimold, Wolf Uwe

AU - Robin, E.

AU - Salge, Tobias

AU - Speijer, Robert

AU - Sweet, Arthur

AU - Urrutia-Fugugauchi, Jaime

AU - Vajda, Vivi

AU - Whalen, Michael

AU - Willumssen, Pi S.

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - The Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary ~65.5 million years ago marks one of the three largest mass extinctions in the past 500 million years. The extinction event coincided with a large asteroid impact at Chicxulub, Mexico, and occurred within the time of Deccan flood basalt volcanism in India. Here, we synthesize records of the global stratigraphy across this boundary to assess the proposed causes of the mass extinction. Notably, a single ejecta-rich deposit compositionally linked to the Chicxulub impact is globally distributed at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. The temporal match between the ejecta layer and the onset of the extinctions and the agreement of ecological patterns in the fossil record with modeled environmental perturbations (for example, darkness and cooling) lead us to conclude that the Chicxulub impact triggered the mass extinction.

AB - The Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary ~65.5 million years ago marks one of the three largest mass extinctions in the past 500 million years. The extinction event coincided with a large asteroid impact at Chicxulub, Mexico, and occurred within the time of Deccan flood basalt volcanism in India. Here, we synthesize records of the global stratigraphy across this boundary to assess the proposed causes of the mass extinction. Notably, a single ejecta-rich deposit compositionally linked to the Chicxulub impact is globally distributed at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. The temporal match between the ejecta layer and the onset of the extinctions and the agreement of ecological patterns in the fossil record with modeled environmental perturbations (for example, darkness and cooling) lead us to conclude that the Chicxulub impact triggered the mass extinction.

KW - Impact

KW - Dinosaurs

KW - Crater

KW - Mass extinction

KW - KT boundary

KW - Asteroid or comet

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 327

SP - 1214

EP - 1218

JO - Science

JF - Science

ER -

The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary

Abstract

Keywords

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ADSI140: Potential of mangrove and other coastal vegetation as buffer against elevated waves and tsunami in the Indian Ocean: An approach using images and sedimentary archives with the December 24th tsunami as a natural experiment

HERC9: Upgrade of the Stable Isotope Laboratory

FWOAL365: High resolution Rb_Sr and Pb isotope geochemistry: applications in archeometry and geological research

Activities

Science and technology: The future your Future; Wetenschappen en technologie: de toekomst, jouw toekomst; Science et technologie : le futur, votre futur

Discuss with astronomers and solar system dynamicists to learn about asteroid shower on Earth

Field work and sampling of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary and Late Eocene sections

Cite this