Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater
The Chicxulub crater was formed by an asteroid impact at ca. 66 Ma. The impact is considered to have contributed to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction and reduced productivity in the world's oceans due to a transient cessation of photosynthesis. Here, biomarker profiles extracted from crater co...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100982 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90122 |
| _version_ | 1848765331131072512 |
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| author | Schaefer, B. Grice, Kliti Coolen, Marco Summons, R.E. Cui, X. Bauersachs, T. Schwark, Lorenz Böttcher, M.E. Bralower, T.J. Lyons, S.L. Freeman, K.H. Cockell, C.S. Gulick, S.P.S. Morgan, J.V. Whalen, M.T. Lowery, C.M. Vajda, V. |
| author_facet | Schaefer, B. Grice, Kliti Coolen, Marco Summons, R.E. Cui, X. Bauersachs, T. Schwark, Lorenz Böttcher, M.E. Bralower, T.J. Lyons, S.L. Freeman, K.H. Cockell, C.S. Gulick, S.P.S. Morgan, J.V. Whalen, M.T. Lowery, C.M. Vajda, V. |
| author_sort | Schaefer, B. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The Chicxulub crater was formed by an asteroid impact at ca. 66 Ma. The impact is considered to have contributed to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction and reduced productivity in the world's oceans due to a transient cessation of photosynthesis. Here, biomarker profiles extracted from crater core material reveal exceptional insights into the post-impact upheaval and rapid recovery of microbial life. In the immediate hours to days after the impact, ocean resurge flooded the crater and a subsequent tsunami delivered debris from the surrounding carbonate ramp. Deposited material, including biomarkers diagnostic for land plants, cyanobacteria, and photosynthetic sulfur bacteria, appears to have been mobilized by wave energy from coastal microbial mats. As that energy subsided, days to months later, blooms of unicellular cyanobacteria were fueled by terrigenous nutrients. Approximately 200 k.y. later, the nutrient supply waned and the basin returned to oligotrophic conditions, as evident from N2-fixing cyanobacteria biomarkers. At 1 m.y. after impact, the abundance of photosynthetic sulfur bacteria supported the development of water-column photic zone euxinia within the crater. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:33:33Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-90122 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:33:33Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-901222023-03-14T06:54:31Z Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater Schaefer, B. Grice, Kliti Coolen, Marco Summons, R.E. Cui, X. Bauersachs, T. Schwark, Lorenz Böttcher, M.E. Bralower, T.J. Lyons, S.L. Freeman, K.H. Cockell, C.S. Gulick, S.P.S. Morgan, J.V. Whalen, M.T. Lowery, C.M. Vajda, V. Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geology MASS EXTINCTION ASTEROID IMPACT BALTIC SEA SULFUR EVENT GREEN IDENTIFICATION GLYCOLIPIDS BIOMARKERS MARKERS The Chicxulub crater was formed by an asteroid impact at ca. 66 Ma. The impact is considered to have contributed to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction and reduced productivity in the world's oceans due to a transient cessation of photosynthesis. Here, biomarker profiles extracted from crater core material reveal exceptional insights into the post-impact upheaval and rapid recovery of microbial life. In the immediate hours to days after the impact, ocean resurge flooded the crater and a subsequent tsunami delivered debris from the surrounding carbonate ramp. Deposited material, including biomarkers diagnostic for land plants, cyanobacteria, and photosynthetic sulfur bacteria, appears to have been mobilized by wave energy from coastal microbial mats. As that energy subsided, days to months later, blooms of unicellular cyanobacteria were fueled by terrigenous nutrients. Approximately 200 k.y. later, the nutrient supply waned and the basin returned to oligotrophic conditions, as evident from N2-fixing cyanobacteria biomarkers. At 1 m.y. after impact, the abundance of photosynthetic sulfur bacteria supported the development of water-column photic zone euxinia within the crater. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90122 10.1130/G46799.1 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100982 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geology MASS EXTINCTION ASTEROID IMPACT BALTIC SEA SULFUR EVENT GREEN IDENTIFICATION GLYCOLIPIDS BIOMARKERS MARKERS Schaefer, B. Grice, Kliti Coolen, Marco Summons, R.E. Cui, X. Bauersachs, T. Schwark, Lorenz Böttcher, M.E. Bralower, T.J. Lyons, S.L. Freeman, K.H. Cockell, C.S. Gulick, S.P.S. Morgan, J.V. Whalen, M.T. Lowery, C.M. Vajda, V. Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater |
| title | Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater |
| title_full | Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater |
| title_fullStr | Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater |
| title_full_unstemmed | Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater |
| title_short | Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater |
| title_sort | microbial life in the nascent chicxulub crater |
| topic | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geology MASS EXTINCTION ASTEROID IMPACT BALTIC SEA SULFUR EVENT GREEN IDENTIFICATION GLYCOLIPIDS BIOMARKERS MARKERS |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100982 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90122 |