Production of sulphate-rich vapour during the Chicxulub impact and implications for ocean acidification

Ohno, Sohsuke; Kadono, Toshihiko; Kurosawa, Kosuke; Hamura, T.; Sakaiya, Tatsuhiro; Shigemori, K.; Hironaka, Yoichiro; Sano, Takayoshi; Watari, T.; Otani, K.; Matsui, Takafumi; Sugita, Seiji

doi:10.1038/ngeo2095

Cited by 64 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Our estimate of the amount of sulfur required to explain extinctions, in the absence of other processes, is however much less than theirs: 43 × 10 15 mol SO 4 (or 10 × 10 15 mol SO 4 if added very rapidly, but see Table S1 for sensitivity of these numbers to assumptions) compared with their estimate of 61 × 10 15 mol SO 4 . In agreement with Ohno et al (14), our model results show lower Ω calcite values when SO 4 is added more rapidly than when it is added more slowly. However, contrary to their calculations (14), in our model we find that 1 × 10 14 kg H 2 SO 4 (∼1 × 10 15 mol SO 4 ) is not nearly enough to produce strong undersaturation (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In agreement with Ohno et al (14), our model results show lower Ω calcite values when SO 4 is added more rapidly than when it is added more slowly. However, contrary to their calculations (14), in our model we find that 1 × 10 14 kg H 2 SO 4 (∼1 × 10 15 mol SO 4 ) is not nearly enough to produce strong undersaturation (Fig. S3B).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Thermal decomposition of gypsum or anhydrite (we refer only to gypsum henceforth) is presumed (on the basis of laboratory volatilization experiments, e.g., ref. 21) to have led to the near-instantaneous release of SO 3 (14) to the atmosphere according to the reaction…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Severity of ocean acidification following the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact

Tyrrell

Merico

McKay

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Most paleo-episodes of ocean acidification (OA) were either too slow or too small to be instructive in predicting near-future impacts. The end-Cretaceous event (66 Mya) is intriguing in this regard, both because of its rapid onset and also because many pelagic calcifying species (including 100% of ammonites and more than 90% of calcareous nannoplankton and foraminifera) went extinct at this time. Here we evaluate whether extinction-level OA could feasibly have been produced by the asteroid impact. Carbon cycle box models were used to estimate OA consequences of (i) vaporization of up to 60 × 10 15 mol of sulfur from gypsum rocks at the point of impact; (ii) generation of up to 5 × 10 15 mol of NO x by the impact pressure wave and other sources; (iii) release of up to 6,500 Pg C as CO 2 from vaporization of carbonate rocks, wildfires, and soil carbon decay; and (iv) ocean overturn bringing high-CO 2 water to the surface. We find that the acidification produced by most processes is too weak to explain calcifier extinctions. Sulfuric acid additions could have made the surface ocean extremely undersaturated (Ω calcite <0.5), but only if they reached the ocean very rapidly (over a few days) and if the quantity added was at the top end of literature estimates. We therefore conclude that severe ocean acidification might have been, but most likely was not, responsible for the great extinctions of planktonic calcifiers and ammonites at the end of the Cretaceous.ocean acidification | asteroid impact | K/Pg boundary | mass extinction

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

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Severity of ocean acidification following the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact

Tyrrell

Merico

McKay

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…In contrast, the impact of an approximately 10 km wide bolide at Chicxulub at the K-Pg boundary [18] led to instantaneous release of SO x , NO x and CO 2 ([19] and references within), and rapid and transient (probably less than 5 year) acidification of the surface ocean [20,21]. Besides the very different timescales of these environmental perturbations, a critical difference is that the Chicxulub impact coincides with a major mass extinction and Late Cretaceous Deccan volcanism does not [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeochemical significance of pelagic ecosystem function: an end-Cretaceous case study

Henehan

Hull

Penman

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 17 to a theme issue 'Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in dynamic landscapes'. Pelagic ecosystem function is integral to global biogeochemical cycling, and plays a major role in modulating atmospheric CO 2 concentrations ( pCO 2 ). Uncertainty as to the effects of human activities on marine ecosystem function hinders projection of future atmospheric pCO 2 . To this end, events in the geological past can provide informative case studies in the response of ecosystem function to environmental and ecological changes. Around the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary, two such events occurred: Deccan large igneous province (LIP) eruptions and massive bolide impact at the Yucatan Peninsula. Both perturbed the environment, but only the impact coincided with marine mass extinction. As such, we use these events to directly contrast the response of marine biogeochemical cycling to environmental perturbation with and without changes in global species richness. We measure this biogeochemical response using records of deep-sea carbonate preservation. We find that Late Cretaceous Deccan volcanism prompted transient deep-sea carbonate dissolution of a larger magnitude and timescale than predicted by geochemical models. Even so, the effect of volcanism on carbonate preservation was slight compared with bolide impact. Empirical records and geochemical models support a pronounced increase in carbonate saturation state for more than 500 000 years following the mass extinction of pelagic carbonate producers at the K-Pg boundary. These examples highlight the importance of pelagic ecosystems in moderating climate and ocean chemistry.

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“…Alegret et al, 2012;Ohno et al, 2014). Immediately after the extinction, a low diversity assemblage of survivor species flourished before giving rise to an evolutionary radiation of new Cenozoic taxa (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-discovery of a “living fossil” coccolithophore from the coastal waters of Japan and Croatia

Hagino

Young

Bown

et al. 2015

Marine Micropaleontology

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Kogame, Kazuhiro; Horiguchi, Takeo. Re-discovery of a "living fossil" coccolithophore from the coastal waters of Japan and Croatia // Marine micropaleontology, 116 (2015) AbstractThe extant coccolithophore Tergestiella adriatica Kamptner, which has never been reported since its original description, was re-discovered from coastal-nearshore waters of Tomari, Tottori, Japan and offshore Rovinj, Croatia. Morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies of T. adriatica revealed that Cyclagelosphaera is a synonym of Tergestiella, and that extant T. adriatica is a direct descendent of the Mesozoic fossil genus Cyclagelosphaera (Watznaueriaceae), which had been thought to go extinct in the Paleogene (54Ma). It is thus a remarkable example of a living fossil. Coastal patchy distribution of living T. adriatica and restricted occurrence of Miocene-Oligocene fossil Cyclagelosphaera in shallow waters, which was recently reported from New Jersey shelf, suggest that Tergestiella/Cyclagelosphaera was constrained to a nearshore environment in the Cenozoic, and this restricted distribution caused the lack of fossil records from oceanic sediments in the last 54 Ma.Floristic study of coccolithophores in coastal and offshore waters of the Tomari area over a six-year period showed that T. adriatica and B. bigelowii occur predictably and synchronously every June. The environmental factors that induced the co-occurrence of these two taxa are unknown, and T. adriatica did not co-occur with B. bigelowii at other sites. Regular occurrence of middle-lower photic zone coccolithophore taxa in Tomari area every autumn suggests the presence of seasonal mixing of the water column in this period.3

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Production of sulphate-rich vapour during the Chicxulub impact and implications for ocean acidification

Cited by 64 publications

References 24 publications

Severity of ocean acidification following the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact

Severity of ocean acidification following the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact

Biogeochemical significance of pelagic ecosystem function: an end-Cretaceous case study

Re-discovery of a “living fossil” coccolithophore from the coastal waters of Japan and Croatia

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