Berndt, Jasper et al. (2011): The Chicxulub ejecta deposit at Demerara Rise (western Atlantic); dissecting the geochemical anomaly using laser ablation-mass spectrometry
Leg/Site/Hole:
Related Expeditions:
ODP 207 ODP 207 1259
Identifier:
ID:
2011-028211
Type:
georefid
ID:
10.1130/G31599.1
Type:
doi
Creator:
Name:
Berndt, Jasper
Affiliation:
Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster, Institut fuer Mineralogie, Munster, Germany
Role:
author
Name:
Deutsch, Alexander
Affiliation:
Universitaet Erlangen, Germany
Role:
author
Name:
Schulte, Peter
Affiliation:
Role:
author
Name:
Mezger, Klaus
Affiliation:
Role:
author
Identification:
Title:
The Chicxulub ejecta deposit at Demerara Rise (western Atlantic); dissecting the geochemical anomaly using laser ablation-mass spectrometry
Year:
2011
Source:
Geology (Boulder)
Publisher:
Geological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, United States
Volume:
39
Issue:
3
Pages:
279-282
Abstract:
We analyzed in situ the trace-element distributions in the pristine 2-cm-thick spherule-rich Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) event bed at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 207 Site 1259C (Demerara Rise, western Atlantic) using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) with a spot diameter of 235 mu m, corresponding to a sample volume of approximately 8.6X10 (super 5) mu m (super 3) . Unparalleled so far, this high resolution pinpoints the fallout of the Chicxulub projectile to the uppermost 2 mm of the K-Pg bed. Most of the Ni is not of extraterrestrial origin, as indicated by low, typical upper-crustal Ni/Cr ratios. Very low Zr/Hf and Nb/Ta ratios are confined exclusively to the K-Pg bed, indicating that storms and flooding spilled highly fractionated supracrustal material off the Guiana craton to reach the seafloor contemporaneously with the now-altered glass spherules. Chicxulub ejecta volumetrically dominate the K-Pg bed but contributed only minimally to the trace-element budget, as indicated by the very low rare earth element concentrations. At the top of the ejecta layer, together with the fallout of Pt from the impactor ( approximately 0.1 ppm), a pronounced Pb enrichment (up to 1500 ppm) occurs, which is interpreted to derive from the Guiana craton. Both elements obviously were contained in submicrometer-size particles that could only reach the seafloor attached to larger particles, the sedimentation of which may have occurred up to a year after the Chicxulub impact event. Our high-resolution analysis of the K-Pg event bed allows us, for the first time, to differentiate among the contributing components in detail, as well as assess the settling time frame of this geologically important boundary deposit.
Language:
English
Genre:
Serial
Rights:
URL:
Coverage: Geographic coordinates: North:9.1800 West:-54.1200 East:
-54.1200 South:9.1800
Keywords: Stratigraphy; Geochemistry of rocks, soils, and sediments; Atlantic Ocean; Cenozoic; Chicxulub Crater; Cretaceous; Demerara Rise; ejecta; Equatorial Atlantic; experimental studies; geochemical anomalies; geochemistry; high-resolution methods; ICP mass spectra; K-T boundary; laboratory studies; laser ablation; laser methods; Leg 207; lower Paleocene; marine sediments; mass spectra; Mesozoic; North Atlantic; Northwest Atlantic; Ocean Drilling Program; ODP Site 1259; Paleocene; Paleogene; sediments; spectra; stratigraphic boundary; Tertiary; trace elements; Upper Cretaceous; West Atlantic;
.