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:
ODP 207
ODP 207 1259
Identifier:
2011-028211
georefid

10.1130/G31599.1
doi

Creator:
Berndt, Jasper
Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster, Institut fuer Mineralogie, Munster, Germany
author

Deutsch, Alexander
Universitaet Erlangen, Germany
author

Schulte, Peter
author

Mezger, Klaus
author

Identification:
The Chicxulub ejecta deposit at Demerara Rise (western Atlantic); dissecting the geochemical anomaly using laser ablation-mass spectrometry
2011
Geology (Boulder)
Geological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, United States
39
3
279-282
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.
English
Serial
Coverage:Geographic coordinates:
North:9.1800
West:-54.1200East: -54.1200
South:9.1800

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;

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