Norris, R. D. and Firth, J. V. (2002): Mass wasting of Atlantic continental margins following the Chicxulub impact event

Leg/Site/Hole:
ODP 171B
DSDP 43
DSDP 93
DSDP 95
DSDP 43 385
DSDP 43 386
DSDP 43 387
DSDP 93 603
DSDP 95 603
ODP 171A 1049
ODP 171B 1050
ODP 171B 1052
Identifier:
2002-073203
georefid

Creator:
Norris, R. D.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States
author

Firth, J. V.
University of Missouri-Columbia, United States
author

Identification:
Mass wasting of Atlantic continental margins following the Chicxulub impact event
2002
In: Koeberl, Christian (editor), MacLeod, Kenneth G. (editor), Catastrophic events and mass extinctions; impacts and beyond
Geological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, United States
356
79-95
The Chicxulub impact 65 Ma triggered massive submarine failure of continental margins around the North Atlantic. Slumped sediments associated with impact ejecta and geochemical tracers of the bolide are present on the Blake Plateau, the mid-Atlantic continental slope and rise, Bermuda Rise, and the Iberian Abyssal Plain more than 6000 km from the impact crater. Evidence from deep-sea drilling and seismic stratigraphy suggests that much of the eastern seaboard of North America and at least parts of the eastern margin of the North Atlantic must have failed catastrophically because of the approximately 10-13 magnitude earthquake associated with the impact event, and created one of the largest, composite mass-wasting deposits on Earth. We infer that mass failure of the eastern margin of North America can account for elevated extinction rates and delayed recovery of North American invertebrates compared to other places during the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Slumping on the margins also redeposited large volumes of carbonates into the deep sea below the Cretaceous carbonate compensation depth (CCD), giving the false impression of a drop in the CCD during the Maastrichtian.
English
Serial
Coverage:Geographic coordinates:
North:84.0000
West:-173.0000East: -10.0000
South:8.0000

Stratigraphy; Atlantic Ocean; Bermuda Rise; Blake Plateau; Cenozoic; Chicxulub Crater; continental margin; Cretaceous; Deep Sea Drilling Project; Dinoflagellata; DSDP Site 385; DSDP Site 386; DSDP Site 387; DSDP Site 603; earthquakes; eastern North America; extinction; Foraminifera; Iberian abyssal plain; impact craters; impact features; Invertebrata; IPOD; K-T boundary; Leg 171B; Leg 43; Leg 93; Leg 95; lower Paleocene; magnitude; mass extinctions; mass movements; Mesozoic; Mexico; microfossils; North America; North Atlantic; Northeast Atlantic; Ocean Drilling Program; ODP Site 1049; ODP Site 1050; ODP Site 1052; Paleocene; Paleogene; palynomorphs; Plantae; Protista; rates; slumping; stratigraphic boundary; Tertiary; Upper Cretaceous; Yucatan Peninsula;

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