scholarly journals Chicxulub crater post-impact hydrothermal activity - evidence from Paleocene carbonates in the Santa Elena borehole

2010 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Escobar-Sanchez ◽  
J. Urrutia-Fucugauchi
Keyword(s):  
Hydrothermal Activity ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
Chicxulub Crater ◽  
Santa Elena

Los cráteres de impacto se caracterizan por sistemas hidrotermales activos; particularmente en aquellos formados en ambientes marinos, en los cuales los procesos convectivos incluyen fluidos hidrotermales y agua de mar. En este estudio se presentan resultados sobre la actividad hidrotermal en el cráter Chicxulub, formado por un impacto sobre la plataforma carbonatada en el sur del Golfo de México hace unos 65 Ma en el límite Cretácico/Terciario. Los sedimentos carbonatados post-impacto registran los efectos de actividad hidrotermal convectiva, lo cual nos permite investigar sobre las características y duración de estos procesos. En este artículo se presentan la geoquímica de elementos mayores y traza de los sedimentos carbonatados correspondientes a la secuencia basal del Paleoceno a una profundidad de 304 a 332 metros en los núcleos del pozo Santa Elena, localizado al sur del borde de la cuenca principal del cráter Chicxulub. La geoquímica de elementos mayores y traza registra evidencias de actividad hidrotermal, marcada por un enriquecimiento en los primeros 10 metros de la secuencia sobre el contacto con las brechas de impacto. Las calizas presentan concentraciones altas de sílice, magnesio, aluminio, potasio y fierro, observándose patrones de variaciones similares en otros óxidos, así como en los elementos traza. El enriquecimiento concuerda con modelos de variación asociados a un aporte hidrotermal mejor que con otros posibles procesos asociados como podrían ser efectos diagenéticos o contribuciones detríticas procedentes de otras fuentes. El contenido relativo de los óxidos mayores en los primeros 12 metros de la sección (desde los 332 hasta los 322 metros), presenta 50 % de CaO y alrededor del 2% de SiO2 y MgO; patrones similares se observan para los otros óxidos, así como para los elementos traza. Considerando que la posición del sitio de estudio, se encuentra cercana a la zona central, las anomalías geoquímicas, presentan una elevada actividad convectiva provocada por la brecha de impacto subyacente a esta secuencia, y el aporte asociado con las fuentes hidrotermales distales del área central. Las concentraciones de Fe, K y Al corresponden con un aporte hidrotermal, también observado en los elementos traza (Zn, V, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zr y Rb). Después del cese de la actividad mayor hidrotermal, aproximadamente enseguida de 1 Ma posterior al impacto, actividad intermitente hidrotermal posiblemente continuó operando por un periodo mayor.

Rock Magnetic and Magnetostratigraphic Study of Chicxulub Crater Impact Breccias and Post-Impact Carbonates in the Yaxcopoil-1 and Santa Elena Boreholes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Urrutia-Fucugauchi ◽  
Ligia Perez-Cruz ◽  
Elia Escobar-Sanchez ◽  
Miriam Velasco-Villarreal ◽  
Edgar Garcia-Garnica
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Magnetic Hysteresis ◽  
Magnetization Vector ◽  
Carbonate Sediments ◽  
Carbon And Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
Chicxulub Crater ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Santa Elena

<p>Chicxulub crater was formed ~66 Ma ago by an asteroid impact at the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary on the Yucatan carbonate platform in the southern Gulf of Mexico. The crater is the youngest and best preserved of the three large impact basins, with a ~200 km diameter and multi-ring and peak ring morphology. The crater, covered by post-impact carbonate sediments with thickness up to ~1.1 km, has been investigated by geophysical studies and drilling programs. Initial drilling in Yucatan was carried out by the Pemex oil company, followed by the National University UNAM Chicxulub program, the ICDP Yaxcopoil-1 project and the IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 marine drilling. Here, results of combined paleomagnetic, rock magnetic, petrographic and geochemical studies are used to characterize the sequence and constrain the unit’s emplacement and crater formation. We analyze core samples of suevitic breccias and Paleogene carbonates from the Yaxcopoil-1 and Santa Elena boreholes drilled in the southern sector, inside and to the south of the crater rim marked by the ring of cenotes.  Magnetic hysteresis, low-field susceptibility and coercitivity analyses indicate that main carriers are titanomagnetites and magnetite. Mineralogical and magnetic properties indicate effects of hydrothermal alteration, associated with the high temperature system generated by the impact. Higher coercitivity minerals are also observed in some samples. In the carbonate sections, hydrothermal effects as marked by the geochemical logs decrease upwards from the breccia-carbonate contact. Alternating field and thermal demagnetization is used to investigate the magnetization vector composition and isolate the characteristic remanent components. Magnetic polarities defined from the inclination data show a sequence of reverse to normal, which correlate to polarity chrons 29r to 26r, with impact occurring within 29r chron.  The correlations of the magnetostratigraphy and stable isotopes indicate a hiatus at the basal Paleocene section. In Santa Elena cores, d<sup>13</sup>C values range from 1.2 to 3.5%<sub>0 </sub>and d<sup>18</sup>O values range from -1.4 to -4.8%<sub>0, </sub>with variation trends correlating with the marine carbon and oxygen isotope records for the late Maastrichtian and early Paleocene. The positive carbon isotopes indicate high productivity after the K/Pg extinction event, while the oxygen isotope values are more negative reflecting regional and local effects. Silica contents decrease from high in the suevites to low values in carbonates showing higher variability and then increased contents at the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The geochemical trends correlate in other elements including iron, titanium, potassium and aluminum that record impact-induced hydrothermal effects and possibly changing depositional conditions. Ca shows an opposite trend, with lower values in the upper suevitic breccias, higher values in the Paleocene carbonates and lower values in the PETM.</p>

PROBING A POST-IMPACT HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEM IN THE CHICXULUB CRATER WITH CORE RECOVERED BY IODP-ICDP EXPEDITION 364

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Kring ◽  
◽  
Martin Schmieder ◽  
Ulrich Riller ◽  
Sarah L. Simpson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrothermal System ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
Chicxulub Crater

Rare metals on shatter cone surfaces from the Steinheim Basin (SW Germany) – remnants of the impacting body?

2017 ◽  
Vol 155 (6) ◽  
pp. 1205-1229 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. BUCHNER ◽  
M. SCHMIEDER
Keyword(s):  
Hydrothermal Activity ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Lower Jurassic ◽  
Iron Meteorite ◽  
Rare Metals ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Central Uplift ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
Shatter Cones ◽  
First Time

AbstractThe ~3.8 km Steinheim Basin in SW Germany is a well-preserved complex impact structure characterized by a prominent central uplift and well-developed shatter cones that occur in different shocked target lithologies. Scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electron probe microanalysis have revealed, for the first time, the occurrence of rare metals on the Steinheim shatter cone surfaces. Shatter cones produced from the Middle Jurassic (Aalenian) Opalinus Claystone (‘Opalinuston’), temporarily exposed in the central uplift in spring 2010, and shatter cones in Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) limestones from the southeastern crater rim domain are commonly covered by faint coatings. The Opalinus Claystone shatter cone surfaces carry coatings dominated by Fe, Ca, P, S and Al, and are covered by abundant small, finely dispersed microparticles and aggregates of native gold, as well as locally elevated concentrations of Pt. On several surfaces of the claystone shatter cones, additional Fe, Ni and Co was detected. The Ca–Mn-rich coatings on the limestone shatter cone surfaces locally include patches of Fe, Ni, Co, Cu and Au in variable amounts and proportions. The intriguing coatings on the Steinheim shatter cones could either stem from the impacted Lower Jurassic to Palaeogene sedimentary target rocks; from the crystalline-metamorphic Variscan crater basement; or, alternatively, these coatings might represent altered meteoritic matter from the Steinheim impactor, possibly an iron meteorite, which may have been remobilized during post-impact hydrothermal activity. We here discuss the most plausible source for the rare metals found adherent to the shatter cone surfaces.

Delayed calcareous nannoplankton boom-bust successions in the earliest Paleocene Chicxulub (Mexico) impact crater

Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 753-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather L. Jones ◽  
Christopher M. Lowery ◽  
Timothy J. Bralower
Keyword(s):  
Trophic Group ◽  
Pump Efficiency ◽  
Biological Pump ◽  
Calcareous Nannoplankton ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Global Signal ◽  
Low Diversity ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
High Dominance ◽  
Chicxulub Crater

AbstractThe Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg; 66 Ma) mass extinction was caused by a bolide impact on the Yucatán platform near modern Chicxulub, Mexico. Calcareous nannoplankton, a dominant group of primary producers, were almost eradicated at this time. Post-impact nannoplankton assemblages from Northern Hemisphere sites were characterized by a short-lived series of high-dominance, low-diversity acmes (“boom-bust” successions), which likely represent an unstable post-impact environment. Although these boom-bust successions are a global signal, the mechanisms that controlled the taxonomic switchovers between acmes are currently unknown. Here, we present detailed analyses of calcareous nannoplankton and planktic foraminiferal assemblages in a new K-Pg section from the peak ring of the Chicxulub crater. We show that although nannoplankton assemblages resemble the typical series of acmes at Tethyan sites, the termination of the “disaster” acme in the crater is delayed by at least 500 k.y. The coincidence between shifts in the dominant planktic foraminiferal trophic group and switchovers in nannoplankton boom-bust taxa suggests that this series of acmes may represent a gradual trend toward oligotrophy driven by the global restoration of biological pump efficiency. Thus, the global diachroneity of boom-bust successions likely reflects the differential pacing of biological pump restoration between oceanic basins and settings.

Low energy deposition in the Chicxulub crater during the impact to post-impact transition

2010 ◽  
Vol 295 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 170-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinrich Bahlburg ◽  
Robert Weiss ◽  
Kai Wünnemann
Keyword(s):  
Energy Deposition ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
Chicxulub Crater ◽  
The Impact

Anomalous quartz from the roter kamm impact crater, Namibia: Evidence for post-impact hydrothermal activity?

1989 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 2113-2118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Koeberl ◽  
Kurt Freoriksson ◽  
Michael Götzinger ◽  
Wolf Uwe Reimold
Keyword(s):  
Impact Crater ◽  
Hydrothermal Activity ◽  
Post Impact

scholarly journals Mineralogical and geochemical specificity of carbonaceous rocks from the area of Ust'-Kara astrobleme (Pay-Khoy)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 3-15
Author(s):  
N. S. Kovalchuk ◽  
◽  
B. A. Makeev ◽  
S. A. Svetov ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrothermal Activity ◽  
Rare Metal ◽  
Impact Structure ◽  
Hydrothermal Processes ◽  
Upper Paleozoic ◽  
Modern Methods ◽  
Rare Earth Minerals ◽  
Carbonaceous Shales ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
Carbonaceous Rocks

We studied Upper Paleozoic (P1pt-ng) carbonaceous shales and siltstones from the area of the Ust'-Kara astrobleme (PayKhoy). We analyzed mineralogical and geochemical features of carbonaceous rocks of the target in the vicinity of the Ust'-Kara astrobleme event using a complex of modern methods to identify possible mobilization, redeposition and concentration of ore substance under intensive post-impact hydrothermal activity. Geochemical features of carbon deposits, altered by post-impact hydrothermal processes in the vicinity of the Ust'-Kara impact structure, have been determined. We found anomalous contents of Ti, Mn, Cr, Zr, Ni, Li, Co, Sc and REE. Inherent rare metal and rare earth minerals (monazite, florensite), sulfides (pyrite, chalcopyrite, marcasite, sphalerite), apatite, barite, anatase, chrome spinels were diagnosed.

POST-IMPACT EVOLUTION OF CHICXULUB CRATER: SEDIMENTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CRETACEOUS-PALEOGENE IMPACT, MEXICO

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine E. O'Malley ◽  
◽  
Michael T. Whalen ◽  
Joanna Morgan ◽  
Sean S.P. Gulick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Post Impact ◽  
Chicxulub Crater

scholarly journals Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Schaefer ◽  
Kliti Grice ◽  
Marco J.L. Coolen ◽  
Roger E. Summons ◽  
Xingqian Cui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Mats ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Core Material ◽  
Asteroid Impact ◽  
Microbial Life ◽  
Sulfur Bacteria ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
Photosynthetic Sulfur Bacteria ◽  
Chicxulub Crater ◽  
The Impact

Abstract 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.

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