Rapid Resurgence of Marine Productivity After the Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction

The course of the biotic recovery after the impact-related disruption of photosynthesis and mass extinction event at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary has been intensely debated. The resurgence of marine primary production in the aftermath remains poorly constrained because of the paucity of fossil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2009-10, Vol.326 (5949), p.129-132
Main Authors: Sepúlveda, Julio, Wendler, Jens E, Summons, Roger E, Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algae
Biological markers
Biomarkers - analysis
Carbon Isotopes
Cyanobacteria - physiology
Denmark
Earth
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Ecosystem
Endangered & extinct species
Eukaryota - physiology
Exact sciences and technology
Extinction, Biological
Geochemistry
Geologic Sediments
Marine biology
Marine ecosystems
Nitrogen Isotopes
Oceans
Paleoecology
Paleontology
Paleontology: general
Photosynthesis
Phytoplankton - physiology
Polycyclic Compounds - analysis
Primary productivity
Productivity
Seawater - chemistry
Seawater - microbiology
Soil and rock geochemistry
Time
Triterpenes - analysis
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Summary:The course of the biotic recovery after the impact-related disruption of photosynthesis and mass extinction event at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary has been intensely debated. The resurgence of marine primary production in the aftermath remains poorly constrained because of the paucity of fossil records tracing primary producers that lack skeletons. Here we present a high-resolution record of geochemical variation in the remarkably thick Fiskeler (also known as the Fish Clay) boundary layer at Kulstirenden, Denmark. Converging evidence from the stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen and abundances of algal steranes and bacterial hopanes indicates that algal primary productivity was strongly reduced for only a brief period of possibly less than a century after the impact, followed by a rapid resurgence of carbon fixation and ecological reorganization.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1176233