Planetary Group Seminar: Rapid Ocean acidification and Protracded Earth System Recovery after the Cretaceous-Palaegene Impact Event (M. Henehan)

  • Date: Jan 27, 2020
  • Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Michael Henehan
  • GFZ Potsdam
  • Location: MPS
  • Room: Aquila + Bootes
  • Host: Urs Mall
Planetary Group Seminar: Rapid Ocean acidification and Protracded Earth System Recovery after the Cretaceous-Palaegene Impact Event (M. Henehan)
Immense volcanism and extraterrestrial impact are the two main suspects in driving the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) mass extinction, but incontrovertible empirical evidence for how either caused ecological collapse has up to now been scant. In my talk I will present new boron isotope data revealing rapid fluctuations in ocean pH and atmospheric pCO2 at the K-Pg, indicating ocean acidification caused by impact, not volcanism, prompted marine mass extinction. Furthermore, by coupling with earth system models, our pH estimates allow us to solve a longstanding geological puzzle: what was the cause of the post-extinction collapse in surface-deep carbon isotope gradients in the ocean, and what does it convey about the Earth’s ecological recovery after the mass extinction event?


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