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Experimental evidence for the global acidification of surface ocean at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary: the biogenic calcite-poor spherule layers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2009

Pavle I. Premović
Pavle I. Premović
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Geochemistry, Cosmochemistry and Astrochemistry, University of Niš, 18 000Niš, Serbia e-mail: pavle.premovic@yahoo.com
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Abstract

The massive amount of impact-generated atmospheric CO2 at the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary (KPB) would have accumulated globally in the surface ocean, leading to acidification and CaCO3 undersaturation. These chemical changes would have caused a crisis of biocalcification of calcareous plankton and enhanced dissolution of their shells; these factors together may have played a crucial role in forming the biogenic calcite-poor KPB spherule layers observed at numerous oceanic sites and marine (now on land) sites in Europe and Africa. Experimental data and observations indicate that the deposition spherule layer probably lasted only a few decades at most.

Keywords

Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundaryglobal acidificationoceanspherule layer
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 8 , Special Issue 3: Special issue Papers from ESLAB 2008 Symposium Cosmic Cataclysms and Life , July 2009 , pp. 193 - 206
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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