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. 2022 Jul 5;12(1):11376.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-15566-z.

Life before impact in the Chicxulub area: unique marine ichnological signatures preserved in crater suevite

Francisco J Rodríguez-Tovar  1 , Pim Kaskes  2   3 , Jens Ormö  4 , Sean P S Gulick  5   6   7 , Michael T Whalen  8 , Heather L Jones  9 , Christopher M Lowery  5 , Timothy J Bralower  9 , Jan Smit  10 , David T King Jr  11 , Steven Goderis  2 , Philippe Claeys  2
Affiliations

Life before impact in the Chicxulub area: unique marine ichnological signatures preserved in crater suevite

Francisco J Rodríguez-Tovar et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

To fully assess the resilience and recovery of life in response to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary mass extinction ~ 66 million years ago, it is paramount to understand biodiversity prior to the Chicxulub impact event. The peak ring of the Chicxulub impact structure offshore the Yucatán Peninsula (México) was recently drilled and extracted a ~ 100 m thick impact-generated, melt-bearing, polymict breccia (crater suevite), which preserved carbonate clasts with common biogenic structures. We pieced this information to reproduce for the first time the macrobenthic tracemaker community and marine paleoenvironment prior to a large impact event at the crater area by combining paleoichnology with micropaleontology. A variable macrobenthic tracemaker community was present prior to the impact (Cenomanian-Maastrichtian), which included soft bodied organisms such as annelids, crustaceans and bivalves, mainly colonizing softgrounds in marine oxygenated, nutrient rich, conditions. Trace fossil assemblage from these upper Cretaceous core lithologies, with dominant Planolites and frequent Chondrites, corresponds well with that in the overlying post-impact Paleogene sediments. This reveals that the K-Pg impact event had no significant effects (i.e., extinction) on the composition of the macroinvertebrate tracemaker community in the Chicxulub region.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Location of Site M0077 in the Chicxulub Crater on gravity data. Position of selected drilling sites from PEMEX Drilling Program (Y6, C1, S1), UNAM (1 to 8), CPE-UNAM (BEM-1, BEH-1 and BEV-4) and ICDP-UNAM CSDP (Yax-1). The black dots are cenotes and the white line is the coastline. The black dashed line shows the extent of the Cenozoic Chicxulub basin. Modified from Gulick et al., and Lowery et al.. For detailed location of drilling sites see Gulick et al..
Figure 2
Figure 2
Stratigraphic overview of the IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 M0077A drill core. (A) Four main lithological units from Morgan et al.,. PgS—Paleogene marine sediments; SUE—suevite; UIM—upper impact melt rock unit; LIMB—lower impact melt rock-bearing unit (following de Graaff et al.); GRB—pre-impact granitoid basement; PDI—pre-impact dikes. (B) Stratigraphy of the impactite sequence between cores 40 and 90 (∼ 616.5–732 m below sea floor [mbsf]) with the degree of core recovery and the initial subdivision of the sequence by Gulick et al. (Unit 1G; 2A-2C; 3A). Adjacent, an alternative subdivision of this sequence is shown with the three distinct suevite units suggested by Kaskes et al.. The red dashed square indicates the stratigraphic interval in which macroscopic ichnological features are recognized in the suevite clasts. (C) Composite halfcore photographs with the core sections of the graded and non-graded suevite unit in which ichnological features are recognized, which are highlighted and labelled (#1–22).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Close-up views of selected trace fossils from Hole M0077A at IODP-ICDP Expedition 364. (A) Probable deformed Planolites (Pl); label 12. (B) Planolites (Pl) and ?Asterosoma (?As); label 10. (C) Planolites (Pl) and Mottled background (Mb); label 4. (D, E, F) Planolites (Pl), Chondrites (Ch) and Mottled background (Mb); labels 22, 14, and 6, respectively. (G) Planolites (Pl) and Teichichnus zigzag (Te); label 7. Labels refer to Fig. 2.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Representative PPL microphotographs of M0077A suevite carbonate clasts that yield ichnological features. Age-determinant planktic foraminifera are indicated with yellow arrows. (A) Pelagic wackestone with Globotruncanita stuarti (core 77_1_6.5; 703.61 mbsf). (B) Pelagic packstone with abundant calcispheres and Muricohedbergella sp. (core 81_2_27; 708.78 mbsf). (C) Wackestone with Planoheterohelix sp. (core 65_1_79; 688.70 mbsf). (D) Pelagic wackestone with Globotruncana sp. and Globigerinelloides sp. (core 77_1_6.5; 703.61 mbsf). (E) Wackestone with Rugoglobigerina sp. (core 61_3_25; 680.75 mbsf). (F) Coarse packstone with shallow marine carbonate debris rich in larger benthic foraminifera (core 76_1_87; 703.26 mbsf).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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