Dataset Information

Biogenic carbonate mercury and marine temperature records reveal global influence of Late Cretaceous Deccan Traps.

ABSTRACT: The climate and environmental significance of the Deccan Traps large igneous province of west-central India has been the subject of debate in paleontological communities. Nearly one million years of semi-continuous Deccan eruptive activity spanned the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, which is renowned for the extinction of most dinosaur groups. Whereas the Chicxulub impactor is acknowledged as the principal cause of these extinctions, the Deccan Traps eruptions are believed to have contributed to extinction patterns and/or enhanced ecological pressures on biota during this interval of geologic time. We present the first coupled records of biogenic carbonate clumped isotope paleothermometry and mercury concentrations as measured from a broad geographic distribution of marine mollusk fossils. These fossils preserve evidence of simultaneous increases in coastal marine temperatures and mercury concentrations at a global scale, which appear attributable to volcanic CO₂ and mercury emissions. These early findings warrant further investigation with additional records of combined Late Cretaceous temperatures and mercury concentrations of biogenic carbonate.

SUBMITTER: Meyer KW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6915775 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Biogenic carbonate mercury and marine temperature records reveal global influence of Late Cretaceous Deccan Traps.

Meyer Kyle W KW Petersen Sierra V SV Lohmann Kyger C KC Blum Joel D JD Washburn Spencer J SJ Johnson Marcus W MW Gleason James D JD Kurz Aaron Y AY Winkelstern Ian Z IZ

Nature communications 20191216 1

The climate and environmental significance of the Deccan Traps large igneous province of west-central India has been the subject of debate in paleontological communities. Nearly one million years of semi-continuous Deccan eruptive activity spanned the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, which is renowned for the extinction of most dinosaur groups. Whereas the Chicxulub impactor is acknowledged as the principal cause of these extinctions, the Deccan Traps eruptions are believed to have contributed to ...[more]

PMID: 31844055

Similar Datasets

Project description:Archaeal community structure and potential functions within the deep, aphotic, oligotrophic, hot, igneous provinces of ∼65 Myr old basalt and its Archean granitic basement was explored through archaeal 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing from extracted environmental DNA of rocks. Rock core samples from three distinct horizons, basaltic (BS), transition (weathered granites) (TZ) and granitic (GR) showed limited organic carbon (4-48 mg/kg) and varied concentrations (<1.0-5000 mg/kg) of sulfate, nitrate, nitrite, iron and metal oxides. Quantitative PCR estimated the presence of nearly 103-104 archaeal cells per gram of rock. Archaeal communities within BS and GR horizons were distinct. The absence of any common OTU across the samples indicated restricted dispersal of archaeal cells. Younger, relatively organic carbon- and Fe2O3-rich BS rocks harbor Euryarchaeota, along with varied proportions of Thaumarchaeota and Crenarchaeota. Extreme acid loving, thermotolerant sulfur respiring Thermoplasmataceae, heterotrophic, ferrous-/H-sulfide oxidizing Ferroplasmaceae and Halobacteriaceae were more abundant and closely interrelated within BS rocks. Samples from the GR horizon represent a unique composition with higher proportions of Thaumarchaeota and uneven distribution of Euryarchaeota and Bathyarchaeota affiliated to Methanomicrobia, SAGMCG-1, FHMa11 terrestrial group, AK59 and unclassified taxa. Acetoclastic methanogenic Methanomicrobia, autotrophic SAGMCG-1 and MCG of Thaumarcheaota could be identified as the signature groups within the organic carbon lean GR horizon. Sulfur-oxidizing Sulfolobaceae was relatively more abundant in sulfate-rich amygdaloidal basalt and migmatitic gneiss samples. Methane-oxidizing ANME-3 populations were found to be ubiquitous, but their abundance varied greatly between the analyzed samples. Changes in diversity pattern among the BS and GR horizons highlighted the significance of local rock geochemistry, particularly the availability of organic carbon, Fe2O3 and other nutrients as well as physical constraints (temperature and pressure) in a niche-specific colonization of extremophilic archaeal communities. The study provided the first deep sequencing-based illustration of an intricate association between diverse extremophilic groups (acidophile-halophile-methanogenic), capable of sulfur/iron/methane metabolism and thus shed new light on their potential role in biogeochemical cycles and energy flow in deep biosphere hosted by hot, oligotrophic igneous crust.

Dataset Information

Biogenic carbonate mercury and marine temperature records reveal global influence of Late Cretaceous Deccan Traps.

Publications

Biogenic carbonate mercury and marine temperature records reveal global influence of Late Cretaceous Deccan Traps.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets