FOSSIL CHARCOAL IN CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY STRATA - EVIDENCE FOR CATASTROPHIC FIRESTORM AND MEGAWAVE

被引:42
作者
KRUGE, MA [1 ]
STANKIEWICZ, BA [1 ]
CRELLING, JC [1 ]
MONTANARI, A [1 ]
BENSLEY, DF [1 ]
机构
[1] OSSERVATORIO GEOL COLDIGIOCO,I-62020 FRONTALE DI APIRO,ITALY
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
D O I
10.1016/0016-7037(94)90394-8
中图分类号
P3 [地球物理学]; P59 [地球化学];
学科分类号
0708 ; 070902 ;
摘要
Organic matter separated from calcareous sandstone from the upper portion of a deep-water tsunami deposit at Arroyo el Mimbral, Taumalipas, Mexico, which marks the biostratigraphically defined Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, consists primarily of fossil charcoal, including semifusinite and pyrofusinite. Analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry revealed the highly aromatic and polyaromatic character of the organic matter assemblage, typical of the products of partial combustion. The organic matter probably originated as terrestrial vegetation that was caught in a firestorm and subsequently transported far offshore in the backwash of a megawave. These data are consistent with the hypothesis of combustion of large masses of vegetation triggered by a giant extraterrestrial impact in the Gulf-Caribbean region (probably forming the Chicxulub crater in Yucatan) at the very end of the Cretaceous Period.
引用
收藏
页码:1393 / 1397
页数:5
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