Unbound MEDLINE

Rapid resurgence of marine productivity after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Science (New York, N.Y.) [Science] Journal article

 
TitleRapid resurgence of marine productivity after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction.
Author(s)Sepúlveda J, Wendler JE, Summons RE, Hinrichs KU 
InstitutionOrganic Geochemistry Group, Department of Geosciences, and Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), University of Bremen, 28334 Bremen, Germany. juliosep@mit.edu
SourceScience 2009 Oct 2; 326(5949):129-32.
MeSHAlgae
Biological Markers
Carbon Isotopes
Cyanobacteria
Denmark
Ecosystem
Extinction, Biological
Geologic Sediments
Nitrogen Isotopes
Photosynthesis
Phytoplankton
Polycyclic Compounds
Seawater
Time
Triterpenes
AbstractThe course of the biotic recovery after the impact-related disruption of photosynthesis and mass extinction event at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary has been intensely debated. The resurgence of marine primary production in the aftermath remains poorly constrained because of the paucity of fossil records tracing primary producers that lack skeletons. Here we present a high-resolution record of geochemical variation in the remarkably thick Fiskeler (also known as the Fish Clay) boundary layer at Kulstirenden, Denmark. Converging evidence from the stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen and abundances of algal steranes and bacterial hopanes indicates that algal primary productivity was strongly reduced for only a brief period of possibly less than a century after the impact, followed by a rapid resurgence of carbon fixation and ecological reorganization.
Languageeng
Pub Type(s)Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
PubMed ID19797658
  
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