3 ms·

This sure looks like the real deal and I'm looking forward to the PNAS article that is coming out next week, "Prelude to extinction: a seismically induced onsho

This sure looks like the real deal and I'm looking forward to the PNAS article that is coming out next week, "Prelude to extinction: a seismically induced onshore surge deposit at the KPg boundary, North Dakota". It is a bit disappointing that these press articles are coming out before people can read the science journal article. Don't see any pre-prints anywhere.

gwern 8y ago
Here: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/03/27/1817407116 https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/03/27/1817407116 "A seismically induced onshore surge deposit at the KPg boundary, North Dakota", DePalma et al 2019 > The most immediate effects of the terminal-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact, essential to understanding the global-scale environmental and biotic collapses that mark the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction, are poorly resolved despite extensive previous work. Here, we help to resolve this by describing a rapidly emplaced, high-energy onshore surge deposit from the terrestrial Hell Creek Formation in Montana. Associated ejecta and a cap of iridium-rich impactite reveal that its emplacement coincided with the Chicxulub event. Acipenseriform fish, densely packed in the deposit, contain ejecta spherules in their gills and were buried by an inland-directed surge that inundated a deeply incised river channel before accretion of the fine-grained impactite. Although this deposit displays all of the physical characteristics of a tsunami runup, the timing (<1 hour postimpact) is instead consistent with the arrival of strong seismic waves from the magnitude Mw ∼10 to 11 earthquake generated by the Chicxulub impact, identifying a seismically coupled seiche inundation as the likely cause. Our findings present high-resolution chronology of the immediate aftereffects of the Chicxulub impact event in the Western Interior, and report an impact-triggered onshore mix of marine and terrestrial sedimentation—potentially a significant advancement for eventually resolving both the complex dynamics of debris ejection and the full nature and extent of biotic disruptions that took place in the first moments postimpact.
- njarboe 8y ago
  Thanks for the link. This should be fun reading. Published April 1, 2019.

gwern 8y ago

Here: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/03/27/1817407116 https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/03/27/1817407116 "A seismically induced onshore surge deposit at the KPg boundary, North Dakota", DePalma et al 2019 > The most immediate effects of the terminal-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact, essential to understanding the global-scale environmental and biotic collapses that mark the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction, are poorly resolved despite extensive previous work. Here, we help to resolve this by describing a rapidly emplaced, high-energy onshore surge deposit from the terrestrial Hell Creek Formation in Montana. Associated ejecta and a cap of iridium-rich impactite reveal that its emplacement coincided with the Chicxulub event. Acipenseriform fish, densely packed in the deposit, contain ejecta spherules in their gills and were buried by an inland-directed surge that inundated a deeply incised river channel before accretion of the fine-grained impactite. Although this deposit displays all of the physical characteristics of a tsunami runup, the timing (<1 hour postimpact) is instead consistent with the arrival of strong seismic waves from the magnitude Mw ∼10 to 11 earthquake generated by the Chicxulub impact, identifying a seismically coupled seiche inundation as the likely cause. Our findings present high-resolution chronology of the immediate aftereffects of the Chicxulub impact event in the Western Interior, and report an impact-triggered onshore mix of marine and terrestrial sedimentation—potentially a significant advancement for eventually resolving both the complex dynamics of debris ejection and the full nature and extent of biotic disruptions that took place in the first moments postimpact.

njarboe 8y ago
Thanks for the link. This should be fun reading. Published April 1, 2019.