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Rapid short-term cooling following the Chicxulub impact at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary

2014; National Academy of Sciences; Volume: 111; Issue: 21 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1073/pnas.1319253111

1091-6490

Johan Vellekoop, Appy Sluijs, Jan Smit, Stefan Schouten, Johan W.H. Weijers, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté, Henk Brinkhuis,

Astro and Planetary Science

Significance Here, for the first time (to our knowledge), we are able to demonstrate unambiguously that the impact at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (K–Pg, ∼66 Mya) was followed by a so-called “impact winter.” This impact winter was the result of the injection of large amounts of dust and aerosols into the stratosphere and significantly reduced incoming solar radiation for decades. Therefore, this phase will have been a key contributory element in the extinctions of many biological clades, including the dinosaurs. The K–Pg boundary impact presents a unique event in Earth history because it caused global change at an unparalleled rate. This detailed portrayal of the environmental consequences of the K–Pg impact and aftermath aids in our understanding of truly rapid climate change.