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Elemental abundance anomalies in the late Cenomanian extinction interval - A search for the source(s)Measurements of elemental abundances by neutron activation methods across the Cenomanian-Turonian extinction interval in samples collected from 16 sites in the Western Interior Basin of North America from 12 widely separated locations around the globe, including six ODP/DSDP sites, are reported. In most Western Interior Basin sites, in Colombia, and in Western Europe, two closely spaced elemental abundance peaks occur in the upper Cenomanian (about 92 m.y.), spanning the ammonite zones of Sciponoceras gracile through Neocardioceras juddii. Elements with anomalously high concentrations include Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Ir, Pt, and Au. The lower peak coincides with the disappearance (extinction) of the foraminifer Rotalipora cushmani. In North American sections R. greenhornensis also disappears at or just below this horizon, but in Europe it disappears considerably earlier than R. cushmani. Although the weak geochemical signal from comet impact(s) could be masked by the strong terrestrial-like overprint, these anomalies more likely resulted in the large late Cenomanian through early Turonian eustatic rise and deep-water opening of the South Atlantic.
Document ID
19930061594
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Orth, Charles J.
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Attrep, Moses, Jr.
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Quintana, Leonard R.
(Los Alamos National Lab. NM, United States)
Elder, William P.
(USGS Menlo Park, CA, United States)
Kauffman, Erle G.
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Diner, Richard
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Villamil, Tomas
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
May 1, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Volume: 117
Issue: 1-2
ISSN: 0012-821X
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
93A45591
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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