Shaping of the Present-Day Deep Biosphere at Chicxulub by the Impact Catastrophe That Ended the Cretaceous
Shaping of the Present-Day Deep Biosphere at Chicxulub by the Impact Catastrophe That Ended the Cretaceous
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Date
2021-06-24
Authors
Cockell, Charles
Schaefer, Bettina
Wuchter, Cornelia
Coolen, Marco J. L.
Grice, Kliti
Schnieders, Luzie
Morgan, Joanna V.
Gulick, Sean P. S.
Wittmann, Axel 1971-
Lofi, Johanna
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Abstract
We report on the effect of the end-Cretaceous impact event on the present-day deep microbial biosphere at the impact site. IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 drilled into the peak ring of the Chicxulub crater, México, allowing us to investigate the microbial communities within this structure. Increased cell biomass was found in the impact suevite, which was deposited within the first few hours of the Cenozoic, demonstrating that the impact produced a new lithological horizon that caused a long-term improvement in deep subsurface colonization potential.
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Keywords
Chicxulub Crater,
Geobiology
Citation
Cockell CS, Schaefer B, Wuchter C, Coolen MJL, Grice K, Schnieders L, Morgan JV, Gulick SPS, Wittmann A, Lofi J, Christeson GL, Kring DA, Whalen MT, Bralower TJ, Osinski GR, Claeys P, Kaskes P, de Graaff SJ, Déhais T, Goderis S, Hernandez Becerra N, Nixon S and IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 Scientists (2021) Shaping of the Present-Day Deep Biosphere at Chicxulub by the Impact Catastrophe That Ended the Cretaceous. Front. Microbiol. 12:668240. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.668240