Geochemistry of the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition boundary at Blake Nose (N.W. Atlantic): Cosmogenic Ni

The Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) boundary transition at the Blake Nose Plateau recovered by ODP Leg 171B (site 1049, hole A, core 17X, section 2) contains an ejecta bed (thickness ca. 17 cm) marking a late Cretaceous asteroid impact. The nature and geochemical composition of this bed imply that it originated mainly from the target rocks of the Chicxulub impact site (Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico), the site of the presumed asteroid impact. The ejecta bed of hole 1049A contains relatively high concentrations of Ni (up to 165 ppm) within the carbonate fraction. It is reasoned that this enhancement represents a sudden and rapid airfall of high cosmogenic Ni into he Blake Nose Basin. The source of the metal was the Chicxulub impacting (carbonaceous) chondrite. It is suggested that many calcareous planktons in the KT ocean surface water of the Blake Nose Plateau were probably vulnerable to the high influx of superacid rainfall and associated toxic metals (e.g., Ni) created by the impact.