Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events PDF
Preview Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events
Impact Studies Series Editor: Christian Koeberl Editorial Board Eric Buffetaut (CNRS, Paris, France) Iain Gilmour (Open University, Milton Keynes, UK) Boris Ivanov (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia) Wolf Uwe Reimold (Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany) Virgil L. Sharpton (University of Alaska, Fairbanks, USA) Charles Cockell Christian Koeberl Iain Gilmour (Editors) Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events With 102 Figures, 5 in colour 123 EDITORS PROFESSOR CHARLES COCKELL DR. IAIN GILMOUR PLANETARY AND SPACE SCIENCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE OPEN UNIVERSITY MILTON KEYNES UNITED KINGDOM Email: [email protected] [email protected] PROFESSOR CHRISTIAN KOEBERL Department of Geological Sciences University of Vienna Althanstrasse 14 1090 Vienna Austria Email: [email protected] ISSN 1612-8338 ISBN 10 3-540-25735-7 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York ISBN 13 978-3-540-25735-6 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2006920520 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. Springer is a partof Springer Science+Business Media springeronline.com (cid:148) Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006 Printed in Germany The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: E. Kirchner, Heidelberg Production: A. Oelschläger Typesetting: Camera-ready by the Editors Printing: Stürtz, Germany Binding: Stürtz, Germany Printed on acid-free paper 32/2132/AO 5 4 3 2 1 0 Preface The biological effects of asteroid and comet impacts have been widely viewed as primarily destructive. The role of an impactor in the K/T boundary extinctions has had a particularly important influence on thinking concerning the role of impacts in ecological and biological changes. During the 10th and final workshop of the ESF IMPACT program during March 2003, we sought to investigate the wider aspects of the involvement of impact events in biological processes, including the beneficial role of these events from the prebiotic through to the ecosystem level. The ESF IMPACT programme (1998-2003) was an interdisciplinary effort that is aimed at understanding impact processes and their effects on the Earth environment, including environmental, geological and biological changes. The IMPACT programme has 15 member states and the activities of the programme range from workshops to short courses on topics such as impact stratigraphy, shock metamorphism, etc. The program has also awarded mobility grants and been involved in the development of teaching aids and numerous publications, including this one. The 10th workshop was held at King’s College, Cambridge, from March 29 to April 1, 2003. The theme of the workshop ‘Biological Processes associated with Impact Events’. Some of the questions that were addressed during this workshop included: What beneficial effects can impact events have for life? What are the environmental changes on the local level as well as the global level? How does microbial life take advantage of impact craters? What role do impact events have in the origins and evolution of life? From prebiotic molecules to complex metazoans, the workshop took a snapshot of the diversity of fields of biology and ecology that intersect with impact studies. Within this milieu of discussions the workshop also considered astrobiological aspects of cratering and their relevance for life elsewhere, if it exists. The diversity of papers presented in this volume attest to the fact that impact cratering is very much a biologic process. It is not often that biologists, ecologists, and astrobiologists rub shoulders with the impact and planetary science communities, but the ESF IMPACT programme achieved an important contribution to this discussion at this meeting. The papers within this volume cover some important aspects of biological processes. The potential for survival of organics at impact sites is investigated. The survival of microbes during impact and their VI Preface subsequent colonization of impact rocks is examined. The biotic potential of hydrothermal systems is addressed. Extinctions caused by impacts are discussed at two extinction boundaries, while another paper compares impact processes to the processes of ecological disturbance caused by volcanoes. The effects of marine impacts on ecosystems are discussed and in another chapter, the biotic consequences of post-impact wildfires are described. A good balance is provided of local environmental effects of impacts compared to global effects. In totality this volume provides a useful view, but by no means a complete one, of impact cratering as a biologic process. We hope that it will encourage further debate, discussion and collaboration. Charles Cockell Iain Gilmour Christian Koeberl Open University Open University University of Vienna Milton Keynes, UK Milton Keynes, UK Vienna, Austria Acknowledgements The editors are grateful to the ESF-IMPACT programme for making the King’s College, Cambridge workshop and the preparation of this volume possible. The workshop was partly funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and we would like to express our gratitude for NASA’s generous support. We thank the following referees for their assistance: Philip Bland, Madelaine Böhme, Eric Buffetaut, Phillipe Claeys, Rodolfo Coccioni, Fabio Donadini, Henning Dypvik, Alan Fitzsimmons, Darlene Lim, Gerta Keller, Simon Kelley, Wolfgang Kiessling, David King, Kalle Kirsimae, Frank Kyte, Tõnu Meidla, Jared Morrow, Jens Ormo, John Parnell, Victoria Pearson, Uwe Reimold, Jan Smit, Morten Smelror, Frances Westall. Contents The Potential for Survival of Organic Matter in Fluid Inclusions at Impact Sites J. Parnell, M. Baron and H. Wycherley…….……………………………...1 Geomicrobiology of Impact-Altered Rocks C.S. Cockell, D.A. Fike, G.R. Osinski and P. Lee……...….…………….21 Bacterial Spores Survive Simulated Meteorite Impact G. Horneck……………………………………………………………….41 Impact-Generated Hydrothermal System – Constraints from the Large Paleoproterozoic Sudbury Crater, Canada D.E. Ames, I.R. Jonasson, H.L. Gibson and K.O. Pope………………....55 Comparison of Bosumtwi Impact Crater (Ghana) and Crater Lake Volcanic Caldera (Oregon, USA): Implications for Biotic Recovery after Catastrophic Events M.R. Rampino and C. Koeberl………………………………………….101 Paleobiological Effects of the Late Cretaceous Wetumpka Marine impact, a 7.6-km Diameter Impact Structure, Gulf Coastal Plain, USA D.T. King, Jr., L.W. Petruny and T.L. Neathery…………………. ……121 The Sweet Aftermath: Environmental Changes and Biotic Restoration Following the Marine Mjølnir Impact (Vogian-Ryazanian Boundary, Barents Shelf) M. Smelror and H. Dypvik…..………………..…………………… …..143 Guembelitria irregularis Bloom at the K-T Boundary: Morphological Abnormalities Induced by Impact-related Extreme Environmental Stress? R. Coccioni and V. Luciani……………………………………………..179 Unravelling the Cretaceous-Paleogene (KT) Turnover, Evidence from Flora, Fauna and Geology A. Ocampo, V. Vajda and E. Buffetaut………………………........……197 viii Contents Impact and Wildfires – An Analysis of the K-T Event C.M. Belcher…………………………………………….……….……..221 Continental Vertebrate Extinctions at the Triassic-Jurassic and Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundaries: a Comparison E. Buffetaut…………………………………………….……………….245 Geochemical Search for Impact Signatures in Possible Impact- generated Units Associated with the Jurassic-Cretaceous Boundary in Southern England and Northern France I. McDonald, G.J. Irvine, E. de Vos, A.S. Gale and W. U. Reimold………………………………………………………………....257 New Evidence for Impact from the Suvasvesi South Structure, Central East Finland F. Donadini, J. Plado, S.C. Werner, J. Salminen, L.J. Pesonen and M. Lehtinen....................................................................................................287 Kärdla Impact (Hiiumaa Island, Estonia) – Ejecta Blanket and Environmental Disturbances S. Suuroja and K. Suuroja………………………………………....……309 Sediments and Impact Rocks filling the Boltysh Impact Crater E.P. Gurov, S.P. Kelley, C. Koeberl and N.I. Dykan…………………..335 Stones in the Sky: from the Main Belt to Earth-Crossing Orbits D. Benest………………………………………………………………..359 List of Contributors Doreen E. Ames Natural Resources Canada Geological Survey of Canada 601 Booth Street Ottawa, ON, K1A 0E8 Canada ([email protected]) Martin Baron Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, AB24 3UE U.K. Clare M. Belcher Department of Geology Royal Holloway University of London Egham Surrey, TW20 0EX U.K. ([email protected]) Daniel Benest Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur Observatoire de Nice B.P. 4229 F-06304 Nice Cedex 4 France ([email protected]) Eric Buffetaut CNRS 16 cour du Liégat 75013 Paris France ([email protected]) x Contributors Rodolfo Coccioni Instituto di Geologia e Centro di Geobiologia dell’Università “Carlo Bo” Campus Scientifico Località Crocicchia 61029 Urbino Italy ([email protected]) Charles Cockell Open University Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA U.K. ([email protected]) Eveline de Vos School of Earth, Ocean & Planetary Sciences Cardiff University P.O. Box 914 Cardiff, CF10 3YE U.K. Fabio Donadini Division of Geophysics University of Helsinki PO Box 64 FIN-00014 Helsinki Finland ([email protected]) Natalia I. Dykan Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 55–b Oles Gonchar Street, Kiev 01054 Ukraine
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