(Table 1) Sample descriptions, carbon contents, and lipid yields across the K/T boundary at DSDP Hole 93-605 and at Stevns Klint, Denmark

DOI

This reconnaissance study was undertaken to determine whether the mass extinctions and faunal successions that mark the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary left a discernible molecular fossil record in the sediments of this period. Lipid signatures of sediments taken from above and below the K/T boundary were compared in core and outcrop samples taken from two locations: the U.S. east coast continental margin (western Atlantic Ocean, DSDP Site 605) and Stevns Klint, Denmark. Four calcareous sediments taken from above and below the K/T boundary in DSDP Hole 605, Section 605-66-1, revealed changing lipid signatures between above and below that are characterized by a large component of unresolved naphthenic hydrocarbons and a homologous series of n-alkanes ranging from Ci6 to C33. These lipid signatures are attributed to an influx of a terrestrial higher plant component and to bacterial reworking of the sediments under partially anoxic depositional and/or diagenetic conditions. The outcrop samples from Stevns Klint had extremely low concentrations of indigenous lipids. The fish clay at the K/T boundary contained traces of microbial hydrocarbons and fatty acids, whereas the carbonates above and below had only microbial fatty acids and additional terrestrial resin acids. The data from both sites indicate a perturbation in the deposition of lipid compound classes across the K/T boundary.

0 = not detectable, <1 = traces

Supplement to: Simoneit, Bernd R T; Beller, Harry R (1987): Lipid geochemistry of Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary sediments, Hole 605, Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 93 and Stevns Klint, Denmark. In: van Hinte, JE; Wise, SW Jr; et al. (eds.), Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, Washington (U.S. Govt. Printing Office), 93, 1211-1221

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.789224
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.2973/dsdp.proc.93.152.1987
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.789224
Provenance
Creator Simoneit, Bernd R T; Beller, Harry R
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 1987
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Language English
Resource Type Supplementary Dataset; Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 68 data points
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (-72.609W, 38.742S, 12.280E, 55.190N); North Atlantic