Reduced calcification and lack of acclimatization by coral colonies growing in areas of persistent natural acidification

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2013. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of National Academy of Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110 (2013):11044-11049, doi:10.1073/pnas.1301589110.As the surface ocean equilibrates with rising atmospheric CO2, the pH of surface seawater is decreasing with potentially negative impacts on coral calcification. A critical question is whether corals will be able to adapt or acclimate to these changes in seawater chemistry. We use high precision CT scanning of skeletal cores of Porites astreoides, an important Caribbean reef-building coral, to show that calcification rates decrease significantly along a natural gradient in pH and aragonite saturation (Ωarag). This decrease is accompanied by an increase in skeletal erosion and predation by boring organisms. The degree of sensitivity to reduced Ωarag measured on our field corals is consistent with that exhibited by the same species in laboratory CO2 manipulation experiments. We conclude that the Porites corals at our field site were not able to acclimatize enough to prevent the impacts of local ocean acidification on their skeletal growth and development, despite spending their entire lifespan in low pH, low Ωarag seawater.This research was funded by Na¬tional Science Foundation (NSF) OCE-1040952, a University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC-Mexus) grant (to A.P.), and NSF OCE-1041106 (to A.L.C.). E.D.C. was funded through NSF-GFR and a EPA-STAR fellowships.2013-12-1

Extraordinary rocks from the peak ring of the Chicxulub impact crater: P-wave velocity, density, and porosity measurements from IODP/ICDP Expedition 364

Joint International Ocean Discovery Program and International Continental Scientific Drilling Program Expedition 364 drilled into the peak ring of the Chicxulub impact crater. We present P-wave velocity, density, and porosity measurements from Hole M0077A that reveal unusual physical properties of the peak-ring rocks. Across the boundary between post-impact sedimentary rock and suevite (impact melt-bearing breccia) we measure a sharp decrease in velocity and density, and an increase in porosity. Velocity, density, and porosity values for the suevite are 2900–3700 m/s, 2.06–2.37 g/cm3, and 20–35%, respectively. The thin (25 m) impact melt rock unit below the suevite has velocity measurements of 3650–4350 m/s, density measurements of 2.26–2.37 g/cm3, and porosity measurements of 19–22%. We associate the low velocity, low density, and high porosity of suevite and impact melt rock with rapid emplacement, hydrothermal alteration products, and observations of pore space, vugs, and vesicles. The uplifted granitic peak ring materials have values of 4000–4200 m/s, 2.39–2.44 g/cm3, and 8–13% for velocity, density, and porosity, respectively; these values differ significantly from typical unaltered granite which has higher velocity and density, and lower porosity. The majority of Hole M0077A peak-ring velocity, density, and porosity measurements indicate considerable rock damage, and are consistent with numerical model predictions for peak-ring formation where the lithologies present within the peak ring represent some of the most shocked and damaged rocks in an impact basin. We integrate our results with previous seismic datasets to map the suevite near the borehole. We map suevite below the Paleogene sedimentary rock in the annular trough, on the peak ring, and in the central basin, implying that, post impact, suevite covered the entire floor of the impact basin. Suevite thickness is 100–165 m on the top of the peak ring but 200 m in the central basin, suggesting that suevite flowed downslope from the collapsing central uplift during and after peak-ring formation, accumulating preferentially within the central basin

Probing the hydrothermal system of the Chicxulub impact crater

The ~180-km-diameter Chicxulub peak-ring crater and ~240-km multiring basin, produced by the impact that terminated the Cretaceous, is the largest remaining intact impact basin on Earth. International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) Expedition 364 drilled to a depth of 1335 m below the sea floor into the peak ring, providing a unique opportunity to study the thermal and chemical modification of Earth’s crust caused by the impact. The recovered core shows the crater hosted a spatially extensive hydrothermal system that chemically and mineralogically modified ~1.4 × 105 km3 of Earth’s crust, a volume more than nine times that of the Yellowstone Caldera system. Initially, high temperatures of 300° to 400°C and an independent geomagnetic polarity clock indicate the hydrothermal system was long lived, in excess of 106 years

The formation of peak rings in large impact craters

Large impacts provide a mechanism for resurfacing planets through mixing near-surface rocks with deeper material. Central peaks are formed from the dynamic uplift of rocks during crater formation. As crater size increases, central peaks transition to peak rings. Without samples, debate surrounds the mechanics of peak-ring formation and their depth of origin. Chicxulub is the only known impact structure on Earth with an unequivocal peak ring, but it is buried and only accessible through drilling. Expedition 364 sampled the Chicxulub peak ring, which we found was formed from uplifted, fractured, shocked, felsic basement rocks. The peak-ring rocks are cross-cut by dikes and shear zones and have an unusually low density and seismic velocity. Large impacts therefore generate vertical fluxes and increase porosity in planetary crust

Aeromagnetic anomalies and structural model of the Chicxulub multiring impact crater, Yucatan, Mexico

"A structural model of the Chicxulub crater is derived from aeromagnetic anomaly modeling, borehole information and magnetic mineral data. Magnetic susceptibility measurements from borehole cores and samples in the crater show that suevite-like breccias have a variable strong magnetic signature, which is related to basement and melt clasts. The crystalline component estimated from clast analyses in the suevite-like breccias has on average higher magnetic susceptibilities (up to 1200×10-5 SI) than that of impact melt (~500×10-5 SI) and crystalline basement (400×10-5 SI). Reduction to the pole and downward analytical continuations show the discrete composite character of the anomaly, with inverse dipolar anomalies. The second-derivative of magnetic anomaly depicts five concentric rings, with the external ring correlating with the cenote ring and marking the surface expression of crater rim. The analytical signal and the radially averaged spectrum yield an estimate of the averaged depth to the magnetic sources, ranging from 1000 to 6000 m. There are three major magnetic sources within the Chicxulub crater: 1) the melt unit, 2) the suevite-like breccia, and 3) the central uplift. Using all these data, including new 2-D magnetic models, a new structural model is proposed. It reveals a system of regional vertical faults that explain the magnetic signal over the southern sector of the crater, whereas a 2.5 km deep central uplift and highly magnetized breccia sequences and melt sheet might be the sources of the main magnetic anomalies.""En este trabajo presentamos un modelo actualizado de la estructura de impacto de Chicxulub, utilizando nuevos modelos de la anomalía aeromagnética. Estudios de la variación de la susceptibilidad magnética a lo largo de la columna litológica al interior del cráter revelan que las brechas de tipo suevita tienen una firma magnética más fuerte que la unidad fundida (melt). La componente cristalina, estimada a partir del análisis de clastos encontrados en las brechas de tipo suevita, tiene una susceptibilidad magnética más alta (hasta 1200×10-5 SI), que el melt (~500×10-5 SI) y los clastos del basamento cristalino (400×10-5 SI). La reducción al polo y la continuación hacia abajo, documentan el carácter fragmentado de la anomalía. La segunda derivada de la anomalía aeromagnética delinea cinco anillos concéntricos al interior del cráter; el último anillo se correlaciona con el anillo de cenotes, lo cual apoya la interpretación de que el origen del anillo de cenotes está ligado con el cráter. La señal analítica y el espectro radialmente promediado arrojan una profundidad estimada a las fuentes magnéticas que va de los 1000 m a los 6000 m. Utilizando estos datos desarrollamos nuevos modelos magnéticos en 2-D, los cuales indican que el carácter fraccionado en la porción norte del cráter está controlado por un sistema de fallas verticales. La principal anomalía central es producto de un levantamiento estructural, cuya cima se encuentra a ~2,500 m de profundidad a partir del fondo marino, en el área central del cráter.

Magnetostratigraphy of the impact breccias and post-impact carbonates from borehole Yaxcopoil-1, Chicxulub impact crater, Yucatán, Mexico

International audienc

Aeromagnetic anomalies and structural model of the Chicxulub multiring impact crater, Yucatan, Mexico

A structural model of the Chicxulub crater is derived from aeromagnetic anomaly modeling, borehole information and magnetic mineral data. Magnetic susceptibility measurements from borehole cores and samples in the crater show that suevite-like breccias have a variable strong magnetic signature, which is related to basement and melt clasts. The crystalline component estimated from clast analyses in the suevite-like breccias has on average higher magnetic susceptibilities (up to 1200×10-5 SI) than that of impact melt (~500×10-5 SI) and crystalline basement (400×10-5 SI). Reduction to the pole and downward analytical continuations show the discrete composite character of the anomaly, with inverse dipolar anomalies. The second-derivative of magnetic anomaly depicts five concentric rings, with the external ring correlating with the cenote ring and marking the surface expression of crater rim. The analytical signal and the radially averaged spectrum yield an estimate of the averaged depth to the magnetic sources, ranging from 1000 to 6000 m. There are three major magnetic sources within the Chicxulub crater: 1) the melt unit, 2) the suevite-like breccia, and 3) the central uplift. Using all these data, including new 2-D magnetic models, a new structural model is proposed. It reveals a system of regional vertical faults that explain the magnetic signal over the southern sector of the crater, whereas a 2.5 km deep central uplift and highly magnetized breccia sequences and melt sheet might be the sources of the main magnetic anomalies.En este trabajo presentamos un modelo actualizado de la estructura de impacto de Chicxulub, utilizando nuevos modelos de la anomalía aeromagnética. Estudios de la variación de la susceptibilidad magnética a lo largo de la columna litológica al interior del cráter revelan que las brechas de tipo suevita tienen una firma magnética más fuerte que la unidad fundida (melt). La componente cristalina, estimada a partir del análisis de clastos encontrados en las brechas de tipo suevita, tiene una susceptibilidad magnética más alta (hasta 1200×10-5 SI), que el melt (~500×10-5 SI) y los clastos del basamento cristalino (400×10-5 SI). La reducción al polo y la continuación hacia abajo, documentan el carácter fragmentado de la anomalía. La segunda derivada de la anomalía aeromagnética delinea cinco anillos concéntricos al interior del cráter; el último anillo se correlaciona con el anillo de cenotes, lo cual apoya la interpretación de que el origen del anillo de cenotes está ligado con el cráter. La señal analítica y el espectro radialmente promediado arrojan una profundidad estimada a las fuentes magnéticas que va de los 1000 m a los 6000 m. Utilizando estos datos desarrollamos nuevos modelos magnéticos en 2-D, los cuales indican que el carácter fraccionado en la porción norte del cráter está controlado por un sistema de fallas verticales. La principal anomalía central es producto de un levantamiento estructural, cuya cima se encuentra a ~2,500 m de profundidad a partir del fondo marino, en el área central del cráter