Geographic and temporal morphological stasis in the latest Cretaceous ammonoid Discoscaphites iris from the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plains

We examine temporal and spatial variation in morphology of the ammonoid cephalopod Discoscaphites iris using a large dataset from multiple localities in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of the United States Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plains, spanning a distance of 2000 km along the paleoshoreline. Our results suggest that the fossil record of D. iris is consistent with no within species net accumulation of phyletic evolutionary change across morphological traits or the lifetime of this species. Correlations between some traits and paleoenvironmental conditions as well as changes in the coefficient of variation may support limited population-scale ecophenotypic plasticity, however where stratigraphic data are available, no directional changes in morphology occur prior to the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary. This is consistent with models of 'dynamic' evolutionary stasis. Combined with knowledge of life history traits and paleoecology of scaphitid ammonoids, specifically a short planktonic phase after hatching followed by transition to a nektobenthic adult stage, these data suggest that scaphitids had significant potential for rapid morphological change in conjunction with limited dispersal capacity. It is therefore likely that evolutionary mode in the Scaphitidae (and potentially across the broader ammonoid clade) follows a model of cladogenesis wherein a dynamic morphological stasis is periodically interrupted by more substantial evolutionary change at speciation events. Finally, the lack of temporal changes in our data suggest that global environmental changes (such as those possibly related to the emplacement of the Deccan Traps Large Igneous Province) had a limited effect on the morphology of North American ammonoid faunas during the latest Cretaceous prior to the K/Pg mass extinction event.Missing morphometric values are highlighted with NA in the dataset.Funding provided by: National Science FoundationCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001Award Number: 1924807Funding provided by: American Museum of Natural History and Richard Gilder Graduate School*Crossref Funder Registry ID: Award Number:We assembled a large morphometric dataset consisting of 328 individual fossil specimens of the scaphitid ammonoid cephalopod Discoscaphites iris collected from nine localities in Texas, Missouri, Mississippi, and New Jersey, representing a ~2000 km transect from SW to NE and encompassing the full geographic range of this species. Morphometric parameters were measured on well-preserved adult specimens of two dimorphs (Macroconchs - presumably the female, and microconch, presumably the male). We took up to seven morphometric measurements, and calculated ratios that captured the size, shape, and degree of compression of each of these ammonoid shells from each different locality. We evaluated the coefficient of variation (the standard deviation divided by the mean) for size and shape ratios as well as compression ratios at each locality. We used non-parametric statistical tests [Mann-Whitney U] to evaluate the significance of changes in mean morphological trait values between localities. To correct for multiple comparisons we applied a Bonferroni correction and also controlled for the false discovery rate. We also explored relationships between morphological traits and several environmental variables using linear modelling. All analyses were conducted in the R programming environment

Nature and timing of biotic recovery in Antarctic benthic marine ecosystems following the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction

Taxonomic and ecological recovery from the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K–Pg) mass extinction 66 million years ago shaped the composition and structure of modern ecosystems. The timing and nature of recovery has been linked to many factors including palaeolatitude, geographical range, the ecology of survivors, incumbency and palaeoenvironmental setting. Using a temporally constrained fossil dataset from one of the most expanded K–Pg successions in the world, integrated with palaeoenvironmental information, we provide the most detailed examination of the patterns and timing of recovery from the K–Pg mass extinction event in the high southern latitudes of Antarctica. The timing of biotic recovery was influenced by global stabilization of the wider Earth system following severe environmental perturbations, apparently regardless of latitude or local environment. Extinction intensity and ecological change were decoupled, with community scale ecological change less distinct compared to other locations, even if the taxonomic severity of the extinction was the same as at lower latitudes. This is consistent with a degree of geographical heterogeneity in the recovery from the K–Pg mass extinction. Recovery in Antarctica was influenced by local factors (such as water depth changes, local volcanism, and possibly incumbency and pre‐adaptation to seasonality of the local benthic molluscan population), and also showed global signals, for example the radiation of the Neogastropoda within the first million years of the Danian, and a shift in dominance between bivalves and gastropods

Rapid ocean acidification and protracted Earth system recovery followed the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact

J.W.B.R. was supported by ERC Starting Grant 805246 OldCO2NewArchives.Mass extinction at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary coincides with the Chicxulub bolide impact and also falls within the broader time frame of Deccan trap emplacement. Critically, though, empirical evidence as to how either of these factors could have driven observed extinction patterns and carbon cycle perturbations is still lacking. Here, using boron isotopes in foraminifera, we document a geologically rapid surface-ocean pH drop following the Chicxulub impact, supporting impact-induced ocean acidification as a mechanism for ecological collapse in the marine realm. Subsequently, surface water pH rebounded sharply with the extinction of marine calcifiers and the associated imbalance in the global carbon cycle. Our reconstructed water-column pH gradients, combined with Earth system modeling, indicate that a partial ∼50% reduction in global marine primary productivity is sufficient to explain observed marine carbon isotope patterns at the K-Pg, due to the underlying action of the solubility pump. While primary productivity recovered within a few tens of thousands of years, inefficiency in carbon export to the deep sea lasted much longer. This phased recovery scenario reconciles competing hypotheses previously put forward to explain the K-Pg carbon isotope records, and explains both spatially variable patterns of change in marine productivity across the event and a lack of extinction at the deep sea floor. In sum, we provide insights into the drivers of the last mass extinction, the recovery of marine carbon cycling in a postextinction world, and the way in which marine life imprints its isotopic signal onto the geological record.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Evolution and extinction of Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) cephalopods from the López de Bertodano Formation, Seymour Island, Antarctica

One of the most expanded records to contain the final fortunes of ammonoid cephalopods is within the López de Bertodano Formation of Seymour Island, James Ross Basin, Antarctica. Located at 65° South now, and during the Cretaceous, this sequence is the highest southern latitude onshore outcrop containing the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) transition. We present comprehensive new biostratigraphic range data for 14 ammonite and one nautiloid species based on the collection of >. 700 macrofossils from high-resolution sampling of parallel sedimentary sections, dated Maastrichtian to earliest Danian in age, across southern Seymour Island. We find evidence for only a single, abrupt pulse of cephalopod extinction at the end of the Cretaceous when the final seven ammonite species disappeared, consistent with most evidence globally. In the lead up to the K-Pg extinction in the James Ross Basin, starting during the Campanian, ammonite diversity decreased overall, but the number of endemic taxa belonging to the family Kossmaticeratidae actually increased. This pattern continued into the Maastrichtian and may be facies controlled, linked to changes in sea level and seawater temperature. During the early Maastrichtian, ammonite diversity dropped significantly with only two species recorded from the basal López de Bertodano Formation on Seymour Island. The subsequent diversification of endemic taxa and reappearance of long-ranging, widespread species into the basin resulted in an increase in ammonite diversity and abundance during the mid-Maastrichtian. This was coincident with an apparent period of warming temperatures and sea level rise interpreted from palynology and sedimentology, perhaps reflecting a high latitude expression of the Mid-Maastrichtian Event. Late Maastrichtian diversity levels remained stable despite reported climatic and environmental variation. Ammonite diversity patterns during the Maastrichtian parallel those of microfossil species such as nannofossil and planktonic foraminifera, suggesting that dynamic climatic and environmental changes affected many planktonic and nektonic organisms during the latest Cretaceous. However, we suggest that these perturbations had a minimal effect on overall diversity prior to the catastrophic extinction event at the K-Pg boundary

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)

The impact of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction event on the global sulfur cycle: Evidence from Seymour Island, Antarctica

The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction event 66 million years ago led to large changes to the global carbon cycle, primarily via a decrease in primary or export productivity of the oceans. However, the effects of this event and longer-term environmental changes during the Late Cretaceous on the global sulfur cycle are not well understood. We report new carbonate associated sulfate (CAS) sulfur isotope data derived from marine macrofossil shell material from a highly expanded high latitude Maastrichtian to Danian (69–65.5 Ma) succession located on Seymour Island, Antarctica. These data represent the highest resolution seawater sulfate record ever generated for this time interval, and are broadly in agreement with previous low-resolution estimates for the latest Cretaceous and Paleocene. A vigorous assessment of CAS preservation using sulfate oxygen, carbonate carbon and oxygen isotopes and trace element data, suggests factors affecting preservation of primary seawater CAS isotopes in ancient biogenic samples are complex, and not necessarily linked to the preservation of original carbonate mineralogy or chemistry. Primary data indicate a generally stable sulfur cycle in the early-mid Maastrichtian (69 Ma), with some fluctuations that could be related to increased pyrite burial during the ‘mid-Maastrichtian Event’. This is followed by an enigmatic +4‰ increase in δ³⁴SCAS during the late Maastrichtian (68–66 Ma), culminating in a peak in values in the immediate aftermath of the K–Pg extinction which may be related to temporary development of oceanic anoxia in the aftermath of the Chicxulub bolide impact. There is no evidence of the direct influence of Deccan volcanism on the seawater sulfate isotopic record during the late Maastrichtian, nor of a direct influence by the Chicxulub impact itself. During the early Paleocene (magnetochron C29R) a prominent negative excursion in seawater δ³⁴S of 3–4‰ suggests that a global decline in organic carbon burial related to collapse in export productivity, also impacted the sulfur cycle via a significant drop in pyrite burial. Box modelling suggests that to achieve an excursion of this magnitude, pyrite burial must be reduced by >15%, with a possible role for a short term increase in global weathering rates. Recovery of the sulfur cycle to pre-extinction values occurs at the same time (∼320 kyrs) as initial carbon cycle recovery globally. These recoveries are also contemporaneous with an initial increase in local alpha diversity of marine macrofossil faunas, suggesting biosphere-geosphere links during recovery from the mass extinction. Modelling further indicates that concentrations of sulfate in the oceans must have been 2 mM, lower than previous estimates for the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene and an order of magnitude lower than today