Heavy metal toxicity as a kill mechanism in impact caused mass extinctions

Abstract

Heavy metals that are known to be toxic exist in carbonaceous chrondrites at abundances considerably in excess to that of the terrestrial crust. An impactor of relatively undifferentiated cosmic matter would inject into the terrestrial environment large quantities of toxic elements. The abundances of toxic metals found in the Allende CV carbonaceous chondrite and the ratio of meteoritic abundance to crustal abundance are: Cr, 3630 PPM, 30X; Co, 662 PPM, 23X; ni, 13300 PPm, 134X; se, 8.2 PPM, 164X; Os, 0.828 PPM, 166X. The resulting areal density for global dispersal of impactor derived heavy metals and their dilution with terrestrial ejecta are important factors in the determination of the significance of impactor heavy metal toxicity as a kill mechanism in impact caused mass extinctions. A 10 km-diameter asteroid having a density of 3 gram per cu cm would yield a global areal density of impact dispersed chondritic material of 3 kg per square meter. The present areal density of living matter on the terrestrial land surface is 1 kg per square meter. Dilution of impactor material with terrestrial ejecta is determined by energetics, with the mass of ejecta estimated to be in the range of 10 to 100 times that of the mass of the impactor. Because a pelagic impact would be the most likely case, the result would be a heavy metal rainout