Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction for the end-Cretaceous impact event from chalcophile element composition of the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary clays

Abstract

One of the “Big Five” mass extinctions occurred at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary (66.0 million years ago). Although the K-Pg mass extinction was triggered by a meteoroid impact, its killing mechanisms, i.e., environmental perturbations that induce the mass extinction after the meteoroid impact, are still unclear. In order to reveal such environmental perturbations, we have examined the micro-distribution of chalcophile elements that are highly enriched in the K-Pg boundary clays.