Atmospheric halogen and acid rains during the main phase of Deccan eruptions: Magnetic and mineral evidence

Abstract

Environmental changes linked to Deccan volcanism are still poorly known. A major limitation resides in the paucity of direct Deccan volcanism markers and in the geologically short interval where both impact and volcanism occurred, making it hard to evaluate their contributions to the mass extinction. We investigated the low-magnetic-susceptibility interval just below the iridium-rich layer of the Bidart (France) section, which was recently hypothesized to be the result of paleoenvironmental perturbations linked to paroxysmal Deccan phase 2. Results show a drastic decrease of detrital magnetite and presence of scarce akaganeite, a hypothesized reaction product formed in the aerosols derived from reaction of a volcanic plume with water and oxygen in the high atmosphere. A weathering model of the consequences of acidic rains on a continental regolith reveals nearly complete magnetite dissolution after ~31,000 yr, which is consistent with our magnetic data and falls within the duration of the Deccan phase 2. These results highlight the nature and importance of the Deccan-related environmental changes leading up to the end Cretaceous mass extinction.