A plate geodynamic game changer: Effects of the 66 Ma Chicxulub asteroid collision

Abstract

At the end of the Cretaceous period, 66 million years ago, the 7 − 19 km diameter Chicxulub asteroid hit the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, triggering global catastrophic environmental changes and mass extinction. The contributions of this event towards changes in plate and plume geodynamics are not fully understood. Here we present a range of geological observations indicating that the impact marked a tectonic turning point in the behavior of mantle plume and plate motion in the Caribbean region and worldwide. At a regional scale, the impact coincides with the termination of seafloor spreading in the Caribbean Ridge. Shortly after the Cretaceous–Paleogene transition, magmatism associated with the Caribbean Large Igneous Province waned, and intensive Paleogene volcanism was initiated. These events happened synchronously with anomalously high mid-ocean ridge magmatism worldwide and an abrupt change in the relative motion of the South American and North American tectonic plates. The evidence for such abrupt changes in plate kinematics and plume behavior raises the possibility that the Chicxulub impact triggered a chain of effects that modified melt reservoirs, subducting plates, mantle flows, and lithospheric deformation. To explain how an asteroid impact could modify tectonic behavior, we discuss two end-member mechanisms: quasi-static and dynamic triggering mechanisms. We designed a numerical model to investigate the strain field and the relative plate motion before and after the impact. The model predicts an enhanced deformation associated with the impact, which surficially tapers off ∼ 500 km from the crater. The impact modifies the subjacent mantle flow field, contributing to long-term mantle-driven dynamic changes. Additionally, deformation associated with seismic effects may have contributed to far-field effects and global changes. We conclude that large asteroid impacts, such as the Chicxulub collision, could trigger cascading effects sufficient to disrupt and significantly modify plate geodynamics.