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Science 18 May 1990:
Vol. 248. no. 4957, pp. 843 - 847
DOI: 10.1126/science.248.4957.843
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Articles

Proximal Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Impact Deposits in the Caribbean

Alan R. Hildebrand 1 and William V. Boynton 1

1 Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721

Trace element, isotopic, and mineralogic studies indicate that the proposed impact at the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary occurred in an ocean basin, although a minor component of continental material is required. The size and abundance of shocked minerals and the restricted geographic occurrence of the ejecta layer and impact-wave deposits suggest an impact between the Americas. Coarse boundary sediments at sites 151 and 153 in the Colombian Basin and 5- to 450-meter-thick boundary sediments in Cuba may be deposits of a giant wave produced by a nearby oceanic impact. On the southern peninsula of Haiti, a sim50-centimeter-thick ejecta layer occurs at the K-T boundary. This ejecta layer is sim25 times as thick as that at any known K-T site and suggests an impact site within sim1000 kilometers. Seismic reflection profiles suggest that a buried sim300-km-diameter candidate structure occurs in the Colombian Basin.

Submitted on December 19, 1989
Accepted on April 16, 1990


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