Benthic foraminiferal turnover across the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary at Agost (southeastern Spain): paleoenvironmental inferences

Abstract

We studied Upper Cretaceous and Lower Paleogene benthic foraminifera from the Agost section (southeastern Spain) to infer paleobathymetrical changes and paleoenvironmental turnover across the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/P) transition. Benthic foraminifera indicate uppermost bathyal depths at Agost during the Abathomphalus mayaroensis Biochron (from about 400 kyr before the K/P boundary) through the early Plummerita hantkeninoides Biochron (about 120–150 kyr before that boundary). The depth increased to middle bathyal for the remainder of the Cretaceous, and remained so for the Danian part of the studied section ( Parasubbotina pseudobulloides Biochron, at least 200 kyr after the K/P boundary). There were no perceivable bathymetrical changes at the K/P boundary, where ∼5% of the species became extinct, and the species composition of the benthic foraminiferal fauna changed considerably. Below the boundary, infaunal morphogroups constitute up to 65–73% of the faunas. Directly above the boundary, in the black clays of the lower Guembelitria cretacea Biozone, benthic foraminifera are rare. Several opportunistic taxa (e.g. the agglutinant Haplophragmoides sp.) have short peaks in relative abundance, possibly reflecting low-oxygen conditions as well as environmental instability, with benthos receiving food from short-lived, local blooms of primary producers. Above the clays through the end of the studied interval, epifaunal morphogroups dominate (up to 70% of the assemblages) or there is an even mixture or epifaunal and infaunal morphogroups. Infaunal groups do not recover to pre-extinction relative abundances, indicating that the food supply to the benthos did not recover fully over the studied interval (about 200 kyr after the K/P boundary). The benthic foraminiferal faunal changes are compatible with the direct and indirect effects of an asteroid impact, which severely destabilized primary producers and the oceanic food web that was dependent upon them.