BREVIA
Fungal Proliferation at the
Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary
Vivi Vajda1 and Stephen McLoughlin2
The evolution of life on Earth has been interrupted
undescribed species of fungi (7) (Fig. 1A).
by several mass extinction events. The
Overlying laminae contain low-diversity,
Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction [65 million
fern-dominated assemblages. No significant
years ago (Ma)] is associated with the impact
macroscopic changes or clastic partings occur
of a large bolide (1). On the basis of extensive
within the coal to suggest a change in sedimendata (2–4), the K-T boundary is characterized by
tation rate or depositional setting across the
a palynological extinction horizon coincident
K-T boundary.
with a geochemical marker bed commonly sucAnalysis of a nearby section revealed an
ceeded by a bed rich in fern spores (2–5).
identical pattern of floristic turnover, indicatWe have found that a fungal spike occurs
ing that the fungi-rich interval characterizes a
between the diverse Late Cretaceous palynodistinct layer in the coal. The fungal acme is
flora and the low-diversity fern-dominated earcoincident with extinction of several mioly Paleocene assemblages in a New Zealand
spore index taxa and an iridium abundance of
section. The fungal layer is coincident with the
⬃4 parts per billion (ppb) (Fig. 1B; table S1).
Ir anomaly marking
the extinction event.
The studied K-T
boundary occurs within
a 10-cm-thick coal
seam bounded by mudstones of the nonmarine Rewanui Coal
Measures Member (upper Paparoa Coal Measures) at Moody Creek
Mine,
Greymouth
Coalfield, New Zealand (171°16⬘40⬙E,
42°23⬘18⬙S). We identified palynomorph
assemblages from
consecutive 3- to 5mm laminae through
20-cm coal and mudstone succession. One
half of each sample
was analyzed for elemental abundance (6)
(table S1).
The basal 8 cm of
coal hosts Late Cretaceous spore-pollen assemblages incorporating around 80 conifer,
fern, and flowering
plant taxa typical of
complex temperate forest communities (5).
The succeeding ⬃4mm layer (Fig. 1)
yielded only fungal
Fig. 1. (A) Fungal spores, Monoporisporites spp., aff. Pluricellaesporites
spores and fragments spp. and hyphae from the “fungal spike” layer at Moody Creek Mine. (B)
of nonseptate hyphae Changes in Ir concentration and relative abundance of pollen and spores
belonging to previously across the K-T boundary at Moody Creek Mine.
This fungi-rich interval implies wholesale dieback of photosynthetic vegetation at
the K-T boundary in this region. The fungal
peak is interpreted to represent a dramatic
increase in the available substrates for saprophytic organisms (which are not dependent on photosynthesis) provided by global
forest dieback after the Chixculub impact
(5). Post-impact conditions of high humidity
and reduced solar insolation due to increased
atmospheric sulfur aerosols and dust (8)
would have favored saprophyte activity, but
this interval would have been short-lived because of rapid atmospheric settling.
Fungal dominance would have lasted a
few years at most, because the recovery of
ferns initiates within the maximum iridium
anomaly layer (Fig. 1B). This suggests rapid reestablishment of pteridophyte communities following the impact event.
A global fungal or algal (Reduviasporonites) spike followed by a pteridophytegymnosperm recovery has also been
reported from the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr)
boundary (9). The K-T and P-Tr vegetation
recoveries represent similar responses to
terrestrial ecosystem destabilization and
collapse, although the P-Tr biodiversity
crisis was more prolonged (9).
References and Notes
1. L. W. Alvarez et al., Science 208, 1095 (1980).
2. D. J. Nichols, K. R. Johnson, Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Pap.
361, 95 (2002).
3. A. R. Sweet et al., Can. J. Earth Sci. 36, 743 (1999).
4. J. A. Wolfe, D. A. Russell, in Paleobiology II, D. E. G.
Briggs, P. R. Crowther, Eds. (Blackwell Science, Oxford, 2001), pp. 232–234.
5. V. Vajda et al., Science 294, 1700 (2001).
6. Material and methods are available as supporting
material on Science Online.
7. W. Elsik, personal communication.
8. K. O. Pope et al., Geophys. Res. Lett. 102, 645 (1997).
9. M. J. Benton, R. J. Twitchett, Trends Ecol. Evol. 18, 358
(2003).
10. We thank I. Raine for collaboration in the field and
for comments; F. Asaro for geochemical analyses;
and E. Anders, A. Ocampo, R. Spicer, W. Elsik, and
R. Tremain for comments and technical assistance.
R. Boyd and C. Hollis assisted in the field. Supported by the Swedish research council, Crafoords
Foundation grant 20020547, and Carl Tryggers
Foundation grant CTS-02:301 (V.V.).
Supporting Online Material
www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/303/5663/1489/
DC1
Materials and Methods
Table S1
19 November 2003; accepted 22 January 2004
1
GeoBiosphere Science Centre, Lund University,
Sölvegatan 12, SE-223 62, Lund, Sweden. 2School of
Natural Resource Sciences, Queensland University of
Technology, Box 2434, Brisbane, 4001, Australia. Email: [email protected] (V.V.); s.mcloughlin@
qut.edu.au (S.M.)
www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 303 5 MARCH 2004
1489
SUPPORTING ONLINE MATERIAL
Manuscript # 1093807
Fungal Proliferation in the Cretaceous-Tertiary Disaster Zone
Vivi Vajda & Stephen McLoughlin
Material and Methods
Palynology
Standard palynological processing methods were employed. Slide sets were made up from material derived
from two sections at Moody Creek Mine. Fig. 1 is based on a set prepared by senior author and analysed at
Lund University. Material from a split of the same samples was sent for geochemical analyses. Another set
was processed by Roger Tremain at Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Lower Hutt, New
Zealand (IGNS). The slides were examined under transmitted light microscopy: 200-300 specimens of
pollen and spores were counted from each sample, and all slides then examined for rare taxa. Slides and
macerated residues of the samples are deposited at GeoBiosphere Science Centre, Lund University, Sweden
and at IGNS.
Geochemical analysis
Iridium and other elemental measurements used neutron activation analysis. Samples were irradiated at the
University of Missouri-Columbia Research Reactor and subsequently measured at the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory by Frank Asaro with the Luis W. Alvarez Iridium Coincidence Spectrometer. Iridium
above the anticipated terrestrial background levels was detected in several Moody Creek Mine samples,
with best precision (one sigma) of 0.006 ppb. The Ir peak (4.1 ppb) found in this high-precision analysis
was much lower than the previously reported4 peak value (70.2 ppb) obtained from a more coarselysampled section some metres distant, analyzed at a different laboratory.
Element abundances in Moody Creek Mine samples
Element s measured and abundance unit s
Radioact ive isot opes measured
Gamma-ray energies ( keV)
mm below ( -) / above KTB
Ta (ppm)
1 9 2 Ir
1 8 2 Ta
6 8 keV
Co ( ppm)
Fe ( %)
6 0 Co
1 3 3 2 keV
Sc ( ppm)
Sb (ppm)
Cs ( ppm)
Hf ( ppm)
Th ( ppm)
Cr (ppm)
5 9 Fe
4 6 Sc
1 2 4 Sb
1 3 4 Cs
1 8 1Hf
2 3 3 Pa
5 1 Cr
1 0 9 9 keV
8 8 9 keV
1 6 91 keV
7 9 6 keV
4 8 2 keV
3 1 2 keV
3 2 0 keV
Ni ( ppm)
Ce (ppm)
Tb ( ppm)
58 Co
1 4 1 Ce
1 6 0 Tb
8 1 1 keV
1 4 5 keV
8 7 9 keV
Sample #
Weight ( mg)
1 0 7 -1 1 1 .5
51
5 9 ,4 8
1 0 2 -1 0 6 .5
50
7 6 .8 1
831
1 3 8 +/ - 1 7
1 .2 1 5
1 7 .8 9
2 .3 2 8
2 0 .9 2
0 .6 6 9 +/ - 0 .0 2 7
2 7 .8 5
3 .5 9
2 1 .2
9 7 .1
9 7 -1 0 1 .5
49
4 3 .9 3
1332
1 3 4 +/ - 1 2
1 .2 5 0
1 4 .5 7
2 .4 8 0
2 1 .5 9
0 .7 7 8 +/ - 0 .0 2 0
3 0 .5 4
3 .5 5
2 2 .0
1 0 0 .6
9 2 -9 6 .5
48
4 3 .8 0
1017
2 8 0 +/ - 1 9
1 .3 2 3
4 1 .4
2 .2 9 7
2 0 .1 9
1 .0 5 4 +/ - 0 ,0 2 5
3 6 .2 1
3 ,7 3
2 5 ,1
1 1 6 .2
6 4 .0 +/ - 3 .3
1 0 6 .6
0 .8 8 1
8 7 -9 1 .5
47
4 8 .4 8
1209
1 1 9 +/ - 1 3
1 .2 3 3
1 1 .8 6
2 .5 2 4
2 1 .6 7
0 .7 9 7 +/ - 0 .0 2 1
3 3 .0 1
3 .5 0
2 2 .3
1 0 1 .8
4 0 .9 +/ - 3 .5
1 1 0 .4
0 .9 9 2
1766
8 2 -8 6 .5
46
1416
1 4 3 +/ - 1 3
1 .2 2 9
1 7 .8 4
2 .2 4 7
2 1 ,1 2
0 .8 4 5 +/ - 0 .0 2 2
2 9 .7 7
3 .9 2
2 2 .5
1 0 1 .7
4 8 .6 +/ - 3 ,9
42
+/ - 5
4 1 .1 +/ - 3 .0
1 .0 8 3
1 0 5 .8
1 .0 0 5
0 .9 8 3
1 6 9 +/ - 1 2
1 .2 4 2
1 7 .3 7
2 .6 0 6
2 2 .3 4
0 .8 6 5 +/ - 0 .0 1 8
3 7 .1 0
3 .5 1
2 1 .6
1 0 5 .6
1638
1 6 5 +/ - 1 2
1 .2 2 7
1 8 .4 7
2 .5 4 8
2 1 .1 9
0 .9 1 9 +/ - 0 ,0 1 9
3 6 .1 6
3 ,7 5
2 0 ,6
1 0 3 .6
1 0 5 .6
0 .9 5 8
44
4 5 .6 0
1899
2 2 4 +/ - 1 2
1 .2 3 9
1 8 .6 3
2 .2 3 5
1 9 .4 8
1 .0 8 4 +/ - 0 .0 1 7
3 2 .3 8
3 .6 5
2 1 .1
1 0 2 .8
4 7 .6 +/ - 2 .8
9 8 .5
0 .8 8 5
43
4 6 .1 8
1389
1 4 3 +/ - 1 2
1 .1 3 7
2 5 .2 9
2 .2 9 4
1 9 .3 7
0 .8 0 3 +/ - 0 ,0 1 9
2 6 .5 6
3 ,7 8
2 1 ,9
9 7 .7
5 0 .4 +/ - 3 .1
1 0 0 .5
0 .9 4 7
6 2 -6 6
42
4 6 .7 6
1332
3 1 5 +/ - 1 6
4 3 .1 8
1 .9 8 1
1 7 .1 1
1 .0 0 9 +/ - 0 .0 1 8
2 6 .9 2
4 .2 5
4 6 .3 +/ - 3 .2
1 1 4 .7
1 0 8 .8
6 6 .5 -7 1 .5
45
4 7 .2 8
Minut es
7 2 -7 6 .5
7 7 -8 1 .5
KTB
Ir (ppt)
3 1 6 keV-4 6 8 keV
4 5 .6 +/ - 3 .0
5 0 .1 +/ - 2 .9
1 1 0 .9
1 0 5 .1
0 .9 8 4
1 .4 8 4
1 7 .1 0
2 7 .9
1 2 7 .5
5 7 .5 -6 1 .5
41
4 5 .7 0
1530
3 3 1 +/ - 1 5
1 .4 3 1
1 2 .7 8
1 .8 6 3
1 6 .5 2
0 .9 2 0 +/ - 0 ,0 1 6
2 2 .2 1
4 ,4 8
2 4 ,2
1 0 7 .6
4 3 .2 +/ - 2 .7
9 8 .9
0 .7 4 9
5 3 -5 7
40
4 6 .8 9
1488
1 4 0 +/ - 1 0
1 .1 0 9
7 .8 0
2 .2 4 7
1 4 .9 4
0 .3 0 9 +/ - 0 .0 1 4
1 4 .5 6
5 .2 5
1 3 .9
6 8 .4
2 5 .7 +/ - 2 .7
8 4 .8
1 .1 5 4
5 0 .5 -5 2 .5
39
4 4 .3 4
1443
1 4 2 +/ - 1 1
1 .1 6 6
8 .3 4
2 .2 3 7
1 6 .9 9
0 .4 7 2 +/ - 0 .0 1 6
1 9 .0 2
5 .5 1
1 7 .2
8 5 .8
2 8 .6 +/ - 2 .8
1 0 0 .4
0 .7 9 3
0 .8 2 4
4 7 -5 0
38
4 5 .6 1
330
1 3 9 +/ - 2 1
1 .1 4 3
8 .1 6
2 .3 4 0
1 7 .7 0
0 .4 8 3 +/ - 0 ,0 3 2
1 9 .6 3
5 ,5 4
2 8 .2 +/ - 3 .1
1 0 5 .3
1 7 ,4
8 7 .4
4 3 .5 -4 6 .5
37
4 9 .0 3
1113
1 8 5 +/ - 1 3
1 .0 6 1
7 .6 6
2 .4 3 2
1 7 .1 0
0 .5 1 0 +/ - 0 .0 1 7
1 7 .6 3
4 .9 4
1 5 .9
1 3 2 .6
5 7 .1 +/ - 2 .6
9 2 .9
0 .7 4 2
4 0 -4 3
36
5 1 .0 1
1056
1 3 3 +/ - 1 1
1 .0 2 8
7 .2 0
2 .3 5 6
1 5 .3 5
0 .4 0 4 +/ - 0 .0 1 6
1 4 .8 2
5 .1 3
1 3 .3
7 1 .5
2 5 .4 +/ - 2 .6
7 7 .9
0 .8 8 3
3 6 .5 -3 9 .5
35
4 8 .2 4
900
1 8 7 +/ - 1 4
1 .1 3 4
7 .0 4
2 .2 4 4
1 5 .6 0
0 .4 1 1 +/ - 0 .0 1 8
1 5 .3 3
5 .2 6
1 3 .7
7 4 .0
2 5 .3 +/ - 2 .7
8 4 .3
0 .8 0 9
1 .0 6 3
3 4 -3 6
34
4 5 .3 3
1974
1 7 1 +/ - 9
1 .1 0 1
6 .9 2
2 .3 4 2
1 5 .3 2
0 .3 5 3 +/ - 0 ,0 1 2
1 4 .4 7
5 ,6 5
1 2 ,7
6 9 .8
2 1 .4 +/ - 2 .5
7 7 .0
1 .1 5 8
3 0 .5 -3 3 .5
33
4 3 .2 5
1095
1 1 1 +/ - 1 1
1 .0 3 3
6 .5 7
2 .3 6 1
1 4 .9 8
0 .2 9 8 +/ - 0 .0 1 6
1 2 .6 4
5 .2 8
1 1 .5
6 3 .1
2 0 .5 +/ - 2 .9
6 7 .2
1 .5 0 5
2 7 -3 0
32
3 9 .7 1
1416
1 0 9 +/ - 1 1
1 .0 7 7
6 .9 2
2 .4 7 1
1 5 .5 0
0 .2 8 7 +/ - 0 .0 1 6
1 3 .1 1
5 .1 6
1 2 .6
6 3 .4
2 4 .4 +/ - 3 .6
7 2 .6
1 .6 4 0
2 3 .5 -2 6 .5
31
3 0 .2 5
216
1 0 8 +/ - 2 5
1 .1 2 8
7 .4 4
2 .4 3 6
1 5 .2 4
0 .3 1 3 +/ - 0 .0 4 0
1 4 .1 4
5 .1 2
1 2 .6
6 7 .6
2 5 .5 +/ - 3 .5
7 4 .2
1 .3 1 1
2 0 -2 3
30
2 5 9 +/ - 1 4
1 .2 5 1
3 3 .5 +/ - 2 .2
1 0 1 .7
0 .7 6 0
2 0 .9 7
1863
9 .8 4
1 .9 8 4
1 6 .3 7
0 .6 5 8 +/ - 0 ,0 1 8
1 9 .5 7
5 ,4 5
1 8 ,3
1 6 .5 -1 9 .5
29
1 4 .4 3
1173
1 9 2 +/ - 1 8
1 .0 5 8
8 .7 6
2 .0 9 4
1 5 .2 1
0 .4 7 1 +/ - 0 .0 2 4
1 7 .2 5
4 .7 1
1 4 .0
7 3 .8
8 0 .3
1 .0 9 0
1 2 -1 6
28
2 0 .1 0
117
9 7 1 +/ - 1 0 2
0 .9 2 4
2 3 .1 0
0 .9 9 4
1 3 .0 1
0 .8 0
+/ - 0 .0 7
3 1 .7 7
1 .9 7 +/ - 0 ,0 3
2 1 .0
1 0 8 .2
55
+/ - 5
1 3 6 .4
0 .8 9 8
7 -1 2
27
5 2 .6 0
12
2 1 1 6 +/ - 3 2 9
0 .7 1 9
2 6 .4 2
0 .3 1 9
9 .6 0
0 .8 0
+/ - 0 .1 3
1 7 .0 3
1 .5 9
2 7 .5 3
1 0 6 .5
27
+/ - 9
9 9 .5
4 .5 - 8 .5
26
4 9 .3 5
1227
4 1 3 6 +/ - 6 9
1 .2 4 5
1 5 .8 7
0 .0 9 3 1
9 .6 8
0 .7 8 8 +/ - 0 .0 2 0
4 .3 0
6 .0 3
1 6 .7 9
8 5 .3
3 7 .3 +/ - 2 .9
8 7 .4
0 .9 2 2
0 -4
25
5 1 .4 2
12
3 1 8 4 +/ - 4 5 2
0 .7 7 1
+/ - 0 .0 1 8
1 8 .3 4
0 .1 1 6
0 .7 5
7 .8 2 +/ -0 .1 1
4 .5 7
1 2 .3 6
6 4 .9
23
9 2 .5
1 .4 7
- 1 t o -4
24
5 1 .5 9
24
1 3 6 5 +/ - 1 8 5
0 .3 5 9
+/ - 0 .0 0 8
2 2 .9 4
3 .2 8 +/ -0 .0 5
1 .3 9 5 +/ - 0 .0 3 9
4 .8 2
5 1 .1
61
+/ - 6
3 6 .3 1
0 .5 0 7 +/ - 0 .0 3 1
-4 .5 t o -8 .5
23
5 1 .7 4
21
1 0 6 0 +/ - 1 7 4
0 .3 0 3
+/ - 0 .0 0 9
3 1 .6 5
0 .0 5 7 3 +/ - 0 .0 0 2 7
1 2 .9 3
2 .3 4
+/ - 0 .1 2
4 .7 0 +/ -0 .0 6
1 .3 3
5 .1 1
4 6 .5
73
+/ - 7
4 6 .3
0 .5 4 9 +/ - 0 .0 3 5
-9 .5 t o -1 2
22
5 0 .9 9
285
3 1 .9 2
0 .0 5 1
1 2 .1 4
2 .0 2
+/ - 0 .0 6
4 .3 2
1 .0 2 3 +/ - 0 .0 2 1
4 .3 1
3 4 .6
6 6 .5 +/ - 3 .3
3 2 .0 2
0 .4 6 5 +/ - 0 .0 1 4
-1 2 t o -1 5
21
5 0 .6 7
24
5 4 7 +/ - 1 4 3 / 1 1 7
0 .1 7 6
+/ - 0 .0 0 8
2 7 .9 2
0 .0 5 9 8 +/ - 0 .0 0 2 1
1 1 .7 8
2 .3 6
+/ - 0 .1 1
5 .1 9 +/ -0 .0 6
1 .1 7 1 +/ - 0 .0 3 6
3 .8 4
3 3 .9
64
+/ - 6
2 6 .3 6
0 .4 1 1 +/ - 0 .0 2 9
-1 5 t o -1 8 .4
20
4 2 .2 5
51
3 7 6 +/ - 7 4
0 .1 6 4
+/ - 0 .0 0 6
2 6 .0 6
0 .0 6 3 3 +/ - 0 .0 0 2 3
1 1 .2 8
2 .4 9
+/ - 0 .0 9
9 .1 6
1 .0 5 1 +/ - 0 .0 2 9
3 .6 5
2 7 .4
64
+/ - 5
3 6 .3 7
0 .1 9 9
+/ - 0 .0 0 8
1 0 3 9 +/ - 5 8
0 .1 7 4 0
+/ - 0 .0 0 8
0 .0 5 0 4 +/ - 0 .0 0 2 8
+/ - 0 .0 0 7
1 2 .5 4
1 0 .6 0
2 .6 1
2 .0 0
+/ - 0 .1 7
+/ - 0 .1 2
+/ - 0 .1 1
+/ - 0 .0 4
4 9 .6 5
24
4 7 7 +/ - 1 3 4 / 1 0 8
4 9 .5 7
66
2 6 6 +/ - 5 8
0 .2 8 2
3 0 .6 3
0 .1 3 9 8 +/ - 0 .0 0 1 5
1 1 .9 2
1 .5 8
+/ - 0 .0 8
2 0 .2 7
1 .3 9 1 +/ - 0 .0 2 7
5 .0 3
3 0 .7
65
+/ - 5
6 3 .2
0 .8 4 0 +/ - 0 .0 2 5
4 9 .4 4
846
2 9 2 +/ - 2 2
0 .3 0 1
2 9 .1 1
0 .1 9 2 7
1 1 .8 1
1 .4 3
+/ - 0 .0 4
2 1 .4 9
1 .6 0 2 +/ - 0 .0 1 8
5 .1 9
3 0 .2 +/ - 1 .4
75
+/ - 5
7 0 .3
0 .8 5 8 +/ - 0 .0 1 8
-2 8 .5 t o -3 0 .5
16
5 0 .1 4
102
3 4 7 +/ - 5 1
0 .3 6 6
2 9 .0 2
0 .2 0 5 1
1 2 .2 0
1 .4 6
+/ - 0 .0 7
2 3 .5 4
1 .5 4 3 +/ - 0 .0 2 3
-3 0 .5 t o -3 2 .5
15
5 1 .6 3
921
2 7 9 +/ - 2 1
0 .3 9 2
3 1 .2 3
0 .2 4 1 5
1 2 .6 1
1 .3 1
+/ - 0 .0 5
2 6 .3 2 +/ -0 .4 5
1 .7 4 1 +/ - 0 .0 1 9
-3 2 .5 t o -3 4
14
5 2 .3 9
72
2 7 0 +/ - 5 4
0 .3 9 8
2 1 .6 1
0 .2 2 5 2
1 1 .6 8
1 .6 0
+/ - 0 .0 8
2 5 .0 9
1 .6 4 3 +/ - 0 .0 2 6
5 .6 3
3 5 .8
71
+/ - 5
8 3 .4
0 .9 2 0 +/ - 0 .0 2 9
-3 4 t o -3 5 .5
13
5 0 .1 8
1131
2 6 0 +/ - 1 9
0 .4 5 1
2 4 .1 2
0 .3 0 3 4
1 3 .3 1
1 .4 3
+/ - 0 .0 5
3 4 .0 8 +/ -0 .4 5
2 .1 0 9
7 .1 3
3 9 .6 +/ - 1 .1
78
+/ - 7
1 1 4 .0
1 .2 9 6 +/ - 0 .0 2 7
-3 5 .5 t o -3 7 .5
12
5 1 .0 9
63
3 8 1 +/ - 6 8
0 .4 4 5
2 4 .5 9
0 .2 6 4 5
1 2 .9 2
1 .3 8
+/ - 0 .0 8
2 8 .4 2
1 .8 3 5 +/ - 0 .0 2 9
6 .6 8
4 1 .2
81
+/ - 5
8 4 .1
0 .8 5 9 +/ - 0 .0 2 8
-3 7 .5 t o -4 0 .5
11
5 0 .9 0
1305
2 7 5 +/ - 1 6
0 .3 8 7
1 9 .2 9
0 .1 9 4 2
1 0 .6 2
3 .1 3
+/ - 0 .0 8
1 6 .1 4
1 .3 8 0
5 .0 0
3 5 .7 +/ - 0 .8
8 8 .1 +/ - 3 .2
4 5 .2
0 .4 4 7 +/ - 0 .0 1 1
-4 0 .5 t o -4 4
10
5 0 .2 3
60
3 1 2 +/ - 6 4
0 .5 2 9
1 9 .3 5
0 .2 9 0 8
1 2 .5 6
2 .5 3
+/ - 0 .1 0
3 6 .4 9
2 .1 1 5 +/ - 0 .0 3 0
6 .9 9
4 7 .2
80
+/ - 5
7 3 .5
-4 4 t o -4 7
9
5 1 .0 8
983
2 1 1 +/ - 1 9
0 .5 8 7
1 6 .0 4
0 .4 0 1
1 3 .9 0
1 .9 6
+/ - 0 .0 5
3 7 .6
2 .5 3 8
8 .2 6
4 9 .0 +/ - 1 .4
67
+/ - 6
1 0 1 .3
1 .0 3 7
-4 7 t o -5 0
8
5 0 .4 4
939
2 1 1 +/ - 1 9
0 .7 0 8
1 6 .7 2
0 .5 0 6
1 5 .5 2
1 .4 9
+/ - 0 .0 5
4 3 .7
3 .3 3 0
9 .9 6
5 5 .8
69
+/ - 9
1 2 3 .3
1 .2 1 0
-5 0 .5 t o -5 4
7
4 9 .9 1
954
1 7 8 +/ - 1 7
0 .7 5 4
1 5 .1 7
0 .4 4 9
1 3 .3 3
1 .7 6
+/ - 0 .0 5
3 2 .8
3 .0 7 5
9 .6 4
5 7 .9
72
+/ - 6
8 9 .2
0 .8 8 2
-5 4 t o -5 9
6
5 0 .0 6
1416
1 3 8 +/ - 1 3
0 .9 7 8
1 7 .2 1
0 .6 8 4
1 4 .2 2
1 .1 9 6 +/ - 0 .0 3 5
3 6 .7 0
3 .9 7 7
1 3 .2 0
7 4 .3
66
+/ - 6
9 8 .1
0 .9 4 5
-5 9 t o -6 4
5
5 0 .5 4
1296
1 2 2 +/ - 1 3
1 .1 4 5
1 3 .5 9
0 .9 1 4
1 4 .3 7
1 .1 5 7 +/ - 0 .0 3 5
3 1 .1 8
4 .3 7
1 4 .3 9
7 8 .6
58
+/ - 7
1 0 4 .8
1 .0 1 4
-6 4 t o -6 7
4
5 0 .9 5
2970
8 7 +/ - 8
1 .1 3 8
1 0 .6 5
1 .3 1 7
1 5 .6 2
1 .0 1 5 +/ - 0 .0 2 9
2 8 .3 1
5 .1 5
1 5 .3 9
8 0 .4
47
+/ - 7
1 1 1 .0
1 .0 8 2
-6 7 t o -7 0 .5
3
4 9 ,3 5
4713
6 6 +/ - 6
1 .1 2 1
1 0 .0 9
1 .5 7 4
1 6 .1 4
0 .8 6 6 +/ - 0 .0 2 7
2 6 .6 8
5 .1 2
1 4 .9 4
7 7 .1
44
+/ - 9
1 1 5 .1
-7 0 .5 t o - 7 4 .5
2
5 0 .8 0
1191
7 0 +/ - 1 1
1 .1 9 1
1 0 .3 3
1 .6 0 1
1 5 .0 8
0 .9 8 7 +/ - 0 .0 3 4
2 3 .4 3
4 .6 9
1 4 .3 0
7 9 .2
45
+/ - 6
9 7 .1
0 .9 5 2 +/ - 0 .0 2 0
-8 0 .5 t o -7 4 .5
1
5 2 ,1 1
4008
5 1 +/ - 6
1 .1 0 6
9 .4 4
1 .9 5 2
1 5 .8 7
0 .7 6 9 +/ - 0 .0 2 6
2 2 .2 8
4 .9 2
1 4 .3 0
7 8 .3
42
+/ - 7
9 9 .1
0 .9 7 5 +/ - 0 .0 2 1
2%
1 %a
1%
1%
As given in Table
2 .8 %
1 .1 %
3%
6%
?b
1%
6 .6 %
5 .6 8
77
3 4 .7
67
3 5 .8 +/ - 1 .0
1%
2%
2%
7 .1 %
2 .8 %
3 .9 %
78
+/ - 7
+/ - 5
+/ - 6
As given in Table
2 .5 %
3 8 .0 5
0 .6 5 5 +/ - 0 .0 2 5
19
6 .1 1
2 5 .2
+/ - 0 .0 4
+/ - 0 .0 6
17
+/ -0 .5
3 .6 8
0 .6 1
18
2%
0 .9 2 2 +/ - 0 .0 3 7
+/ - 1 4
-2 6 .5 t o -2 8 .5
As given in Table
1 1 .5 1
+/ - 0 .0 8
-2 3 .5 t o -2 6 .5
Est imat e of error in st andard
0 .3 8 5 3
1 5 .9 4
+/ - 0 .0 5
3 0 .2 +/ - 2 .6
-1 8 .4 t o -2 3 .5
Est imat e of precision c
3 2 .1 4
+/ - 0 .0 0 4
9 0 .8
7 9 .7
8 9 .6
0 .4 9 8 +/ - 0 .0 3 1
0 .9 0 5 +/ - 0 .0 2 6
0 .9 7 1 +/ - 0 .0 2 3
0 .7 3 6 +/ - 0 .0 2 5
1 .0 8 9
2%
2%
4 .9 %d
~3 %
a Because t he samples have been ground wit h an agat e mort ar and pest le, t he Co error may be higher due t o t he grinding procedure.
b The accuracy det ermined about 3 4 years ago was 2 .9 %. A recent comparison wit h 3 NIST st andards indicat es t he abundances are high by 12 .3 +/ - 2 .4 %.
c The precision, which is usually t aken here as t he one sigma value in Gaussian st at ist ics, is t he great er of t he indicat ed value in t his row or t he value in t he Table.
When t he t ot al coincidence count s f or Ir, however, were less t han 3 1, Poisson st at ist ics were used and t hese gave t he indicat ed asymmet ric errors f or t he same probabilit ies as t he Gaussian one sigma value.
d Fission correct ions were not made f or t he Moody Creek Mine Ce abundances, and t he result ing uncert aint y is not included in t he est imat e of t he accuracy alt hough it is usually smaller.
Table S1. Element abundances in the investigated samples from Moody Creek Mine, New Zealand. Red line indicating palynological
Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. The iridium and other elemental abundance measurements were made at the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory by instrumental neutron activation analysis by Dr. Frank Asaro with the Luis W. Alvarez Iridium Coincidence Spectrometer.