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Grajales-Nishimura, J. M., G. Murillo-Muneton, C. Rosales-Dominguez, J. C. Bermudez-Santana, I. G. Velasquillo-Martinez, J. Garcia-Hernandez, J. A. Arz, and I. Arenillas, 2009, The Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary Chicxulub Impact: Its effect on carbonate sedimentation on the western margin of the Yucatan Platform and nearby areas, in C. Bartolini and J. R. Roman Ramos, eds., Petroleum systems in the southern Gulf of Mexico: AAPG Memoir 90, p. 315335.

DOI:10.1306/13191090M902954

Copyright copy2009 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

The Cretaceous–Paleogene Boundary Chicxulub Impact: Its Effect on Carbonate Sedimentation on the Western Margin of the Yucatan Platform and Nearby Areas

J. M. Grajales-Nishimura,1 G. Murillo-Muneton,2 C. Rosales-Dominguez,3 J. C. Bermudez-Santana,4 L. G. Velasquillo-Martinez,5 J. Garcia-Hernandez,6 J. A. Arz,7 I. Arenillas8

1Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Mexico D.F., Mexico
2Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Mexico D.F., Mexico
3Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Mexico D.F., Mexico
4Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Mexico D.F., Mexico
5Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Mexico D.F., Mexico
6Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) Exploracion y Produccion, Region Marina Noreste, Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico
7Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
8Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank PEMEX and the Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo (IMP) for permitting the publication of this work. This investigation was supported by projects D.1003 of IMP; CGL2004-00738 and CGL2007-63724 of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia; and by the Grupo Consolidado EO5 of the Gobierno de Aragon (Spain). This chapter is dedicated to Rafael Sanchez Montes de Oca, a very good friend and gifted PEMEX geologist, who contributed significantly to the knowledge of the geology of the Sierra de Chiapas and was one of the pioneers in exploring southeastern Mexico. Rafael Sanchez Montes de Oca passed away last year at the age of 69. Thanks to Jon Blickwede for his critical review, which improved the manuscript significantly. We also thank Claudio Bartolini for the invitation to publish this chapter and for his valuable revision of the manuscript.

ABSTRACT

Outcrops and offshore Campeche borehole data clearly document the presence of a carbonate facies succession, including calcareous breccia, on the western Yucatan Platform (Campeche Sound) and the Chiapas-Tabasco Platform. This carbonate sequence is associated with ejecta that contains altered glass, shocked minerals, and accretionary lapilli derived from the Chicxulub impact on the Yucatan Platform. The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary sedimentary succession is found at the El Guayal, Bochil, and Chilil outcrops of Tabasco and Chiapas, and offshore Campeche, 300–500 km (186–311 mi) west of the Chicxulub structure center. From base to top, this succession consists of four subunits: (1) carbonate breccia, 40–300 m (131–984 ft) thick, without ejecta; (2) fine- to medium-grained carbonate breccia, 10–20 m (33–66 ft) thick, mixed with sparse ejecta; and (3) siltstone, shale, and carbonate sand facies, 9–30 m (29–98 ft) thick, containing abundant ejecta (altered glass and shocked quartz). This unit culminates in a nearly pure clay layer (sim2 cm [sim0.7 in.] thick) with the well-known iridium anomaly at the top. Unit 4 is a conglomeratic breccia ranging from 10 to 20 m (33 to 66 ft) thick containing ejecta that is interbedded with or overlays subunit 3 (the ejecta layer) in some wells. Subunits 1, 2, and 3 are highly dolomitized in offshore Campeche, and the glass in subunit 3 is altered to clay minerals (smectite). Subunits 1 and 2 constitute hydrocarbon reservoir facies, whereas subunit 3 corresponds to the sealing layer of these reservoirs. Regionally, this sequence displays a gradational structure that represents a large debris flow followed by ballistic and clastic sedimentation with materials reworked by currents. Moreover, well logs, areal distribution, and stratigraphic relationships suggest that the thick K-Pg boundary sedimentary succession is a base-of-slope apron deposit. Based on the stratigraphy, sedimentology, and distribution of impact materials in the carbonate sedimentary succession, the following sequence of events can be inferred: megaseismic shaking that induced the collapse of the platform margin and produced the lower breccia facies (subunits 1 and 2); ballistic emplacement of ejected material (carbonate fragments, shocked minerals and glass) that supplied components to subunit 2 and formed the ejecta layer (subunit 3), the latter acting as the seal for Cantarell and neighboring oil fields; and reworking of the ejecta layer and coarser-grained carbonate fragments by the effect of one or more impact-generated tsunami waves to form a conglomeratic breccia (subunit 4) within subunit 3.

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