Sedimentary record of Upper Triassic impact in the Lagonegro Basin, southern Italy: Insights from highly siderophile elements and Re-Os isotope stratigraphy across the Norian/Rhaetian boundary

The Norian and Rhaetian transition (Late Triassic) is characterized by a faunal turnover in major pelagic groups, such as radiolarians, conodonts, and ammonoids. Although catastrophic events such as emplacements of large igneous provinces and/or extraterrestrial impacts have been suggested to account for this biotic turnover, firm evidence based on geochemistry of sedimentary successions is still lacking. In order to assess environmental changes across the Norian/Rhaetian boundary (NRB), we report high-resolution stratigraphic variations for whole-rock major, trace, and highly siderophile element abundances, together with Re-Os isotope ratios for the Sasso di Castalda section in Lagonegm Basin, southern Italy. The section consists of a continuously exposed sequence of upper Norian (Sevatian) through the lower Rhaetian of a deep basinal deposits. Our data demonstrated that the upper Norian section records important events in stratigraphically ascending order: (1) a depositional environment moved below the Carbonate Compensation Depth, leading to the carbonate-biosilica transition associated with a slight depletion of elements favored in heavy minerals such as Zr, Hf, and Ti, (2) an input of Rochechouart impact components detected by platinum-group element anomaly, and (3) a transient change of redox state into low oxygen (dysoxic to suboxic) conditions marked by increases of V, U, and Re. This sequence of events suggests that the Rochechouart impact predates the major environmental changes resulting in faunal turnover at the NRB. Although their direct causal relationships are highly questionable given the small size of impactor and the interval between the impact horizon and the NRB, the possibility of triggering subsequent environmental and biotic collapses cannot be ruled out. This study provides the first identification of Rochechouart impact horizon in marine strata, which could be an important event marker for further studies on contemporaneous sections in the Lagonegro Basin and other localities.

Automated summary

Through analyzing stratigraphic variations, this study suggests that the Rochechouart impact event may have occurred before the Norian and Rhaetian boundary, leading to changes in the environment and biota.