A Geographic Database Approach to the KT Boundary

Abstract

A comprehensive database on the Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) boundary is presented. The database (KTbase) is designed to evaluate spatial patterns in data that are important to constrain the causes and mechanisms of the K/T event. KTbase contains paleontological, sedimentological, mineralogical, and geochemical data on currently 350 KT sites. Although still incomplete, KTbase can already be used to summarize global aspects of the ecological catastrophe coincident with the KT boundary, to suggest some regional patterns related to the impact of an extraterrestrial body in the Gulf of Mexico and to document the distribution of ejecta debris from the Chicxulub crater.