Copper and copper(II) porphyrins of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary at Stevns Klint (Denmark)

High levels of copper(II) (Cu2+) were found with the major part ( > 90%) of the total Cu located in the smectite (Cu: 175 ppm) and kerogen (Cu: up to 1000 ppm) of the basal black marl of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) boundary informal type sedimentary rock: the Fish Clay at Stevns Klint, Denmark. Ano malous abundance (4000 ppm) of the kerogen Cu2+-porphyrins in this marl was detected by electron spin resonance. A model is proposed in which the enor mous acid rains (caused by the KT asteroid impact) washed out the humics (a lready enriched with Cu2+/Cu2+-porphyrins) of the top horizon of the nearby oxic soil into the Fish Clay Basin during the KT event. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.