IMIS

Constraining the thermodynamic conditions within an impact structure during and after hypervelocity impacts is extremely challenging due to the transient thermal regimes. This work uses carbonate clumped-isotope thermometry to reconstruct absolute temperatures of impact lithologies within and close to the ∼66 Myr old Chicxulub crater (Yucatán, México). We present stable oxygen (δ¹⁸O), carbon (δ¹³C), and clumped-isotope (Δ₄₇) data for carbonate-bearing impact breccias, impact melt rock, and target lithologies from four drill cores on a transect through the Chicxulub structure from the northern peak ring to the southern proximal ejecta blanket. Clumped isotope-derived temperatures (T(Δ₄₇)) are consistently higher than maximum Late Cretaceous sea surface temperatures (35.5°C), except in the case of Paleogene limestones and melt-poor impact breccias outside of the crater, confirming the influence of burial diagenesis and a widespread and long-lived hydrothermal system. The melt-poor breccia unit outside the crater is overlain by melt-rich impact breccia yielding a much higher T(Δ₄₇) of 111 ± 10°C (1 standard error [SE]), which likely traces the thermal processing of carbonate material during ejection. Finally, T(Δ₄₇) up to 327 ± 33°C (1 SE) is determined for the lower suevite and impact melt rock intervals within the crater. The highest temperatures are related to distinct petrological features associated with decarbonation and rapid back-reaction, in which highly reactive CaO recombines with impact-released CO₂ to form secondary CaCO₃ phases. These observations have important climatic implications for the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction event, as current numerical models likely overestimate the release of CO₂ from the Chicxulub impact event.