COMPARISON OF ISOTOPIC CARBON EMISSIONS ON A GLOBAL SCALE IN THE LATE CRETACEOUS AND HUMAN IMPACT TODAY ON THE EAST COAST : THROUGH THE LENS OF EUSTATIC VARIATIONS AND NEGATIVE ISOTOPE EXCURSIONS

The hypothesis we explored in this study is that human influence is emitting more carbon into the atmosphere at a higher rate than natural processes from the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. 66 million years ago, the Chicxulub impact marked the extinction of the dinosaurs. With the aid of the Deccan Traps eruptions not only was 75% of the population wiped out, but the Earth had entered a new, brief stage of severe warmth (4°C warmer than our current climate). Reconstructing what the conditions were like during the period of Earth’s last “greenhouse” climate through the study of stomata cells, eustatic changes observed in sediment cores, and ẟ¹³C excursions revealed in bulk carbonates allows us to compare past geologic climates to our current anthropogenic atmosphere. Present carbon emissions are raising temperatures at a much faster rate than the natural processes that formed the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Anthropogenic records reveal that temperature rose as CO₂ levels which lead to a positive feedback cycle of glaciers melting. Glacier melt leads to sea level rise which can be observed in coreholes extracted from New Jersey. The Atlantic Coast resides on a passive continental margin allowing for prime sampling of sea level change in the Northeastern part of the United States during the K-Pg boundary event. This study aims to support the evidence and investigate current discrepancies of heightened rates of CO₂ in the anthropogenic compared to the Late Cretaceous paleoclimate by sampling on the Atlantic coast. The mass extinction that marked the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary serves as a reference for what the future of our planet could possibly look like in the next few decades due to climate change.