Pérez Díaz, NoelCárdenas Ortiz, Rolando PedroMartín González, OsmelRojas Consuegra, Reinaldo2018-11-302018-11-302013Cockell, C.: Ultraviolet radiation and the photobiology of Earth’s early oceans. Orig. Life Evol. Biosph. 30, 467 (2000) Fritz, J., Neale, P., Davis, R., Pelloquin, J.: Response of Antarctic phytoplankton to solar UVR exposure: inhibition and recovery of photosynthesis in coastal and pelagic assemblages. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 365, 1 (2008) Jerlov, N.: Applied Optics. Elsevier, Amsterdam (1976) Penate, L., Martin, O., Cardenas, R., Agusti, S.: Short term effects of gamma ray bursts on oceanic photosynthesis. Astrophys. Space Sci. 330, 211 (2010) Ribeiro, S., Berge, T., Lundholm, N., Andersen, T., Abrantes, F., Ellegaard,M.: Phytoplankton growth after a century of dormancy illuminates past resilience to catastrophic darkness. Nat. Commun. 2, 311 (2011) Shifrin, K.: Physical Optics of Ocean Water. American Institute of Physics, New York (1988)1572-946Xhttps://dspace.uclv.edu.cu/handle/123456789/10451We do a preliminary modelling of the photosynthetic rates of phytoplankton at the very beginning of the Paleogene, just after the impact of the Chicxulub asteroid, which decisively contributed to the last known mass extinction of the Phanerozoic eon. We assume the worst possible scenario from the photobiological point of view: an already clear atmosphere with no ozone, as the timescale for soot and dust settling (years) is smaller than that of the full ozone regeneration (decades). Even in these conditions we show that most phytoplankton species would have had reasonable potential for photosynthesis in all the three main optical ocean water types. This modelling could help explain why the recovery of phytoplankton was relatively rapid after the huge environmental stress of that asteroid impact. In a more general scope, it also reminds us of the great resilience of the unicellular biosphere against huge environmental perturbations.en-USDerechos: Este documento es Propiedad Patrimonial de Springer Netherlands y se deposita en este Repositorio solo con fines académicos y exclusivamente para usuarios de la UCLV hasta tanto sea liberado por la revista Astrophysics and Space Science, respetando la legislación vigente en Cuba sobre derecho de Autor y la política de acceso de la mencionada publicación periódica.AsteroidImpactPhotosynthesisEarth and Planetary AstrophysicsAtmospheric and Oceanic PhysicsGeophysicsArticleSpringer NetherlandsDOI 10.1007/s10509-012-1256-6