The Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary interval in non-marine strata of northwest Europe

New light on an old problem

authored by

Anton Christoph Schneider, Ulrich Heimhofer, Carmen Heunisch, Jörg Mutterlose

Abstract

The non-marine Purbeck- and Wealden-type sediments of latest Jurassic (Tithonian) and earliest Cretaceous (Berriasian) age in northern Germany were deposited in a restricted intercontinental basin. They mark an interval of strong faunal and floral provincialism which makes correlation of the non-marine strata across northwest Europe difficult. The position of the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary has therefore been debated for decades. Our integrated stratigraphy of four sections in northern Germany, based on palynology (spores, pollen, dinoflagellate cysts) and ostracods, provides new evidence for a precise correlation with contemporaneous strata of other non-marine basins in northwest Europe. Correlation with the marine Boreal Realm and the Tethys is achieved via the Purbeck type section in England. A stratigraphic subdivision of the non-marine Berriasian succession in Germany is possible by using seven short-lived marine flooding events, which are documented by ceratioid dinoflagellate cysts and foraminifera. Our data suggest that a first major transgression took place close to the base of the Boreal Surites stenomphalus ammonite Zone. This level corresponds to a contemporaneous flooding event in southern England (Scallop Beds, Purbeck Group) and in southern Sweden (Annero Formation), thereby providing an excellent marker horizon for interbasinal correlation.

Organisation(s)

Leibniz Research Centre FZ:GEO
Institute of Geology
Geology Section
Sedimentology, Stratigraphy and Palynology

External Organisation(s)

Ruhr-Universität Bochum
State Authority for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG)

Type

Article

Journal

Cretaceous Research

Volume

87

Pages

42-54

No. of pages

13

ISSN

0195-6671

Publication date

07.2018

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Palaeontology

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 14 - Life Below Water

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2017.06.002 (Access: Closed)