藏南贡扎剖面赛诺曼阶/土伦阶与三冬阶/坎潘阶界线 附近地层的岩石磁学对比研究

为了研究白垩纪中期大洋缺氧事件及其后古海洋环境的变化,对藏南贡扎剖面白垩纪赛诺曼阶/土伦阶和三冬阶/坎 潘阶界线附近的浅海相沉积地层开展了详细的岩石磁学对比研究。 结果显示,这两个时间段的沉积物中磁性矿物含量和粒 度无显著区别,但赛诺曼阶/土伦阶地层中含有高矫顽力磁性矿物,如赤铁矿和针铁矿,而三冬阶/坎潘阶地层中则主要为 低矫顽力磁性矿物,如磁铁矿。 由于海平面位置在这两个时间段相近,海面变化对沉积物的磁学特征的影响很小。 磁性矿 物种类的变化可能主要是由于海洋沉积环境的变化所引起的。 高矫顽力磁性矿物在赛诺曼阶/土伦阶的出现及其在三冬阶/ 坎潘阶的缺失,表明赛诺曼阶/土伦阶氧化程度可能比三冬阶/坎潘阶更高。 这与深海沉积所记录的赛诺曼阶/土伦阶为缺氧 以及三冬阶/坎潘阶为富氧的特征明显不同。 这说明以江孜地区为代表的深海-半深海环境和以岗巴定日地区为代表的浅海 环境对白垩纪中期气候变化有着不同的响应。 深水和浅水环境的演化在这两个时间段的显著差异表明相应时期的大洋环流 也可能比以往所认识的更复杂。     

松辽盆地朝73-87井青山口组缺氧事件层的有机地球化学特征

松辽盆地白垩纪青山口组下部广泛分布一套富含有机碳的黑色泥岩、页岩和油页岩沉积,是全盆地划分泉头组与青山口组的一级标志.朝73-87井青山口组黑色页岩、油页岩的地球化学特征研究表明：它具有干酪根碳同位素正偏和重排甾烷含量低,存在28,30一双降藿烷、伽马蜡烷生物标志化合物等有机地球化学特征,表征为白垩纪温室效应时间窗内古湖泊缺氧事件的产物.结合生物地层研究成果,认为青山口期缺氧事件层大体可与白垩纪古海洋Cenomanian-Turonian界线事件层进行对比,进而提出松辽盆地青山口组的时代归属晚白垩世晚cenomanian-Turonian期的新观点.     

Palynostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental significance of the Cretaceous succession in the Gebel Rissu-1 well,north Western Desert,Egypt

Palynological investigation of the Cretaceous Abu Roash, Bahariya, Kharita, Alamein, Alam El Bueib and Betty formations, encountered in the Gebel Rissu-1 well, north Western Desert, Egypt yielded 27 species of pteridophytic spores, 24 of gymnosperm pollen, 25 of angiosperm pollen and 11 of dinoflagellate cysts in addition to some acritarchs, foraminiferal test linings and freshwater algae. This enabled us to recognize five miospore biozones arranged from youngest to oldest as: Classopollis brasiliensis–Afropollis cf. kahramanensis–Dichastopollenites ghazalataensis Assemblage Zone (Late Cenomanian); Elaterosporites klaszii–Sofrepites legouxae–Afropollis jardinus Assemblage Zone (Middle/Late Albian–Early Cenomanian); Pennipollis peroreticulatus–Duplexisporites generalis-Tricolpates Assemblage Zone (Early Aptian–Early Albian); Tucanopollis crisopolensis–Afropollis sp. Assemblage Zone (Barremian) and Appendicisporites cf. tricornitatus–Ephedripites spp. Assemblage Zone (Late Neocomian).The Early Cretaceous Kharita, Alam El Bueib and the Betty formations encountered in the Gebel Rissu-1 well are interpreted to indicate oxic proximal and distal shelf deposits, characterized by type III/IV, V kerogen, which is gas prone but having little potential to produce hydrocarbons. The Upper Cretaceous Abu Roash and Bahariya formations are characterized by a distal suboxic–anoxic and marginal dysoxic–anoxic environment, and their kerogen type III/II indicates gas/oil prone nature. The Bahariya and Kharita Albian–Cenomanian sediments in the present study witnessed the onset of a semi-arid to arid climate, with local or seasonal humid conditions, based on the continuous high abundance of the elaterates pollen and Afropollis-producing plants that inhabited the paleotropical humid coastal plains.     

Cretaceous stratigraphy of the Ionian Zone,Hellenides, western Greece

The Cretaceous sedimentary successions of the Ionian Zone, Hellenides, western Greece, are composed of pelagic limestones intercalated with cherty layers. The micritic and biomicritic beds with abundant chert nodules and cherty horizons, which were deposited during late Tithonian to early Santonian times, belong to the Vigla Limestone Formation, while the sediments deposited during the late Santonian to Maastrichtian, formed clastic limestone beds in which chert nodules also occur sparsely.In the Cretaceous beds calpionellids, planktonic and benthonic foraminifera characteristics of the Tethyan realm, and radiolaria have been recorded. The calpionellids, together with radiolaria, colonized the entire basin during the Berriasian to early Valanginian, the latter becoming dominant during the Hauterivian to early Albian as a result of anoxia. Planktonic foraminifera first appeared in the basin during the late Albian and persisted until the Maastrichtian. The numbers decreased, however, during the Cenomanian-early Turonian interval, when radiolaria increased owing to anoxic conditions, and during the Campanian-Maastrichtian interval because the basin became shallow. During this interval larger benthonic foraminifera colonized the basin. Zonal markers have been recognized in calpionellid and planktonic foraminiferal assemblages on the basis of which two calpionellid zones are distinguished, viz. the Calpionella alpina and Calpionellopsis Zones (Berriasian-early Valanginian) along with seven planktonic foraminiferal zones, viz. the Rotalipora ticinensis, Rotalipora appenninica (late Albian), Rotalipora brotzeni (early Cenomanian), Helvetoglobotruncana helvetica (early to middle Turonian), Marginotruncana sigali(late Turonian to early Coniacian), Dicarinella concavata (late Coniacian to early Santonian) and Dicarinella asymetrica (late early-late Santonian) Zones.The anoxic conditions that prevailed in the Ionian basin during the Barremian-early Albian, Cenomanian-early Turonian and Coniacian-Santonian intervals probably arose as a result of (a) the accumulation of large amounts of organic matter because the palaeotopography of the basin periodically hindered the circulation of water from the ocean and (b) the oxygen content of the intruding oceanic waters was low.     

An Ichthyornis-like bird from the earliest Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of European Russia

Ornithuromorph birds (the clade which includes modern avian radiation) first appeared in the Early Cretaceous in Asia and achieved a great diversity during the latest ages of the Late Cretaceous (Campanian and Maastrichtian). The evolutionary history of orithuromorphs during the first 17 MYAs of the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Santonian ages) remains very poorly known, as the fossil record for this time interval is largely restricted to several isolated finds of the classic avian genus Ichthyornis in North America. Here we describe an isolated distal tibiotarsus of an evolutionary advanced bird, morphologically similar to Ichthyornis, from the middle Cenomanian of Saratov Province, European Russia. This is the first documentation of an Ichthyornis-like bird in the Old World. The find further constitutes only the second pre-Campanian record of the Late Cretaceous Ornithuromorpha in Eurasia, the second record of Cenomanian birds in Russia. This discovery shows that Ichthyornis-like birds enjoyed a wide geographical distribution as early as the beginning of the Late Cretaceous. Given that the earliest and the most primitive ornithuromorph birds are known from Asia, the new find supports a Eurasian origin for Ichthyornithidae.     

The Cretaceous marine onlap on Palaeozoic deposits (Smara–Lâayoune Basin,South Morocco). Comparison with neighbouring regions

The Cretaceous marine transgression proceeded through successive steps from the Albian to the Turonian (dated with ammonites). The onlapping wedge begins with coastal transgressive–regressive short-term sequences on massive, probably fluvial sandstones to be correlated with the very thick continental Lower Cretaceous succession found in the Puerto Cansado well in the Tarfaya sub-basin to the north. A second step, of probable Cenomanian age, reached the Palaeozoic basement. A third, more pronounced step occurred during the earliest Turonian with platy laminated limestone overlain by marlstone bearing pyritized ammonites. At early Turonian peak transgression, a marine connection was possibly established between the Atlantic and the Tethyan margins, between the Anti-Atlas and the Reguibat Shield. From large-scale correlation integrating what occurred along the southwestern shoulder of the Atlas rift, the South Moroccan Atlantic margin may have undergone a short-lived tectonic uplift around the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary.     

The Cretaceous sedimentary history of the Pindos Basin (Greece)

The Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the Pindos Zone in western Greece document the evolution of a Tethyan deep-water basin. New sedimentological and micropalaeontological studies reveal a complex basin history. Siliceous sediments with abundant radiolaria and organic-rich facies prevailed up to the early Late Cretaceous. Within the sediment-starved pre-Middle Cenomanian, marked black shale levels appear that are probably linked to oceanic anoxic events. At the change from the late Early to the early Middle Cenomanian, the sedimentary regime altered abruptly. The early Late Cretaceous is characterized by major calcareous redepositional events (orbitoline horizons) and often associated siliciclastic turbidite deposition (submarine-fan environments). In the late Late Cretaceous, carbonate supply increased rapidly, resulting in the evolution of a carbonate slope and basin-plain setting. Pelagic and allodapic limestones recorded basinwide blooms in planktonic foraminifera (elevata event) and a polyphase redepositional history that is interpreted to reflect the sensitivity of the basin to the tectonic evolution of Apulia.     

Late Cretaceous (Santonian) Atractosteus (Actinopterygii,Lepisosteidae) remains from Hungary (Iharkút,Bakony Mountains)

Lepisosteid fishes are well known from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe, but only by fragmentary remains from some Cenomanian and Campanian–Maastrichtian deposits. Here we report various cranial and postcranial remains of gars, discovered in the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya Formation of Iharkút (Bakony Mountains, Hungary). These remains represent one of the most diverse assemblages of lepisosteid fish material from Upper Cretaceous continental deposits of Europe. Based on tooth morphology, scale-microstructure and the features of the supracleithrum we refer these remains to the genus Atractosteus. Besides some uncertain remains from the Cenomanian of France and Spain, the Santonian aged fossils from Iharkút represent the oldest undisputable occurrence of the family Lepisosteidae in the European continental Cretaceous. Using tooth crown morphology, the surface microstructure of the ganoid scales and the anatomy of the supracleithrum a review of the Late Cretaceous lepisosteid record suggests the occurrence of both Atractosteus and Lepisosteus in the European archipelago.     

Variation on Foraminiferal Composition in Cretaceous Black-Gray-Red Bed Sequence of Southern Tibet, China

An Upper Cretaceous black-gray-red bed sequence was deposited in the Tethys-Himalayan Sea where abundant foraminifera, especially planktons, were yielded. In the shallow shelf to the upper slope on the north margin of Indian plate was recorded an extinction-recovery-radiation cycle of foraminiferal fauna highly sensitive to paleoceanographical changes. The black unit, consisting of the Late Cenomanian-earliest Turonian beds, displays a major extinction, with keeled planktonic and many benthic species as the principal victims at the end of the Cenomanian when existed only low diversity, sin-face water-dwelling foraminifera. The gray unit spans a long-term recovery interval from the Turonian to the early Santonian with keeled planktonic foraminifera returning stepwise to the water colunm. The planktonic biota in the red unit, extremely abundant, indicate a biotic radiation during the Late Santonian and the Early Campanian, implying that the high oxygen levels had returned to all the oceanic depth levels,and that the water stratification disappeared, followed by the radiation of all depth-dwellers. The variation on foraminiferal faunas from the whole sequence refers to the extreme warm climate that appeared in the Middle Cretaceous and to the declined temperature toward the late epoch. Substantial deposits for this warming and cooling zones represent the black shales in the Middle Cretaceous and the red beds in the later period of the southern Tibet. The change in the foraminiferal composition corresponded to the formation of dysaerobic facies and to the development of high-oxidized circumstances.     

松辽盆地晚白垩世青山口组缺氧事件层的地质地球化学特征

松辽盆地白垩系青山口组下部广泛分布一套富含有机碳的黑色泥岩、页岩沉积,是全盆地地层划分对比的一级标志。茂206井是中国白垩纪大陆科学钻探工程井,全井获取了青山口组497.02 m的岩心资料。茂206井青山口组具有相对高的有机碳、干酪根碳同位素正偏、重排甾烷含量低以及普遍存在伽马蜡烷生物标志化合物等有机地球化学特征,表征为白垩纪温室效应时间窗内古湖泊缺氧事件的产物。结合生物地层研究成果,认为青山口期缺氧事件层大体可与白垩纪古海洋Cenomanian-Turonian界线事件层进行对比,进一步证实了青山口组的地质时代属晚白垩世晚Cenomanian-Turonian期的观点。     

Distributional patterns of enchodontoid fishes in the Late Cretaceous

Enchodontoidei are extinct marine teleost fishes with a long temporal range and a wide geographic distribution. We propose here to apply Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity (PAE), Track Analysis and Brooks Parsimony Analysis (BPA) to analyze the distributional patterns of these fishes during the Late Cretaceous. Matrices were built according to their respective geological age in the Late Cretaceous. The occurrence data of enchodontoids produced consistent results for the Cenomanian, Turonian, and Santonian. The generalized track found for the Cenomanian (GT 1) can be associated to oceanic currents, whereas for the Turonian the generalized tracks (GT 2, GT 3 and GT 4) were associated with eutrophication/sedimentation effects. During the Santonian, the third Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE 3) promoted vicariant events that could explain the generalized track found therein (GT 5). The BPA recovered the area formed by Middle East and Europe, which is congruent with GT 1 and GT 5.     

Résultats préliminaires sur la sédimentation pélagique de l'Atlantique tropical au Crétacé et au Tertiaire (plateau de Demerara,Leg ODP 207)

Five sites located on a bathymetric transect of the distal Demerara Rise were studied by ODP Leg 207. Albian sediments of essentially terrigenous nature (clay, siltstone, sandstone) are the oldest drilled stratigraphic levels and form apparently the top of the synrift sequence. They are overlain by Cenomanian to Santonian finely laminated black shales, rich in organic matter of marine origin, which accumulated on a thermally subsiding ramp. Early Campanian hiatuses are thought to be the result of final disjunction of Demerara Rise (South America) from Africa and the onset of deep water communication between the two Atlantic basins (south and central). The overlying Uppermost Cretaceous–Oligocene chalk includes rich and diversified calcareous plankton assemblages, as well as two radiolarian-rich intervals (Late Campanian and Middle Eocene). A complex erosional surface developed during the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene. Sedimentation was impeded since then on the intermediate and deep sites of Demerara Rise, possibly due to the action of deep submarine currents. To cite this article: T. Danelian et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Evolution of radiolarians in the late Albian–Campanian

The dynamics of radiolarian evolution in the late Albian–Campanian is analyzed, and several stages are recognized. The first stage (late Albian–middle Cenomanian), related to the MCE regional anoxic event, showed low evolutionary tempos and hence lacked structural change in radiolarian communities. The second stage (late Cenomanian–early Turonian), corresponding to ОАЕ 2, which was a global anoxic event, is characterized by a decrease in the number of genera, while many genera showed increased diversification of species composition. At this stage, a considerable number of genera became extinct and appeared, suggesting an increased rate of the radiolarian evolution. The third stage (middle Turonian–early Coniacian), including the beginning of ОАЕ 3, is characterized by a stabilized number of genera. The fourth stage (late Coniacian–Santonian) completely encompasses ОАЕ 3 except for its very beginning. At this stage, the radiolarian communities underwent a significant structural change, while their rate of evolution increased considerably. Nevertheless, during the ОАЕ 3 stage, a distinct trend toward a decrease in generic diversity continued from the late Cenomanian to the middle Turonian. The fifth stage (Campanian) is characterized by quite significant changes in the assemblage composition, while the trend toward a gradual decrease in the number of genera steadily continued. At this stage, which coincided with a considerable cooling, twice as many genera became extinct as during ОАЕ 2. The analysis of the dynamics of radiolarian evolution showed that the anoxic MCE, ОАЕ 2, and ОАЕ 3 events did not result in degradation of radiolarian assemblages. This suggests that this group has significant stratigraphic potential. In general, the evolution of radiolarians in the Late Cretaceous was gradual. By the end of the Campanian, nearly half of the generic diversity was composed of genera which appeared at the beginning of the Cretaceous and earlier.     

Facies related phylostratigraphy of the benthic neoselachian Ptychodus from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian/Turonian) of the Pre-North Sea Basin of Europe

The phylostratigraphy, taphonomy and palaeoecology of the Late Cretaceous neoselachian Ptychodus of northern Germany appears to be facies related. Ptychodus is not present in lower Cenomanian shark-tooth-rich rocks. First P. oweni records seem to relate to middle Cenomanian strata. P. decurrens appears in the middle to upper Cenomanian mainly in non-coastal environments of the shallow marine carbonate ramp and swell facies which isolated teeth were found partly in giant ammonite scour troughs on the Northwestphalian-Lippe High submarine swell in the southern Pre-North Sea Basin. They are recorded rare in deeper basin black shales facies (upwelling influenced, OAE Event II). P. polygyrus seems to be restricted to upwelling influenced basin and deeper ramp facies mainly of the uppermost Cenomanian and basal lower Turonian (OAE II Event). P. mammillaris is mostly represented during the lower to middle Turonian in the inoceramid-rich ramp and the near shore greensand facies along the Münsterland Cretaceous Basin coast north of the Rhenish Massif mainland. Finally, P. latissimus is recorded by two new tooth sets and appears in the upper Turonian basin swell facies and the coastal greensands. Autochthonous post-Turonian Ptychodus remains are unrecorded in the Santonian–Campanian of Germany yet. Reworked material from Cenomanian/Turonian strata was found in early Santonian and middle Eocene shark-tooth-rich condensation beds. With the regression starting in the Coniacian, Ptychodus disappeared in at least the Münster Cretaceous Basin (NW-Germany), but remained present at least in North America in the Western Interior Seaway. The Cenomanian/Turonian Ptychodus species indicate a rapid neoselachian evolution within the marine transgression and global high stand. A correlation between inoceramid shell sizes, thicknesses and their increasing size during the Cenomanian and Turonian might explain the more robust and coarser ridged enamel surfaces in Ptychodus teeth, if Ptychodus is believed to have preyed on epifaunistic inoceramid bivalves.     

A new species of Platanus from the Cenomanian(Upper Cretaceous) in eastern Heilongjiang,China

The stratigraphic division and sequence of the Upper Cretaceous sediments in eastern Heilongjiang Province,China,have been ambiguous and controversial,mainly due to a lack of biostratigraphically useful fossils and related radiometric dating.A new species of angiospermous fossil plant.Platanus heilongjiangensis sp.nov.,from Qitaihe in eastern Heilongjiang has been found in sediments conformably above which zircons from a rhyolitic tuff has been dated by U-Pb radiometric methods as 96.2± 1.7 Ma.indicating that the Upper Houshigou Formation is of Cenomanian age.This discovery not only provides new data to improve our stratigraphic understanding of the Houshigou Formation,but also shows that Platanus flourished in the early Late Cretaceous floras of the region.This new study also indicates active volcanism taking place in the eastern Heilongjiang region during the Cenomanian of the Late Cretaceous.     

Evolution of species diversity of Cretaceous radiolarians from high-latitude paleobiochores

Cretaceous radiolarians of the Boreal regions are considered. Their minimal diversity and low abundance are recorded in stratigraphic intervals corresponding to anoxic events. Paleogeographic and ecostratigraphic distribution trends of Cretaceous radiolarians are established for families Heliodiscidae, Prunobrachidae, Pseudoaulophacidae and some others. The most significant turnovers in evolution of radiolarians are confined to the latest Jurassic-earliest Cretaceous, Albian-Cenomanian, Cenomanian-Turonian, terminal Santonian-earliest Campanian transitions and to the terminal Late Cretaceous.     

Micropaleontological evidence for redox changes in the OAE3 interval of the US Western Interior: Global vs. local processes

The Coniacian-Santonian interval has been proposed as the youngest of the Cretaceous ocean anoxic events (OAE3), but this designation has long been debated. OAE3 is associated with a long-lasting (∼3 myr) succession of black shales from the central and South Atlantic, Caribbean region, and the North American Western Interior; in the Western Interior it is characterized by an abrupt increase in total organic carbon (TOC) and corresponding trace metal indicators for anoxia. However, the modern concept of OAEs is predicated on detection of global carbon cycle perturbations as recorded by substantial carbon isotope excursions (CIE), and the protracted Coniacian-Santonian black shale interval does not have a large CIE. A more conservative definition of OAE3 might limit the event to the modest positive carbon isotope excursion restricted to the upper Coniacian Scaphites depressus Ammonite Zone. Trace metal proxies suggest that oxygen levels abruptly declined prior to the onset of this CIE in the Western Interior Sea (WIS), but it is unknown whether regional anoxic conditions were confined to sediments/pore waters, or how anoxia may have affected the biota. In an effort to characterize the oxygenation history of the WIS and to better understand the nature of the hypothesized OAE3, we present micropaleontological evidence of declining oxygen in bottom waters prior to the event using benthic foraminifera, which are sensitive to dissolved oxygen. Changes in benthic foraminiferal abundances suggest a decline in oxygen at least 1-myr prior to the CIE (including a nadir immediately below the start of the excursion), improving bottom water oxygen during the CIE, and re-establishment of persistent anoxia following the isotope excursion. Anoxia endured for nearly 3 myr in the central seaway, showing some signs of recovery toward the top of the Niobrara Formation. Our findings suggest that declining oxygen concentrations in the seaway eventually reached a tipping point, after which dissolved oxygen quickly dropped to zero.The late Coniacian CIE is an exception to the trend of declining oxygen in the WIS, and part of a larger pattern in the oxygenation history of the Niobrara Formation which suggests that it does not adhere to standard black shale models. Transgressive periods, including the Fort Hays Limestone and the lower limestone unit of the Smoky Hill Shale (which corresponds to the CIE) are relatively oxic, while periods of highstand (i.e., most of the Smoky Hill) correspond to deteriorating oxygen conditions. This contrasts with the standard black shale model for sea level and oxygen, where transgressions typically correlate with maximum TOC enrichment, interpreted to result from both sediment condensation and oxygen deficiency. The association of global carbon burial/anoxia (as indicated by carbon isotopes) with a regional increase in oxygen and decrease in organic matter preservation is reminiscent of the Cenomanian-Turonian Greenhorn Limestone, which contains OAE2. In both cases, the facies are not typical black shales, but instead have appreciable carbonate content. Western Interior redox trends support the rejection of the original concept of a protracted Coniacian-Santonian OAE3 because it is not a distinct “event.” Increasing local oxygen during the late Coniacian CIE also argues against a narrower OAE designation for this event, because the excursion can't be tied to anoxia here or anywhere else it has been described. Nevertheless, the Late Coniacian Event (as we prefer to call this CIE) still represents an important perturbation of the global carbon cycle. This is emblematic of the shift away from widespread, discrete anoxic events during the ongoing paleoceanographic reorganization of the Late Cretaceous, even as large carbon cycle perturbations continued.     

藏南定日地区白垩纪中期地球化学异常对海平面上升的响应

西藏南部定日地区在白垩纪中期为一套浅灰色-深灰色的陆源碎屑岩（钙质页岩）及碳酸盐岩（泥灰岩及微晶灰岩）的混积型沉积物，其中的地球化学特征变化反映了古海洋发生的重大变革。δ¹³ C的同位素曲线变化具有明显的低-高-低旋回变化，δ¹³ C正偏与有机碳大量埋藏、海平面上升及缺氧事件密切相关。铀、钍、钾的含量变化及Th/U比值的变化特征表明由海平面上升所形成的全球大洋缺氧的重要时期，由于有机物质及粘土矿物的增多，它们的含量均比标准平均值偏高。而⁸⁷Sr/ ⁸⁶Sr比值在该时期偏低，这也与当时的构造背景及海平面发生重大变化相一致。     

Vergleich von marokkanischen Kreide-Küstenaufschlüssen und Tiefseebohrungen (DSDP): Stratigraphie,Paläoenvironment und Subsidenz an einem passiven Kontinentalrand

In comparison to other regions round the North Atlantic, good exposures in the Moroccan coastal basins offer an excellent opportunity to study the Mesozoic development of a passive continental margin including the relationship between oceanic and coastal sediments and datum levels of the pelagic fossils. From south to north, the Cretaceous sediments of the coastal basins of Tarfaya, Agadir, Essaouira and at the margin of the Meseta are described and compared with each other regarding macro- and microfauna, sedimentology, and paleoenvironment. For the mainly marine 2500 m resp. 1700 thick Cretaceous sequences of Agadir and Essaouira, a correlation of ammonite and foraminiferal zones is proposed. Probably both sections were formed in one basin, but certain facies differences were caused by different water depths since Middle Cretaceous times. Most of the early Cretaceous sediments of the Tarfaya region in the south and of the Meseta in the north are of continental origin. Late Cretaecous sediments of these regions reveal, however, principal differences, especially in view of the macrofauna. On the Meseta, the macrofauna is typical of the Mediterranean faunal province, whereas the Tarfaya fauna is characterized by north-boreal elements. This is explained by the influence of upwelling in connection with the initiation of an oceanic deep-sea circulation, which also can be traced into the Agadir section. As a result, already during Turonian times, here bituminous marls with chert layers are deposited. These are missing farther to the north, but later nannomarls, chalk, chert layers and, in addition, locally phosphates are formed there, too. Generally, during the Cretaceous period, a tendency towards decreasing sedimentation rates and a relative increase of the percentage of pelagic components such as planktonic foraminifera in the local sediment can be observed, indicating a sharp decrease of the terrigeneous influx and a landward transgression of the oceanic water mass. If the global eustatic curve for the Cretaceous oceans is compared to the local bathymetric curves of the Moroccan coastal basins, one can distinguish between local phenomena and global events (Turonian and Campanian transgressions). In comparing the Cretaceous sections of DSDP sites 370 and 137 with the Agadir sequence on the continent, an attempt is made to reveal the development of the marginal North Atlantic, related to an increase of the paleodepth and the influence of the CCD. At Cape Bojador, in a transect across the continental margin from inland wells to the upper rise (DSDP site 397), the subsidence history of the uniformly subsiding ?marginal basin“ is derived. In the Jurassic, the rates of subsidence as well as those of sedimentation reach the order of magnitude of about 100 m/million years. The early Cretaceous subsidence increases up to 140 m/million years. As a result, sedimentation soon cannot keep pace, the water depth at the outer margin increases, and the shelf edge and continental slope are formed. In the last 100 million years, the subsidence decreases more or less exponentially. For the well subdivided Cretaceous sequences of the coastal basins described above, the interrelationship between subsidence, paleowaterdepth, and sedimentation rate has been worked out in more detail.     

Pseudorhapydionina bilottei sp. nov., an endemic foraminifera from the post-Cenomanian/Turonian boundary (Pyrenees,NE Spain)

A new species of the foraminiferal genus Pseudorhapydionina is reported from the Santonian shallow-water carbonate and mixed deposits of La Cova Unit, in the Montsec and Pedraforca thrust sheets (Southern Pyrenees, NE Spain). Pseudorhapydionina bilottei sp. nov. differs from the Cenomanian species of the genus in its larger test size and the number of chambers in its early planispiral-involute stage. The discovery of P. bilottei sp. nov in the Santonian indicates that the genus Pseudorhapydionina escaped extinction during the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary (CTB) event in the Pyrenean bioprovince. A new subfamily Pseudorhapydionininae is described.