Biostratigraphy and Paleoecology of Maastrichtian Sediments in the Zagros Basin, Iran

To enable the lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic study of the Gurpi Formation,within the ‘Dezak’ or Globigerina Marl,a stratigraphic section at Booraki,located to the NNW of Shiraz,SW Iran,through the late Cretaceous was examined.The formation consists of shale and greenish-gray marls interbedded with cream limestone,brown sandstones and siltstones with an exposed thickness of 160 m in the studied section.Samples were taken at regular intervals in all yielding 14 genera and 16 different species of benthic and planktic foraminifera that allowed determination of the age of the beds as Maastrichtian.To examine the paleoecology of the formation,some important ecological factors including water level,salinity,and oxygen regime change during the depositional courses of the formation were analyzed.The density of foraminiferans decreases from the base to top of the Gurpi Formation whereas the ratio of planktic to benthic Foraminifera(i.e.,P/B) and proportion of shallow-water fauna increase.These foraminiferal changes indicate an increase and decrease in depth,temperature,salinity and oxygen,respectively,at the base and top of the Formation.     

Planktic foraminiferal and 13C isotopic changes across the Paleocene/Eocene boundary at Possagno (Italy)

 The interval spanning the Paleocene–Eocene (P/E) transition in the Possagno section consists of 1 m of red marls, including a 4-cm-thick, dark-red "dissolution" clay, which represents the Paleocene/Eocene boundary event. The Possagno section is much more condensed than other Tethyan and North Atlantic sections previously studied; however, in this section the most significant biotic, isotopic and sedimentological events across the P/E boundary can be recognized. The Possagno section spans the following planktic foraminiferal subzones: upper part of M. gracilis Subzone, A. berggreni Subzone, A. sibaiyaensis Subzone and probably lowermost part of P. wilcoxensis Subzone. The quantitative analysis indicates a major increase of low-latitude acarininids, including compressed tropical acarininids just above the boundary clay. This acarininid incursion begins just below the boundary clay but reaches its maximum just above the clay. The planktic foraminiferal faunal turnover is gradual except for the acarininid incursion. The isotopic results show a negative excursion in ∂¹³C values at the small benthic foraminifera mass extinction event. The acarininid maximum diversity coincides with this isotopic excursion, and reflects an increase in surface seawater temperature. Despite being very condensed, the Possagno section allows us to further confirm that the different biotic, isotopic and sedimentological events recognized in the Spanish sections (Alamedilla, Campo, Caravaca, Zumaya) are not local in nature and allows the establishment of a detailed chronostratigraphic framework to define the P/E boundary stratotype. Received: 8 April 1998 / Accepted: 12 April 1999     

Sedimentary Characteristics and Models of Paleo-salt Lake During Paleocene and Eocene in the Jiangling Depression of Central China

正1 Sedimentary Characteristics of Paleo-salt Lake In early sedimentary stages of Shashi formation,because of drought climate and the concentration of lake,a set of salt strata of hundreds of meters is developed in the tension     

The Paleocene and Eocene in the Russian part of West Eurasia

Biostratigraphic charts of marine Paleocene and Eocene in the European and West Siberian parts of Russia include the unified zonations of nannoplankton, planktonic and benthic foraminifers, dinocysts, radiolarians, diatoms, and palynomorphs of higher plants. These regional zonations summarize comprehensive data on the Lower Paleogene, which have been obtained by paleontologists and biostratigraphers in the last century. In the content and resolution degree, they represent a solid basis for geological and paleogeographic consideration and characterize the time succession of diverse biotic and abiotic events. On the other hand, the depicted biotic events have been controlled by successive tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic events, because organisms determining contents of biostratigraphic zones changed not only in the course of evolution, but also in response to transformation of surroundings. As elements of general communication systems, epicontinental seas of the Paleogene have been interconnected via straits and seaways, which promoted interchange of water masses and biotas belonging to the Tethys, Atlantic or Arctic oceans, and inner seas. Size and configuration of the seas and seaways changed under influence of tectonic processes and eustatic events of epeirogenic or regional origin. Widening, narrowing, and cessation of communication ways have been responsible for different-scale changes in sedimentation and biotic environments. New materials on the Paleogene in a vast territory of Russian sector of West Eurasia offer an opportunity to revise somewhat the dynamics of climatic changes in the Northern Hemisphere during the Early Cenozoic, which characterize the terminal phase of transition from the warm to cold biosphere of the Earth.     

Lithological and Geochemical Characteristics of the Paleocene/Eocene Sediments corresponding to the PETM Biospheric Event in the Eastern Crimea (Nasypnoe Section)

The paper reports lithological and geochemical data on the stratigraphic interval corresponding to the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) event in the Paleogene section of Eastern Crimea (Nasypnoe section). The section is located on the western continuation of the sublatitudinal profile consisting of 15 PETM sections spanning the area from Crimea to Tajikistan (over 2500 km). It is shown that PETM sediments have the negative δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O isotope excursions and are enriched in kaolinite, which is typical of most sections of this interval around the world. At the same time, the extremely low content of organic matter (OM) in sediments of the Nasypnoe section makes them sharply different from the highly carbonaceous rocks of the PETM interval in Central and Eastern Caucasus, and Central Asian regions. This is correlated with the low contents of many chemical elements in the studied rocks, and their extremely high contents in the highly carbonaceous rocks of the easterly sections. Thus, Eastern Crimea in the end of the Paleocene?beginning of the Eocene was occupied by the low-bioproductive marine paleobasin, whereas the coeval paleobasin in Central Asia was characterized by extremely high bioproductivity owing to the presence of significant amount of phosphorus.     

Integrated stratigraphy and palaeoenvironment of the P/E boundary interval, Rakhi Nala section, Indus Basin (Pakistan)

Marine sedimentary section across the Paleocene/Eocene (P/E) boundary interval is preserved in the Dungan Formation (Lower Indus Basin), Pakistan. Four dinoflagellate zones in the P/E interval of the Rakhi Nala section (Lower Indus Basin) are identified and correlated. The quantitative analysis of the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages together with geochemical data are used to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment across the P/E interval. The dinocyst assemblages allow the local correlation of the Dungan Formation (part) of the Sulaiman Range with the Patala Formation (part) of the Upper Indus Basin and global correlation of the Zone Pak-DV with the Apectodinium acme Zone of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The onset of the carbon isotopic excursion (CIE) associated with Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is used globally to identify the P/E boundary. The CIE for the total organic carbon (fine fraction) δ¹³C_FF is of a magnitude of ?1.7‰ is recorded for the first time in the Indus Basin. The Apectodinium acme precedes and straddles the onset of the CIE in the Indus Basin. This Apectodinium acme is also accompanied by a planktonic and benthonic foraminifera “barren zone.” The CIE in the Indus Basin, coupled with the changes in the dinocyst distribution and the benthonic and planktonic foraminifera assemblages, provides evidence of the changes associated with the PETM in this little-known part of the world. The benthonic foraminiferal assemblage indicates bathyal environment of deposition at the time of P/E boundary interval; the presence of dominantly open marine dinoflagellates and high planktonic foraminiferal ratio suggest that the water column at this site was well connected with the rest of the Tethys.     

Palaeoenvironmental turnover across the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary at the Stratotype section in Dababiya (Egypt) based on benthic foraminifera

The Global Stratotype Section and Point for the Palaeocene/Eocene (P/E) boundary was defined at Dababiya Quarry (Egypt) at the base of the carbon isotope excursion (CIE). We present the first detailed analysis of Palaeocene–Eocene benthic foraminifera from Dababiya, in order to infer the palaeoenvironmental turnover across the P/E boundary. At Dababiya, the CIE coincides with a major turnover in foraminiferal assemblages; the last occurrence of Angulogavelinella avnimelechi, at the base of the CIE, may be correlated to the main phase of extinction of deep-sea benthic foraminifera. Benthic foraminifera indicate that stressful conditions such as oxygen deficiency, carbonate dissolution, and changes in food supply, persisted at the sea floor over most of the CIE interval. The main phase of recovery of benthic foraminifera is recorded c. 250 cm above the P/E boundary, and it may be linked to increased productivity and oxygenation at the sea floor.     

A large collection of Presbyornis (Aves,Anseriformes, Presbyornithidae) from the late Paleocene and early Eocene of Mongolia

We describe a large collection of fossil ‘waterfowl’ bones that are referable to the extinct clade Presbyornithidae (Anseriformes). All of these fossils were collected between 1971 and 1994 from Upper Paleocene and Lower Eocene sediments at the Tsagaan Khushuu site in the Gobi Desert of southern Mongolia. The collection includes specimens referred to a new small species within the genus Presbyornis Wetmore, 1926 as well as large numbers of bones that we place in the genus Presbyornis. On this basis of the Tsagaan Khushuu collection we suggest that several species of Presbyornis likely coexisted in this region; indeed, the presence of large numbers of middle‐sized, morphologically consistent but probably ecologically disparate species at the Tsagaan Khushuu site is consistent with the range of variation seen, for example, in taxa of extant dabbling ducks (Anatini). Although the anatomy and phylogenetic position of Presbyornithidae (in particular Presbyornis) are well known, this material from Mongolia further demonstrates the prevalence of these birds in aquatic and semi‐aquatic habitats by the earliest Paleogene. Because presbyornithids are also well documented from the late Cretaceous, their palaeoecology and morphological diversity provides a clue to selective avian survivorship across the Cretaceous‐Paleogene (K‐Pg) boundary. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From platform to basin: the evolution of a Paleocene carbonate margin (Eastern Desert, Egypt)

In this study, progradation and the subsequent retrogradation of a late Paleocene isolated carbonate platform (Galala Mountains, Eastern Desert, Egypt) is demonstrated by variations of distinct facies associations from the platform margin in the north to the hemipelagic basin in the south. A combination of a sea-level drop and tectonic uplift at around 59 Ma (calcareous nannofossil biozone NP5) favored the initiation of the carbonate platform. From this time onwards, the facies distribution along the platform–basin transect can be subdivided into five facies belts comprising nine different facies associations. Their internal relationships and specific depositional settings are strongly coupled with the Maastrichtian–Paleocene seafloor topography, which resulted from local tectonic movements. Patch reefs and reef debris were deposited at the platform margin and the horizontally bedded limestones on the upper slope. Slumps and debris flows were stored on the lower slope. In the subhorizontal toe-of-slope facies belt, mass-flow deposits pass into calciturbidites. Further southwards in the basin, only hemipelagic marls were deposited. Between 59 and 56.2 Ma (NP5–NP8), the overall carbonate platform system prograded in several pulses. Distinct changes in facies associations from 56.2 to 55.5 Ma (NP9) resulted from rotational block movements. They led to increased subsidence at the platform margin and a coeval uplift in the toe-of-slope areas. This resulted in the retrogradation of the carbonate platform. Furthermore the patch-reef and reef-debris facies associations were substituted by the larger foraminifera shoal association. The retrogradation is also documented by a significant decrease in slump and debris-flow deposits on the slope and calciturbidites at the toe of slope.     

Late Eocene marginal marine deposits and paleoenvironment characterisation from the Maadi Formation (Northern Eastern Egypt)

Two beds containing relatively thick and highly concentrated oyster shell banks occurring in the densely fossiliferous Wadi Al Abraq outcrop (Upper Eocene Maadi Formation, Cairo-Sukhna Road, Egypt). Such shell beds are almost monospecific. The upper level consists mainly of Ostrea clotbeyi Bellardi, topped by a considerable concentration of Carolia placunoides Cantraine, while in the lower level occurs Ostrea multicostata Deshayes. In both beds, the upper contact with the overlying marl bed (about 2 m thick) is sharp and sometimes erosive. Similarly, the contact with the underlying shale (1.5 m thick) is sharp and erosional. The shell beds are composed mainly of loosely packed oyster shells and their fragments (usually with a high proportion of disarticulated specimens) set in the sandy limestone matrix. The collected oysters show bioerosion and skeletobiont assemblages. Bioerosion trace fossils comprise ten ichnospecies while skeletozoans comprise five taxa. In general, shells of O. clotbeyi show a higher incidence of bioerosion than O. multicostata. The shells' chaotic orientation and their moderate fragmentation indicate that the shell bed formation was associated with high energy events. On the other hand, the low frequency of articulated specimens suggests that the shell beds are parautochthonous oyster banks' remnants. The taphonomic features of the studied assemblage indicate deposition in a shallow-water, wave-dominated environment.     

Solutions in chronostratigraphy: the Paleocene/Eocene boundary debate,and Aubry vs. Hedberg on chronostratigraphic principles

In several recent papers, M.-P. Aubry et al. have argued that “Hedbergian” principles of chronostratigraphy are being violated by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) when selecting Global Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSPs) for the formal divisions of the geological time scale. The current debate over the definition of the Paleocene/Eocene (P/E) boundary has been a major focus of their arguments. Unfortunately, Aubry et al. have obscured matters by misusing the term “unit stratotype,” and by equivocally using the term “stage” for the very different concepts of “synthem” and “global chronostratigraphic stage.” The P/E boundary option most repugnant to Aubry et al. (Carbon Isotope Excursion (CIE)=P/E=Thanetian/Ypresian boundary) is perfectly compatible with H.D. Hedberg's views. In contrast, another option preferred by Aubry et al. (recognition of new ∼1 m.y. duration age/stage between Thanetian and Ypresian) is inconsistent with Hedberg's views. Additional problems with the P/E boundary arguments of Aubry et al. include the fact that a “Ypresian unit stratotype” does not exist, the fact that the base of the Ypresian synthem is not immutable, and the fact that the nannofossil Tribrachiatus digitalis is of dubious relevance to the boundary debate.As for chronostratigraphy in general, Aubry et al. have misrepresented Hedberg's views by: (1) falsely claiming that the content of a stage is what determines its boundaries; (2) misunderstanding the general concept of the boundary stratotype; (3) distorting the “base defines boundary” principle; (4) falsely claiming that traditional (pre-GSSP) chronostratigraphic boundaries cannot be changed; (5) falsely implying that traditional stage unit stratotype boundaries can be adjusted by no more than 300,000 years when defining formal age/stage boundaries with GSSPs; (6) falsely claiming that the definition of a geochronologic/chronostratigraphic boundary should precede its correlation; (7) claiming that traditional unconformable “stage” boundaries may be suitable horizons for GSSPs; (8) distorting the meaning of “arbitrariness” in regard to the definition of geochronologic/chronostratigraphic boundaries; and (9) claiming that GSSPs are inherently unstable in that they are subject to redefinition whenever a more powerful element of correlation is discovered. If taken seriously, the unit stratotype-sanctifying chronostratigraphic philosophy of Aubry et al. would require the creation of perhaps dozens of new Phanerozoic ages/stages of relatively very short duration wherever there was a significant gap between two successive historical stage unit stratotypes. For all of these reasons, the arguments of Aubry et al. have no merit.     

印度扇深水区古—始新统烃源岩特征及发育模式

充分利用印度扇深水区及浅水陆棚区地震、测井、岩芯、地化等资料,预测了印度扇深水区古-始新统烃源岩特征,并探讨了烃源岩的发育模式。研究结果表明:印度扇深水区古-始统地层主要以海进体系域为主,在始新统顶部发育厚度较薄的高位体系域,沉积于外陆棚深水相沉积环境,具备烃源岩发育的有利条件。古-始新统烃源岩空间分布范围广,厚度大,最大厚度达900 m以上。烃源岩有机质类型以Ⅱ～Ⅲ型干酪根为主,为混合型生源母质。现今凹陷内大部分烃源岩处于高-过成熟的生干气阶段。综合各地质要素分析,建立了印度扇深水区古-始新统烃源岩发育模式。在古-始新世沉积期,深水凹陷的古地理格局总体变化不大,处于赤道附近的低纬度地带,气候湿热。在有利的有机质保存条件下,古海洋生产力和陆源有机质输入量控制了深水区古-始新统烃源岩的有机质丰度。研究结果将有效指导印度扇深水区的油气勘探工作。     

A comparison of terpenoid and leaf fossil vegetation proxies in Paleocene and Eocene Bighorn Basin sediments

Plant-derived terpenoids, long recognized as biomarkers, can help reveal the major taxonomic groups of land plants present in ancient environments, even if rocks and sediments do not preserve plant macro- or microfossils. Previous studies have used simple di- to triterpenoid ratios to reconstruct floral changes in the geologic past, but few have compared terpenoid ratios with estimates of floral composition from fossils. Further, reconstructions have not taken into account differences in biomarker production (i.e. concentration relative to leaf biomass) between different types of plants. Here, we have examined terpenoids from early Cenozoic fluvial rocks from the Bighorn Basin (Wyoming, USA), where fossil flora has been studied in detail. We analyzed the distributions of diterpenoids, triterpenoids and n-alkanes from leaf wax in a total of 43 samples from 15 stratigraphic horizons of late Paleocene (63 Ma) to early Eocene (53 Ma) in age. In nearly all samples, triterpenoids, derived from angiosperms, were significantly lower in abundance than conifer-specific diterpenoids, a finding that contrasted with plant fossil evidence for the same rocks. This suggests that di- to triterpenoid ratios severely underestimate the abundance of angiosperms in paleovegetation. Angiosperms dominated n-alkane production among modern plants, and we propose a new paleovegetation proxy based on the ratio of diterpenoids (conifers) to n-alkanes (angiosperms), corrected for lipid production estimated from extant vegetation. Using diterpenoids and alkanes, we infer the composition of paleovegetation to be similar to that inferred from plant fossils. Although the approach works well for the Bighorn Basin, we stress the new paleovegetation proxy will need to be evaluated for other time periods, communities, paleogeography and depositional environments with pollen or megafossil data available.     

Palynofacies, coal petrographic facies and depositional environments: Amphitheatre formation (Eocene to Oligocene) and Ravenscrag Formation (Maastrichtian to Paleocene), Canada

Low rank coals from two disparate geological settings have been subjected to petrographic and palynological analysis. The stratigraphic units studied and their locations are the Amphitheatre Formation, St Elias Mountains, Yukon Territory, of Eocene to Oligocene age; and the base of the Ravenscrag Formation, south-central Saskatchewan, of latest Cretaceous to earliest Paleocene age.The depositional setting of the Amphitheatre Formation ranges from distal sand-dominated braided stream and lacustrine environments to proximal gravel-dominated fluvial environments. The coals are low in inertinite (< 6%) and mostly high in huminite (> 85%). In localities with a dominance of angiosperm pollen the relative abundance of eu-ulminite B and densinite is greatest whereas in the ones with a dominantly coniferous pollen assemblage eu-ulminite A is the most prominent maceral. These observations suggest as an immediate cause/effect relationship, an at least partial dependance of present maceral content on floral precursors. This in turn probably reflects a certain combination of depositional environment conditions (pH, Eh, temperature, etc.), that likely controlled the plant community and the preservation of vegetal matter.The depositional environment of coals from the basal part of the Ravenscrag Formation contrasts sharply with that of the Amphitheatre. The Ravenscrag coals formed within a low energy, stable, floodplain environment. Palynological and coal maceral profiles for the basal Ravenscrag Formation coal, which spans the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, indicates that the environment of deposition progressed from an open canopied swamp forest with areas of open water, through a phase of low-lying to open water swamps with herbaceous, pterophytic vegetation to, at least locally, raised bogs. The change in coal petrography across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary is shown to be relatively minor in comparison to subsequent changes in coal petrography in the earliest Paleocene and to changes that occur in the palynological assemblages across the boundary interval.     

Events at the turn of the Eocene and Oligocene in the Central Eurasia Region (middle latitudes)

The Eocene and Oligocene transition sections (Priabonian–Rupelian) of the Aral–Turgai, West Siberian, Volga–Don, and Crimea–Caucasus regions have been studied in detail [1], and the global biospheric crisis events have been estimated at the turn of the Eocene and Oligocene. In spite of the idea of the gradual regression in the Priabonian with drainage of the inner sea basins, it has been established that shallowing of the sea was preceded by repeated transgression that continued for 1 Ma with warming up and humidification of the climate. The final regressive phase (130–200 ka) was accompanied by frequent eustatic and climatic fluctuations, reconstruction of the isotopic and geochemical background, and also the recurrence at the boundary between layers in certain continuous sections.