A record of the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary climatic variation on the southern margin of the Tethys : clay minerals and palynofacies of the early Cretaceous Jebel Meloussi section (Central Tunisia, Sidi Kralif Formation)

Abstract In order to precise the paleogeographic extension of the climatic variation known at the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary, the sedimentary organic matter (palynofacies and Rock-Eval) and the clay minerals content of Berriasian sediments of the Sidi Kralif Formation are studied on the Jebel Meloussi section, central Tunisia. Standard sedimentological and palynofacies analysis allow to reconstruct the bathymetric curve and the sequence stratigraphic scheme. Using existing biostratigraphy based on calpionellids and ammonite zonation, the sequence stratigraphic interpretation can be correlated with the established eustatic chart. Clay mineral assemblages are characterized by a shift in the…