Search results for "Cretaceous."
showing 10 items of 166 documents
A new breath of life for anoxia.
2008
The middle of the Cretaceous (120–80 Ma) was one of the warmest periods of the past 300 m.y., with tropical sea-surface temperatures well over 30 °C ([Puceat et al., 2007][1]; [Forster et al., 2007a][2]) and atmospheric CO2 levels much higher than today. Therefore this period can give us crucial
Palaeohistology and palaeopathology of an Aeolosaurini (Sauropoda: Titanosauria) from Morro do Cambambe (Upper Cretaceous, Brazil)
2021
A recent publication of fossil bones of titanosaurs assigned to Aeolosaurini from the Morro do Cambambe site (Mato Grosso state, Brazil, Upper Cretaceous) reported anomalous growth in some of them. Here, we present osteohistological sections of elements to understand not only the microstructure and growth of such bones, but also the nature of those anomalies. Among them, we selected one cervical and one mediumposterior dorsal rib, and a haemal arch. The primary bone of all specimens consisted of a variation of the fibrolamellar complex, with the inner cortex being rich in woven bone with dispersed longitudinal canals, while the outer cortex was parallel-fibred with rows of longitudinal cana…
First record of early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a from the Paris Basin (France) - Climate signals on a terrigenous shelf
2021
Abstract In 2013, Andra (French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency) drilled boreholes to the south-east of the Paris Basin, to characterise Aptian and Albian clayey formations, including the ‘Argiles a Plicatules’ Formation dated as early Aptian. One of these boreholes intersected this formation with an excellent recovery allowing detailed biostratigraphy (ammonites), sedimentology, clay mineralogy, isotope geochemistry (δ13Corg) and Rock-Eval analyses to be performed. The base of the formation corresponds to transgressive dark-grey silty clays with iron oolites and plant debris indicating a coastal environment evolving up-section to upper offshore environments. Higher in the succ…
An unusual conchorhynch from the upper Maastrichtian of the southeast Netherlands and the distinction between nautiloid and ammonoid conchorhynchs (M…
2022
Abstract A single, atypical conchorhynch (calcitic tip of a cephalopod lower jaw), recovered from the uppermost Meerssen Member (Maastricht Formation, upper Maastrichtian) at the former ENCI-HeidelbergCement Group quarry, south of Maastricht, is described as a new parataxon, Conchorhynchus illustris sp. nov. The specimen can be differentiated from all previous conchorhynch records on account of its large size, elongated shape and, in particular, of the structure of its apical part which is smooth and forwardly elongated. During the Late Cretaceous, conchorhynchs formed part of the jaw apparatus of nautilids and of two ammonoid suborders, Phylloceratina and Lytoceratina. Since conchorhynchs …
Organics versus clastics: conditions necessary for peat (coal) development
1990
Abstract The absence or lack of detrital influx into ancient peat-forming swamps is critical to the formation of low-ash coal. Modern and ancient coal-forming swamps of continental basins show a separation of peat and clastic sediments which is partially fault controlled. In the African rift valleys as well as in the Stephanian intermontane coal basins of France, thick peat free from clastic input may be the result of tectonic activity. In the paralic basins of Morocco (Westphalian B) and Nigeria (Late Cretaceous) coal occur landward of the shoreline turnaround and are related to a relative high stand of the sea, which curtailed detrital influx into the basins. Thus, peat formation occurred…
Jurassic Ophiolite Formation And Emplacement As Backstop To A Subduction-Accretion Complex In Northeast Turkey, The Refahiye Ophiolite, And Relation …
2013
International audience; The eastern Mediterranean region within the Tethyan realm shows a high concentration of ophiolites with contrasting times of formation and emplacement along the belt: In the Balkans, the ophiolites formed during the early to medial Jurassic, and were obducted during the late Jurassic, whereas in Turkey and farther east, structurally intact Jurassic ophiolites are rare and Jurassic ophiolite obduction is unknown. Here we report a structurally intact, large ophiolite body of early Jurassic age from NE Turkey, the Refahiye ophiolite, located close to the suture zone between the Eastern Pontides and the Menderes-Taurus block. The Refahiye ophiolite forms an outcrop belt,…
Impact Energy Flux on Earth in the Last 150 Ma as Inferred from the Cratering Records
1998
We have used a compilation of 30 well-dated large impact craters on Earth (i.e., diameters larger than 5 km) younger than 150 Ma, their diameters, geochronologic ages, and the corresponding uncertainties to construct a graph summarizing our current knowledge on the influx of the impact energy onto the Earth as a function of time. From the crater diameters, we estimated the corresponding impact energies through suitable scaling laws. Then to each crater we associated a gaussian (bell) function of time centered at its age. Finally, all the bell functions corresponding to different craters were summed up and the resulting curve was plotted. From this curve, it is apparent that the 65 Ma old Ch…
Turonian-Maastrichtian biostratigraphy and isotope stratigraphy of the Kopet-Dagh Basin deposits, northeastern Neo-Tethys, Iran
2021
Abstract Planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and isotope stratigraphy analyses of Turonian-Maastrichtian deposits have been carried out in the western part of the Kopet-Dagh Basin. The identification of the planktonic foraminiferal assemblages has led to the recognition of twelve Upper Cretaceous zones (Helvetoglobotruncana helvetica Zone to the Contusotruncana contusa-Abathomphalus mayaroensis zone) from the Tethyan realm. The obtained stable carbon isotope profile correlates with other reference curves, revealing many Late Cretaceous events including the Hitchwood, Navigation, Light Point, East Cliff, White Fall, Late Campanian Event (LCE), Campanian-Maastrichtian Boundary Event (CMB…
Rare earth element contents of Jurassic fish and reptile teeth and their potential relation to seawater composition (Anglo-Paris Basin, France and En…
2002
The rare earth element (REE) chemistry of Jurassic shelf seawater from western Europe (Anglo-Paris Basin) was investigated by analyzing the fish and reptile teeth deposited in shallow to deeper water (<200 m) environments. REE patterns in apatites are controlled by the host sediments. Vertebrate teeth sampled from the siliciclastic sediments (calcareous sandstones and shales) show flat shale-normalized REE patterns that reflect the dominant influence of the continental source from which the REE were derived. Carbonate deposits, protected from the clastic sources, contain fish and reptile teeth whose REE patterns reflect more accurately the REE composition of the overlying water column. The …
Stable isotope composition and rare earth element content of vertebrate remains from the Late Cretaceous of northern Spain (Laño): did the environmen…
2003
Abstract Oxygen and carbon isotope measurements have been performed on phosphatic remains from faunal associations (dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles and fish) of the Late Cretaceous continental and marine sediments from northern Spain (Basque Country). The environmental meaning of the oxygen isotope record in fossil reptiles is discussed on the basis of known paleoecology, modern fauna analogs, and apatite chemistry (rare earth elements (REE), CO32− and PO43− contents). Fossil remains in sandstones and argillites from two localities (Urria and Cuezva) have low (down to 16‰) and scattered δ18O(PO4,CO3) and δ13C values with REE patterns characterized by strong middle REE enrichments. These geoc…