International Geological Journal - Official Journal of the Carpathian-Balkan Geological Association

DISTRIBUTION AND RECOGNITION OF PHASES IN APTIAN-TURONIAN (CRETACEOUS) BRACHIOPOD DEVELOPMENT IN NW EUROPE

Published: Jun 1997

Pages: 145 - 161

Authors: DANIELE GASPARD

Abstract: Although represented during the Cretaceous (in three faunal provinces: Boreal, Jura, Tethyan), brachiopods have not commonly been considered as competitors of ammonites and foraminifers in the establishment of a standard zonation scheme. Occasionally brachiopods are well represented in thin layers where other faunal groups are absent or poorly represented. The palaeontological evaluation (complementary morphological remarks with an illustration and distribution of most species) is given here for the Aptian-Turonian period, and the correlative value of the most important species is discussed. This analysis leads to a discussion-conclusion concerning: a) ecological considerations (for example, the fact that some genera are preferentialy found in typical facies), b) designation of stratigraphic markers, c) location of the considered fauna elsewhere in the world and, d) a proposal for the recognition of phases in brachiopod development in the present stage of knowledge, with remarks concerning the distribution in correlation with transgressive-regressive movements.

Keywords: NW Europe, Aptian, Albian, Cenomanian, Turonian, recognition of phases, distribution, brachiopods

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