TY - JOUR A1 - Frijia, Gianluca A1 - Parente, Mariano A1 - Di Lucia, Matteo A1 - Mutti, Maria T1 - Carbon and strontium isotope stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Campanian) shallow-water carbonates of southern Italy: Chronostratigraphic calibration of larger foraminifera biostratigraphy JF - Cretaceous research N2 - Shallow-water carbonates are invaluable archives of past global change. They hold the record of how neritic biologic communities reacted to palaeoenvironmental changes. However, attempts to decipher these geological archives are often severely hampered by the low stratigraphic resolution attained by biostratigraphy. This is particularly the case for the Upper Cretaceous carbonate platforms of the central Tethyan realm: their biostratigraphy suffers from very low resolution and poor correlation with the standard biochronologic scales based on ammonites, planktic foraminifers and calcareous nannoplankton. In this paper we show how this problem can be tackled by integrating biostratigraphy with isotope stratigraphy. We present a detailed record of the benthic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and carbon and strontium isotope stratigraphy of three upper Cenomanian-middle Campanian sections belonging to the Apennine Carbonate Platform of southern Italy. For the upper Cenomanian-Turonian interval, the carbon isotope curves of the studied sections are easily correlated to the reference curve of the English Chalk. The correlation is facilitated by the matching of the prominent positive excursion corresponding to the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2. For the Coniacian-middle Campanian interval, the correlation is mainly based on strontium isotope stratigraphy. We use the Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios of the low-Mg calcite of well preserved rudist shells to obtain accurate chronostratigraphic ages for many levels of the three studied sections. The ages obtained by Sr isotope stratigraphy are then used to better constrain the matching of the carbon isotope curves. From the high-resolution chronostratigraphic age-model stablished by isotope stratigraphy, we derive the chronostratigraphic calibration of benthic foraminiferal biostratigraphic events. For the first time the benthic foraminiferal biozones of the Apennine Carbonate Platform can be accurately correlated to the standard ammonite biozonation. This result is of great relevance because the biostratigraphic schemes of other carbonate platforms in the central and southern Tethyan realm are largely based on the same biostratigraphic events. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Strontium isotope stratigraphy KW - Carbon isotope stratigraphy KW - Biostratigraphy KW - Larger foraminifera KW - Upper Cretaceous KW - Apennine Carbonate Platform KW - Southern Italy Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.11.002 SN - 0195-6671 SN - 1095-998X VL - 53 SP - 110 EP - 139 PB - Elsevier CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Albrich, Sergi A1 - Frijia, Gianluca A1 - Parente, Mariano A1 - Caus, Esmeralda T1 - The evolution of the earliest representatives of the genus Orbitoides: Implications for Upper Cretaceous biostratigraphy JF - Cretaceous research N2 - The biostratigraphy of Campanian-Maastrichtian carbonate platforms is largely based on the larger foraminiferal genus Orbitoides. However, while the taxonomy and the chronostratigraphic age of the younger species of this genus are well established, there are still many controversies on the earliest species. We have restudied their morphological characters using a large collection of samples from the type-localities and from continuous sections in the southern Pyrenees. Based on these new observations, the long forgotten species O. sanctae-pelagiae is reinstated, while O. dordoniensis is considered a junior synonym. Successive populations of O. hottingeri, O. sanctae-pelagiae and O. douvillei show gradual morphological changes in time marked by an increase in the size and complexity of the macrospheric embryonal apparatus, an increase of the size of the adult specimens of both generations and the progressive appearance and development of true lateral chamberlets. The Font de les Bagasses Unit in the southern Pyrenees preserves a high-resolution archive of the evolution of the earliest Orbitoides. Strontium isotope stratigraphy indicates that the oldest species, O. hottingeri, made its first appearance in the earliest Campanian, close to the Santonian-Campanian boundary, and was replaced by O. sanctae-pelagiae at a level closely corresponding to the boundary between the Placenticeras bidorsatum and Menabites delawarensis ammonite zones. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Larger foraminifera KW - Biostratigraphy KW - Strontium isotope stratigraphy KW - Late cretaceous KW - Orbitoides Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.04.013 SN - 0195-6671 SN - 1095-998X VL - 51 SP - 22 EP - 34 PB - Elsevier CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Boix, Carme A1 - Frijia, Gianluca A1 - Vicedo, Vicent A1 - Bernaus, Josep M. A1 - Di Lucia, Matteo A1 - Parente, Mariano A1 - Caus, Esmeralda T1 - Larger foraminifera distribution and strontium isotope stratigraphy of the La Cova limestones (Coniacian-Santonian, "Serra del Montsec", Pyrenees, NE Spain) JF - Cretaceous research N2 - The Upper Cretaceous La Cova limestones (southern Pyrenees, Spain) host a rich and diverse larger foraminiferal fauna, which represents the first diversification of K-strategists after the mass extinction at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary. The stratigraphic distribution of the main taxa of larger foraminifera defines two assemblages. The first assemblage is characterised by the first appearance of lacazinids (Pseudolacazina loeblichi) and mean-dropsinids (Eofallotia simplex), by the large agglutinated Montsechiana montsechiensis, and by several species of complex rotalids (Rotorbinella campaniola, Iberorotalia reicheli, Orbitokhatina wondersmitti and Calcarinella schaubi). The second assemblage is defined by the appearance of Lacazina pyrenaica, Palandrosina taxyae and Martiguesia cyclamminiformis. A late Coniacian-early Santonian age was so far accepted for the La Cova limestones, based on indirect correlation with deep-water fades bearing planktic foraminifers of the Dicarinella concavata zone. Strontium isotope stratigraphy, based on many samples of pristine biotic calcite of rudists and ostreids, indicates that the La Cova limestones span from the early Coniacian to the early-middle Santonian boundary. The first assemblage of larger foraminifera appears very close to the early-middle Coniacian boundary and reaches its full diversity by the middle Coniacian. The originations defining the second assemblage are dated as earliest Santonian: they represent important bioevents to define the Coniacian-Santonian boundary in the shallow-water facies of the South Pyrenean province. By means of the calibration of strontium isotope stratigraphy to the Geological Time Scale, the larger foraminiferal assemblages of the La Cova limestones can be correlated to the standard biozonal scheme of ammonites, planktonic foraminifers and calcareous nannoplankton. This correlation is a first step toward a larger foraminifera standard biozonation for Upper Cretaceous carbonate platform facies. KW - Larger Foraminifera KW - Biostratigraphy KW - Strontium isotope stratigraphy KW - Coniacian-Santonian boundary KW - Shallow-water carbonates KW - Pyrenees KW - Spain Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2011.05.009 SN - 0195-6671 VL - 32 IS - 6 SP - 806 EP - 822 PB - Elsevier CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Caus, Esmeralda A1 - Parente, Mariano A1 - Vicedo, Vicent A1 - Frijia, Gianluca A1 - Martinez, Ricard T1 - Broeckina gassoensis sp nov., a larger foraminiferal index fossil for the middle Coniacian shallow-water deposits of the Pyrenean Basin (NE Spain) JF - Cretaceous research N2 - The Upper Cretaceous shallow-water carbonates of the Pyrenean Basin (NE Spain) host rich and diverse larger foraminiferal associations which witness the recovery of this group of protozoans after the dramatic extinction of the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary interval. In this paper a new, large discoidal porcelaneous foraminifer, Broeckina gassoensis sp. nov., is described from the middle Coniacian shallow-water deposits of the Collada Gasso Formation, in the Boixols Thrust Sheet. This is the first complex porcelaneous larger foraminifer of the Late Cretaceous global community maturation cycle recorded in the Pyrenean bioprovince. It differs from the late Santonian-early Campanian B. dufrenoyi for its smaller size in A and B generations and the less developed endoskeleton, which shows short septula. Broeckina gassoensis sp. nov. has been widely employed as a stratigraphic marker in the regional geological literature, under the name of "Broeckina", but its age was so far controversial. Its middle Coniacian age (lowermost part of the Peroniceras tridorsatum ammonite zone), established in this paper by strontium isotope stratigraphy, indicates that it took about 5 My after the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary crisis to re-evolve the complex test architecture of larger foraminifera, which is functional to their relation with photosymbiotic algae and K-strategy. KW - Larger Foraminifera KW - Biostratigraphy KW - Strontium isotope stratigraphy KW - Coniacian KW - Pyrenees KW - Spain Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2013.08.002 SN - 0195-6671 SN - 1095-998X VL - 45 SP - 76 EP - 90 PB - Elsevier CY - London ER -