Maastrichtian-Thanetian planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and remarks on the K-Pg boundary in the southern Kocaeli Peninsula (NW Turkey)

Sarigul V., Hakyemez A., Tuysuz O., Can Genc S., YILMAZ İ. Ö., Özcan E.

TURKISH JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES, cilt.26, sa.1, ss.1-29, 2017 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 26 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2017
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3906/yer-1602-23
  • Dergi Adı: TURKISH JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-29
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Kocaeli Peninsula, NW Turkey, Upper Cretaceous, Palaeocene, planktonic foraminifera, biostratigraphy, CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY, BEY DAGLARI AUTOCHTHON, WESTERN TAURIDES, THIN-SECTION, PALEOCENE, EXTINCTION, STRATIGRAPHY, EVOLUTION, SEDIMENTS, LIMESTONE
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The Kocaeli Peninsula (NW Turkey) provides one of the best exposed deep marine Upper Cretaceous-Palaeocene sections in north-western Anatolia. The biostratigraphic framework from three sections, namely Belen, Bulduk, and Toylar, in the southern part of the Kocaeli Peninsula is established by means of planktonic foraminifera. A very rich planktonic foraminiferal assemblage analysed both in thin sections and washed residues records a biozonation ranging from the Contusotruncana contusa (CF6) Zone (Maastrichtian) to the Globanomalina pseudomenardii (P4) Zone (Thanetian). Although a major part of the biozones in the studied interval is clearly defined, the upper three zones (CF1-3) of the latest Maastrichtian and the P0 and P1a zones of the earliest Palaeocene cannot be recognised. These unrecorded biozones are either completely missing or occurred within a very condensed interval in the studied sections. A hardground layer characterised by oxidation and extensive bioturbation might indicate a possible biostratigraphic gap spanning the CF1-3 zones of the uppermost Maastrichtian in the Belen and Bulduk sections. In the Toylar section, on the other hand, the CF1-3 zones still cannot be detected although a hardground layer is not observed. The biostratigraphic resolution across the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary in the studied sections cannot be improved due to the condensed and well-cemented pelagic carbonates of the boundary interval.