Elemental and stable isotope variations in the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary sediments from the Soča Valley, NW Slovenia

Abstract

ABSTRACTOxygen and carbon stable isotopes and 25 elements were determined in the undisturbed K/T boundary profile of a flysch succession in the Soča Valley, Slovenia. The elemental enrichment and stable isotope anomalies are not confined strictly to the biostratigraphically defined K/T boundary. The relatively weak metal enrichment, which is probably due to the high sedimentation rate at the time of deposition of the K/T transition sequence, was found in a clayey layer and in the boundary clayey mar] 15 cm and 5 cm above the boundary, while the negative shift in δ18O and δ13C of carbonates was restricted to the basal part of the boundary clayey marl, approximately 5 cm below the boundary. It is postulated that elemental and isotopic anomalies are probably related to the supposed, so far poorly investigated impact of an extraterrestrial body in the Gorski Kotar area of Croatia.