Origin of Jurassic-Cretaceous neptunian dikes from the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland in southern Poland

Abstract

Neptunian dikes, representing deposit-filling fractures in older rocks, have long attracted the attention of paleontologists because they may provide unique insights into ancient cryptic submarine cave ecosystems. In the epicratonic Poland, fossil-bearing neptunian dikes are especially well known in Upper Jurassic (mainly Oxfordian) strata. However, the age, origin and faunal composition of these dikes remain the subject of debates. To address these issues, we integrated new paleontological and petrographic data from the Janina Quarry in southern Poland, where neptunian dikes are particularly well exposed. On the basis of sedimentary facies and faunal content occurring as infill of the analyzed dikes, we recognized three distinct stages of Neptunian dike development. Initially, these dikes represented fissures in the sea bottom resulting from the intense Oxfordian and/or Kimmeridgian synsedimentary processes related to Meso- and Neocimmerian tectonic movements. These initial voids were colonized by small crinoids (cyrtocrinids) and brachiopods (lacunosselids), which resulted in the formation of bioclastic limestones. This is the first Mesozoic record of cryptic cyrtocrinids, which implies that migration of this echinoderm group to cryptic habitats has already occurred in the Late Jurassic, consistent with the so-called Mesozoic Marine Revolution. After the initial opening and subsequent rapid sedimentary filling of voids, rejuvenation of these dikes occurred in the Aptian-Cenomanian that was likely induced by the Austrian tectonic phase. Reopened fissures were subsequently filled by rare allochthonous echinoderms and sandstones containing unusually high (5% vol.) content of heavy minerals implying the Bohemian Massif as the most probable source area. The neptunian dikes were finally reopened during the Turonian-Santonian that was probably related to the subhercynnian tectonic phase. They were presumably inhabited by annelids and ultimately filled by a micritic sediment subsequently bioturbated by infaunal echinoids.