Palaeogeographic reconstructions of the natural environment in southeast Belarus during the Bathonian-Oxfordian ages

Abstract

Palaeogeographic reconstructions of the natural environments in Southeast Belarus during the Bathonian-Oxfordian were carried out using the method of conjugate analysis of facies, sedimentology, paleontology, and geochemistry. The results show the existence of lagoon environments at the end of the Bathonian with a gradually growing sea gulf in the Early Callovian and general marine regime developed by the end of Early Callovian that continued during the Middle-Late Callovian and Oxfordian. Transgression of the sea and intervention of marine faunas occurred in three directions: from Western Europe, Ukraine, and Central Russia. Mollusc and ostracod faunas had mixed characteristics with dominance of the Tethyan elements over the Arctic ones. In the Early Oxfordian the Eastern Paleobasin of Belarus had a stable connection with the Middle Russian Sea.