Strontium isotope stratigraphy in the Late Cretaceous: intercontinentaI correlation of the Campanian/ Maastrichtian boundary

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the Boreal Chalk of northwestern Europe the base of the Maastrichtian Stage is defined by entry of the belemnite Belemnella. In the Kronsmoor section, in northwestern Germany, which is a standard section for the European Chalk, 87Sr/86Sr at the Campanian/ Maastrichtian (C/M) boundary is 0.707723±9 (10). An isotopic correlation of this boundary to the US Western Interior, for which a highly refined cephalopod biostratigraphy exists, suggests that this boundary, as defined at Kronsmoor, occurs within the Baculites jenseni zone. This correlationagrees with the latest placement based on biostratigraphic criteria. On87Sr/86Srcriteria the boundary at Kronsmoor correlates to the English Chalk at Trunch, Norfolk, UK, at a level 3.5 m lower than its position based on biostratigraphic criteria.At Kronsmoor, 87Sr/86Sr increases in a quasi‐linear manner through much of the section, suggesting that, averaged over intervals of 1 Myr, the gross sedimentation rate and temporal rate of change of 87Sr/86Sr were approximately constant through the section. For US samples, zonally‐plotted values of 87Sr/86Sr define a quasi‐linear trend, which suggests a moderate uniformity of zonal duration from the Baculites compressus zone (73.2±0.7 Ma, 10) to the Baculites grandis zone (70.1±0.7 Ma, 10).