The age of the Tojeira Formation (Late Jurassic, Early Kimmeridgian), of Montejunto, west-central Portugal

Abstract

Precise biostratigraphic dating of the Tojeira Formation (Late Jurassic, Early Kimmeridgian) of the Montejunto section of west-central Portugal, which has yielded important planktonic foraminiferal assemblages, is hindered by poor preservation in the upper part of the section as the lithology shifts from shale to coarser clastics. Assignment was previously made to the Idoceras planula and Sutneria platynota zones based on ammonites. Coccolith and dinoflagellate assemblages described here concur with the Early Kimmeridgian, yet, a finer age constraint is proposed by cyclo- and chemostratigraphical correlation. Peaks in δ13Corg and TOC, if equivalent to maxima in the envelope of clay/carbonate cycles in SE France, imply that the c. 50 m-thick section spans a 0.8-myr interval of the S. platynota through upper Ataxioceras hypselocyclum ammonite zones, with the approximate base of the A. hypselocyclum Zone at c. 15.4 m (level 13). Such stratigraphy provides new insights into the upper part of the formation by interbasinal correlation with other Tethyan records. An extended first occurrence of the dinoflagellate species Dichadogonyaulax? pannea in the S. platynota Zone is also proposed.