The Cenomanian-Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event, I. Stratigraphy and distribution of organic carbon-rich beds and the marine δ 13 C excursion

Abstract

Marine strata deposited during late Cenomanian and early Turonian time display lithological, faunal, and geochemical characteristics which indicate that significant parts of the world ocean were periodically oxygen deficient. At, or very close to, the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary, between 90.5 and 91.5Ma ago, oxygen deficiencies were particularly marked over a period of <1Ma. This short-lived episode of oceanic oxygen deficiency has been termed the Cenomanian-Turonian 'Oceanic Anoxic Event' (OAE). The widespread distribution of anoxic sediments deposited synchronously during such a short-lived event indicates that such sediments are not simply the product of coincidental local climatic or basinal water mass characteristics but are the result of a global expansion and intensification of the Cenomanian-Turonian oxygen-minimum zone related to feedback between sea level rise and regional palaeoceanography. The palaeoceanography of the Cenomanian Turonian OAE is discussed in detail in a companion paper by Arthur et al, 1987.-from Authors