Campanian-Maastrichtian ammonite and planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy from Tercis, France: Implications for defining the stage boundary

The Campanian-Maastrichtian-aged Grande Carriere quarry near Tercis, southwest France, contains a diverse and abundant assemblage of both micro-and macrofossils from a thick sequence of well-exposed limestones. Its fauna is also a mixture of both Boreal and Tethyan Province species. Because of these...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Paleontology
Main Authors: Ward, Peter, Orr, William
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1997
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022336000039433
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022336000039433
Description
Summary:The Campanian-Maastrichtian-aged Grande Carriere quarry near Tercis, southwest France, contains a diverse and abundant assemblage of both micro-and macrofossils from a thick sequence of well-exposed limestones. Its fauna is also a mixture of both Boreal and Tethyan Province species. Because of these two traits, the quarry provides an excellent source of information about integrated biostratigraphic events among diverse taxa, as well as providing a reference section for correlation between the two biogeographic provinces. The quarry has recently been proposed as a candidate for the Campanian/Maastrichtian boundary stratotype section, while one ammonite found there, Pachydiscus neubergicus, has been proposed as the index fossil marking the base of the Maastrichtian Stage. We have made collections of Upper Cretaceous ammonites and planktonic foraminifera from limestones exposed in, and near this site, which yield new information about the relative stratigraphic ranges of Upper Campanian and Lower Maastrichtian ammonites and foraminifera.