Mid Campanian-Lower Maastrichtian magnetostratigraphy of the James Ross Basin, Antarctica: Chronostratigraphical implications

• Published in: Basin Research
• Main Authors: Milanese, Florencia N., Olivero, Eduardo B., Raffi, María E., Franceschinis, Pablo R., Gallo, Leandro C., Skinner, Steven M., Mitchell, Ross N., Kirschvink, Joseph L., Rapalini, Augusto E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Blackwell Publishing 2019
• Subjects: Antarctic Peninsula; Marambio group; palaeomagnetism; upper cretaceous; Antarctic; Hamilton Point; Haslum; Haslum Crag; Hill Island; Karlsen; Karlsen Cliffs; Marambio; Sanctuary Cliffs; Snow Hill; Snow Hill Island; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12334

The James Ross Basin, in the northern Antarctic Peninsula, exposes which is probably the world thickest and most complete Late Cretaceous sedimentary succession of southern high latitudes. Despite its very good exposures and varied and abundant fossil fauna, precise chronological determination of its infill is still lacking. We report results from a magnetostratigraphic study on shelfal sedimentary rocks of the Marambio Group, southeastern James Ross Basin, Antarctica. The succession studied covers a ~1,200 mâ€thick stratigraphic interval within the Hamilton Point, Sanctuary Cliffs and Karlsen Cliffs Members of the Snow Hill Island Formation, the Haslum Crag Formation, and the lower López de Bertodano Formation. The basic chronological reference framework is given by ammonite assemblages, which indicate a Late Campanian – Early Maastrichtian age for the studied units. Magnetostratigraphic samples were obtained from five partial sections located on James Ross and Snow Hill islands, the results from which agree partially with this previous biostratigraphical framework. Seven geomagnetic polarity reversals are identified in this work, allowing to identify the Chron C32/C33 boundary in Ammonite Assemblage 8â€1, confirming the Late Campanian age of the Hamilton Point Member. However, the identification of the Chron C32/C31 boundary in Ammonite Assemblage 8â€2 assigns the base of the Sanctuary Cliffs Member to the early Maastrichtian, which differs from the Late Campanian age previously assigned by ammonite biostratigraphy. This magnetostratigraphy spans ~14 Ma of sedimentary succession and together with previous partial magnetostratigraphies on Earlyâ€Mid Campanian and Middle Maastrichtian to Danian columns permits a complete and continuous record of the Late Cretaceous distal deposits of the James Ross Basin. This provides the required chronological resolution to solve the intraâ€basin and global correlation problems of the Late Cretaceous in the Southern Hemisphere in general and in the Weddellian province in ...