Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in El Kef, Tunisia:New insights from the El Kef Coring Project
The Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary is marked by one of the largest mass extinctions in Earth’s history, with geological evidence for this event being expressed in hundreds of locations worldwide. An extensively studied section located near El Kef, northwestern Tunisia, is characterized by the...
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ftubristolcris:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:publications/a28508d8-a857-4d9d-af10-32469e8a64de 2024-04-28T08:38:16+00:00 Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in El Kef, Tunisia:New insights from the El Kef Coring Project Jones, Heather L. Westerhold, Thomas Birch, Heather Hull, Pincelli Negra, M. Hédi Röhl, Ursula Sepúlveda, Julio Vellekoop, Johan Whiteside, Jessica H. Alegret, Laia Henehan, Michael Robinson, Libby van Dijk, Joep Bralower, Timothy 2023-09-01 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1983/a28508d8-a857-4d9d-af10-32469e8a64de https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/a28508d8-a857-4d9d-af10-32469e8a64de https://doi.org/10.1130/B36487.1 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/394216816/Jones_et_al._2023_copyedit_version.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85156274132&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/a28508d8-a857-4d9d-af10-32469e8a64de info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Jones , H L , Westerhold , T , Birch , H , Hull , P , Negra , M H , Röhl , U , Sepúlveda , J , Vellekoop , J , Whiteside , J H , Alegret , L , Henehan , M , Robinson , L , van Dijk , J & Bralower , T 2023 , ' Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in El Kef, Tunisia : New insights from the El Kef Coring Project ' , Bulletin of the Geological Society of America , vol. 135 , no. 9-10 , pp. 2451-2477 . https://doi.org/10.1130/B36487.1 article 2023 ftubristolcris https://doi.org/10.1130/B36487.1 2024-04-10T00:17:48Z The Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary is marked by one of the largest mass extinctions in Earth’s history, with geological evidence for this event being expressed in hundreds of locations worldwide. An extensively studied section located near El Kef, northwestern Tunisia, is characterized by the classic iridium-rich K/Pg boundary layer, abundant and well-preserved microfossils, and apparently continuous sedimentation throughout the early Danian with no previously described structural complication. These features led to its designation in 1991 as the Global Stratigraphic Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Danian (i.e., the K/Pg boundary). However, the outcrop section has become weathered, and the “golden spike” marking the GSSP is difficult to locate. Therefore, the El Kef Coring Project aimed to provide a continuous record of unweathered sediments across the K/Pg transition in cores recovered from five rotary-drilled holes located close to the El Kef GSSP. Here, we present new, high-resolution lithologic, biostratigraphic, and geochemical data from these cores. The recovered stratigraphic successions of each hole (all drilled within ~75 m of one another) are unexpectedly different, and we identified a formerly unknown unconformity within planktic foraminiferal biozone P1b. Our results provide evidence that sedimentation at El Kef was not as continuous or free from structural complication as previously thought. Despite these challenges, we present a new composite section from the five El Kef holes and an age model correlated to the orbitally tuned record at Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic Ocean, which is critical in placing the paleoenvironmental and paleoecological records from El Kef in a global context. Article in Journal/Newspaper South Atlantic Ocean University of Bristol: Bristol Research GSA Bulletin |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Bristol: Bristol Research |
op_collection_id |
ftubristolcris |
language |
English |
description |
The Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary is marked by one of the largest mass extinctions in Earth’s history, with geological evidence for this event being expressed in hundreds of locations worldwide. An extensively studied section located near El Kef, northwestern Tunisia, is characterized by the classic iridium-rich K/Pg boundary layer, abundant and well-preserved microfossils, and apparently continuous sedimentation throughout the early Danian with no previously described structural complication. These features led to its designation in 1991 as the Global Stratigraphic Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Danian (i.e., the K/Pg boundary). However, the outcrop section has become weathered, and the “golden spike” marking the GSSP is difficult to locate. Therefore, the El Kef Coring Project aimed to provide a continuous record of unweathered sediments across the K/Pg transition in cores recovered from five rotary-drilled holes located close to the El Kef GSSP. Here, we present new, high-resolution lithologic, biostratigraphic, and geochemical data from these cores. The recovered stratigraphic successions of each hole (all drilled within ~75 m of one another) are unexpectedly different, and we identified a formerly unknown unconformity within planktic foraminiferal biozone P1b. Our results provide evidence that sedimentation at El Kef was not as continuous or free from structural complication as previously thought. Despite these challenges, we present a new composite section from the five El Kef holes and an age model correlated to the orbitally tuned record at Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic Ocean, which is critical in placing the paleoenvironmental and paleoecological records from El Kef in a global context. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jones, Heather L. Westerhold, Thomas Birch, Heather Hull, Pincelli Negra, M. Hédi Röhl, Ursula Sepúlveda, Julio Vellekoop, Johan Whiteside, Jessica H. Alegret, Laia Henehan, Michael Robinson, Libby van Dijk, Joep Bralower, Timothy |
spellingShingle |
Jones, Heather L. Westerhold, Thomas Birch, Heather Hull, Pincelli Negra, M. Hédi Röhl, Ursula Sepúlveda, Julio Vellekoop, Johan Whiteside, Jessica H. Alegret, Laia Henehan, Michael Robinson, Libby van Dijk, Joep Bralower, Timothy Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in El Kef, Tunisia:New insights from the El Kef Coring Project |
author_facet |
Jones, Heather L. Westerhold, Thomas Birch, Heather Hull, Pincelli Negra, M. Hédi Röhl, Ursula Sepúlveda, Julio Vellekoop, Johan Whiteside, Jessica H. Alegret, Laia Henehan, Michael Robinson, Libby van Dijk, Joep Bralower, Timothy |
author_sort |
Jones, Heather L. |
title |
Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in El Kef, Tunisia:New insights from the El Kef Coring Project |
title_short |
Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in El Kef, Tunisia:New insights from the El Kef Coring Project |
title_full |
Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in El Kef, Tunisia:New insights from the El Kef Coring Project |
title_fullStr |
Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in El Kef, Tunisia:New insights from the El Kef Coring Project |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in El Kef, Tunisia:New insights from the El Kef Coring Project |
title_sort |
stratigraphy of the cretaceous/paleogene (k/pg) boundary at the global stratotype section and point (gssp) in el kef, tunisia:new insights from the el kef coring project |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1983/a28508d8-a857-4d9d-af10-32469e8a64de https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/a28508d8-a857-4d9d-af10-32469e8a64de https://doi.org/10.1130/B36487.1 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/394216816/Jones_et_al._2023_copyedit_version.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85156274132&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
genre |
South Atlantic Ocean |
genre_facet |
South Atlantic Ocean |
op_source |
Jones , H L , Westerhold , T , Birch , H , Hull , P , Negra , M H , Röhl , U , Sepúlveda , J , Vellekoop , J , Whiteside , J H , Alegret , L , Henehan , M , Robinson , L , van Dijk , J & Bralower , T 2023 , ' Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in El Kef, Tunisia : New insights from the El Kef Coring Project ' , Bulletin of the Geological Society of America , vol. 135 , no. 9-10 , pp. 2451-2477 . https://doi.org/10.1130/B36487.1 |
op_relation |
https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/a28508d8-a857-4d9d-af10-32469e8a64de |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1130/B36487.1 |
container_title |
GSA Bulletin |
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1797569494343745536 |