Latest Maastrichtian palaeoclimatic and depositional environmental perturbations, a record from Micula prinsii Zone of Meghalaya, northeastern India

Abha Singh

doi:10.54991/jop.2018.49

Authors

Abha Singh Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226007, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2018.49

Keywords:

Micula prinsii, Palaeoclimate, Depositional environment, Nannofossil, Latest Maastrichtian, Meghalaya

Abstract

A significant latest Maastrichtian calcareous nannofossil assemblage is recorded from the exposed section near Syndai Village, Meghalaya. A total of twenty two samples from sedimentary succession consisting of shales and sandy shales, calcareous at places, were studied; out of which ten samples were found productive in terms of calcareous nannofossils recovery. The presence of Micula prinsii in all the productive samples along with the other latest Maastrichtian nanno taxa suggests that the assemblage belongs to Micula prinsii Zone and well correlates with the CC26b Zone of Perch Nielsen and UC20dTP Zone of Burnett which are an amalgamation of old and new biozonation schemes from a range of palaeolatitudes and biogeographic provinces from both oceanic and shelf palaeoenvironments. Micula prinsii Perch–Nielsen, the latest Maastrichtian marker all over the globe, is recorded from both deep–sea sections and shelf areas. It is most evolved form of the genus Micula and got extinct just before K– Pg boundary. The Micula prinsii Zone is marked by the first occurrence of Micula prinsii to the last occurrence of unreworked, non–survivor Cretaceous taxa. In the present study, cluster analysis envisaged the palaeodepositional environmental changes within the Micula prinsii Zone in northeastern India. In the lower part of the section, the abundance of Micula concava and Micula staurophora with the increased numbers of Watznaueria barnesiae indicates environmentally stressful conditions with low productivity in surface water. However, in the upper part the increased numbers of Calculites obscurus with the decrease in Micula concava and Micula staurophora abundance indicates relatively increased productivity in surface water in marginal marine depositional environment.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Alam M, Alam MM, Curray JR, Chowdhury MLR & Royhan Gani M 2003. An overview of the sedimentary geology of the Bengal Basin in relation to the regional tectonic framework and basin–fill history. Sedimentary Geology 15: 179–208.

Alvarez LW, Alvarez W, Asaro F & Michel HV 1980. Extra-terrestrial cause for the Cretaceous Tertiary extinction. Science 208: 1095–1108.

Biswas B 1962. Stratigraphy of the Mahadeo, Langpar, Cherra and Tura formations, Assam, India. Bulletin Geological Mining and Metallurgical Society of India 25: l–25.

Bown PR, Lees JA & Young JR 2004. Calcareous nannoplankton evolution and diversity through time. In: Thierstein H & Young JR (Editors)— Coccolithophores–from molecular processes to global impacts, Springer, Berlin: 481–508.

Burnett JA 1998. Upper Cretaceous. In: Bown PR (Editor)—Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy. Chapman and Hall, Cambridge: 132–199.

Chakraborty A 1974. On the rock stratigraphic, sedimentation and tectonics of sedimentary belt in the southeast of Shillong Plateau, Meghalaya. Bulletin of Oil and Natural Gas Commission 2: 133–142.

Chakraborty A & Baksi SK 1972. Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous–Tertiary sedimentary sequence, southwest of Shillong Plateau. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Mining and Metallurgical Society of India 44: 107–127.

Chenet A–L, Quidelleur X, Fluteau F & Courtillot V 2007. 40K/40Ar dating of the main Deccan large igneous province: further evidence of KTB age and short duration. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 263: 1–15.

Chenet A–L, Fluteau F, Courtillot V, Gerard M & Subbarao KV 2008. Determination of rapid Deccan eruptions across the KTB using paleomagnetic secular variation: (I) Results from 1200 m thick section in the Mahabaleshwar escarpment. Journal of Geophysical Research 113: B04101.

Chenet A–L, Courtillot V, Fluteau F, Gérard M, Quidelleur X, Khadri SFRK, Subbarao V & Thordarson T 2009. Determination of rapid Deccan eruptions across the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary using paleomagnetic secular variation: 2. Constraints from analysis of eight new sections and synthesis for a 3500–m–thick composite section. Journal of Geophysical Research 114(B6): B06103. doi: 10.1029/2008JB005644.

Clark MK & Bilham R 2008. Miocene rise of the Shillong Plateau and the beginning of the end for the Eastern Himalaya. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 269: 337–351.

Courtillot V, Besse J, Vandamme D, Montigny R, Jaege, JJ & Cappetta H 1986. Deccan flood basalts at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary? Earth and Planetary Science Letters 80: 361–374.

Courtillot V, Feraud G, Maluski H, Vandamme D, Moreau MG & Besse J 1988. Deccan flood basalts and the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Nature 333: 843–846.

Coxall HK, D'Hondt S & Zachos JC 2006. Pelagic evolution and environmental recovery after the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction. Geology 34: 297–300.

Das Gupta AB & Biswas AK 2000. Geology of Assam. Geological Society of India, Bangalore, India: 1–169.

Doeven PH 1983. Cretaceous nannofossil stratigraphy and paleoecology of the Canadian Atlantic Margin. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Canada 356: 1–70.

Duncan RA & Pyle DG 1988. Rapid eruption of the Deccan flood basalts at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Nature 333: 841–843.

Erba E, Castradori F, Guasti G & Ripepe M 1992. Calcareous nannofossils and Milankovitch cycles: the example of the Gault Clay Formation (southern England). Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 93: 47–69.

Eshet Y, Moshkovitz S, Habib D, Benjamini C & Margaritz M 1992. Calcareous nannofossil and dinoflagellate stratigraphy across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary at Hor Hahar, Israel. Marine Micropaleontology 18: 199–228.

Evans P 1932. Explanatory notes to accompany a Table showing the Tertiary succession in Assam. Transactions mining and Geological Institute of India 27: 155–260.

Fisher CG & Hay WW 1999. Calcareous nannofossils as indicators of mid– Cretaceous paleofertility along an ocean front, U.S. Western Interior. In: Barrera E & Johnson CC (Editors)—Evolution of the Cretaceous Ocean–Climate System. Geological Society of Ammerica, Special Paper 332: 161–180.

Fuqua LM, Bralower TJ, Arthur MA & Patzkowsky ME 2008. Evolution of calcareous nannoplankton and the recovery of marine food webs after the Cretaceous–Paleocene mass extinction. PALAIOS 23: 185–194.

Garg R & Jain KP 1995. Significance of the terminal Cretaceous calcareous nannofossil marker Micula prinsii at the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary in Um Sohryngkew River section, Meghalaya, India. Current Science 69: 1012–1017.

Ghosh AMN 1940. The stratigraphical position of the Cherra Sandstone, Assam. Records of the Geological Survey of India 75: l–l9.

Ghosh S, Fallick AE, Paul DK & Potts PJ 2005. Geochemistry and origin of Neoproterozoic granitoids of Meghalaya, northeast India: implications for linkage with amalgamation of Gondwana supercontinent. Gondwana Research 8: 421–432.

Hadavi F & Moghaddam MN 2014. Nannostratigraphy, nannofossil events, and paleoclimate fluctuations in the lower boundary of Kalat Formation in East Kopet Dagh (NE Iran). Arabian Journal of Geosciences 7: 1501–1515. DOI 10.1007/s12517–012–0802–4.

Henriksson AS & Malmgren BA 1997. Biogeographic and ecologic patterns in calcareous nannoplankton in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during the Terminal Cretaceous. Studia Geologica Salmanticensia 33: 17–40.

Husson D, Galbrun B, Gardin S & Thibault N 2014. Tempo and duration of short–term environmental perturbations across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. Stratigraphy 11: 159–171.

Kaiho K 1994. Planktonic and benthic foraminiferal extinction events during the last 100 m.y. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 111: 45–71.

Keller G, Stinnesbeck W, Adatte T & Stueben D 2003. Multiple impacts across the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary. Earth–Science Reviews 62: 327–363.

Keller G, Adatte T, Berner Z, Harting M, Baum G, Prauss M, Tantawy A & Stueben D 2007. Chicxulub impact predates K–T boundary: new evidence from Brazos, Texas. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 255: 339–356.

Keller G, Adatte T, Gardin S, Bartolini A & Bajpai S 2008. Main Deccan volcanism phase ends near the K–T boundary: evidence from the Krishna–Godavari Basin, SE India. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 268: 293–311.

Keller G, Adatte T, Pardo Juez A & Lopez–Oliva J 2009a. New evidence concerning the age and biotic effects of the Chicxulub impact in NE Mexico. Journal of the Geological Society 166: 393–411.

Keller G, Khosla SC, Sharma R, Khosla A, Bajpai S & Adatte T 2009b. Early Danian planktic foraminifera from Cretaceous–Tertiary intertrappean beds at Jhilmili, Chhindwara District, Madhya Pradesh, India. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 39: 40–55.

Keller G, Adatte T, Bajpai S, Mohabey DM, Widdowson M, Khosla A, Sharma R, Khosla SC, Gertsch B, Fleitmann D & Sahni A 2009c. K–T transition in Deccan traps and intertrappean beds in central India mark major marine seaway across India. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 282: 10–23.

Keller G 2010. KT Mass Extinction: Theories and Controversies. Geoscientist online 5 May 2010.

Lamolda MA, Gorostidi A & Paul RC 1992. Quantitative estimates of calcareous nannofossil changes across the Plenus Marls (latest Cenomanian), Dover, England: implications for the generation of the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary event. Cretaceous Research 15: 143–164.

Lees JA 2002. Calcareous nannofossils biogeography illustrates palaeoclimate change in the Late Cretaceous Indian Ocean. Cretaceous Research 23: 537–634.

MacLean D 1985. Deccan traps mantle degassing in the terminal Cretaceous marine extinctions. Cretaceous Research 6: 235–259.

Medlicott HB 1869. Geological sketch of the Shillong Plateau in northeastern Bengal. Memoir of the Geological Survey of India 7: 151–207.

Norris RD 2001. Impact of K–T boundary events on marine life. In: Briggs DEG & Crowther PR (Editors)—Palaeobiology II, Oxford, Blackwell, Science: 229–231.

Pandey J l981. Cretaceous foraminifera of Um Sohryngkew Section, Meghalaya. Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India 25: 53–75.

Perch–Nielsen K 1985. Mesozoic calcareous nannofossils. In: Bolli HM, Saunders JB & Perch–Nielsen K (Editors)—Plankton stratigraphy. Cambridge University Press: 329–426.

Perch–Nielsen K, McKenzie J & He Q 1982. Biostratigraphy and isotope stratigraphy and the “catastrophic” extinction of calcareous nannoplankton at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Geological Society of America Special Paper 190: 353–371.

Pope KO, Ocampo AC & Duller CE 1991. Mexican site for K/T impact crater. Nature 351: 105.

Rai J, Malarkodi N & Singh A 2013. Terminal Maastrichtian age calcareous nannofossils preceding K/T mass extinction from Ariyalur Formation, Vridhhachalam area, south India. Special Publication Geological Society of India 1: 1–15.

Raja Rao CS 1981. Coalfields of India: Coalfields of north-eastern India. Bulletin Geological Survey of India, Series A 45: 1–76.

Rao JM, Rao GVSP & Sarma KP 2008. Precambrian mafic magmatism of the Shillong Plateau, Meghalaya and their evolutionary history. Journal of the Geological Society of India 73: 143–152.

Reimann K–U 1993. Geology of Bangladesh. In: Reimann KU (Editor)— Gebruder Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart: 1–160.

Roth PH & Krumbach KR 1986. Middle Cretaceous calcareous nannofossil biogeography and preservation in the Atlantic and Indian oceans: implications for paleoceanography. Marine Micropaleontology 10: 235–266.

Rowley DR 1996. Age of initiation of collision between India and Asia: a review of stratigraphic data. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 145: 1–13.

Schulte P, Alegret L, Arenillas I, Arz JA, Barton PJ, Bown PR, Bralower TJ, Christeson GL, Claeys P, Cockell CS, Collins GS, Deutsch A, Goldin TJ, Goto K, Grajales–Nishimura JM, Grieve RAF, Gulick SPS, Johnson KR, Kiessling W, Koeberl C, Kring DA, MacLeod KG, Matsui T, Melosh J, Montanari A, Morgan JV, Neal CR, Nichols DJ, Norris RD, Pierazzo E, Ravizza G, Rebolledo–Vieyra M, Reimold WU, Robin E, Salge T, Speijer RP, Sweet AR, Urrutia–Fucugauchi J, Vajda V, Whalen MT & Willumsen PS 2010. The Chicxulub asteroid impact and mass extinction at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. Science 327: 1214–1218. Shafik S 1990. Late Cretaceous nannofossil biostratigraphy and biogeography of the Australian western margin. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology & Geophysics 295: 1–164.

Smit J, Roep TB, Alvarez W, Montanari A, Claeys P & Grajales–Nishimura JM 1996. Coarse–grained, clastic sandstone complex at the K/T boundary around the Gulf of Mexico: Deposition by tsunami waves induced by the Chicxulub impact? In: Ryder G, Fatovsky D & Gartner S (Editors)— The Cretaceous–Tertiary event and other catastrophes in Earth history. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 307: 151–182.

Tantawy AAAM 2002. Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and palaeoecology of the Cretaceous–Tertiary transition in the central eastern desert of Egypt. Marine Micropaleontology 47: 323–356.

Thibault N & Gardin S 2006. Maastrichtian calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and palaeoecology in the Equatorial Atlantic (Demerera rise, ODP Leg 207 Hole 1258A). Revue de Micropaléontologie 49: 199–214.

Thibault N & Gardin S 2007. The late Maastrichtian nannofossil record of climate change in the South Atlantic DSDP Hole 525A. Marine Micropaleontology 65: 163–184.

Thibault N & Gardin S 2010. The calcareous nannofossil response to the end–Cretaceous warm event in the Tropical Pacific. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 291: 239–252.

Thibault N & Husson D 2016. Climatic fluctuations and sea–surface water circulation patterns at the end of the Cretaceous era: Calcareous nannofossil evidence Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 441: 152–164.

Thierstein HR 1981. Late Cretaceous nannoplankton and the change at the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary. In: Warme JE, Douglas RG & Winterer EL (Editors)—The Deep-Sea Drilling Project: A Decade of Progress. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists 32: 355–394.

Watkins DK & Self–Trail JM 2005. Calcareous nannofossil evidence for the existence of the Gulf Stream during the late Maastrichtian. Paleoceanography 20: A3006. doi.org/10.1029/2004PA001121.

Watkins DK, Wise Jr SW, Pospichal JJ & Crux J 1996. Upper Cretaceous calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and paleoceanography of the Southern Ocean. In: Moguilevsky A & Whatley R (Editors)—Microfossils and Oceanic Environments. Aberystwyth Press, University of Wales: 355–381.

Williams JR & Bralower TJ 1995. Nannofossil assemblages, fine–fraction stable isotopes, and the paleoceanography of the Valanginian–Barremian (Early Cretaceous) North Sea Basin. Paleoceanography 10: 815–839.

Wind FH 1979. Maestrichtian–Campanian nannofloral provinces of the southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In: Talwani M, Hay WW & Ryan WBF (Editors)—Deep Drilling Results in the Atlantic Ocean: Continental Margins and Paleoenvironment. AGU, Maurice Ewing, Series 3: 23–137.

Worsley T & Martini E 1970. Late Maastrichtian nannoplankton provinces. Nature 225: 1242–1243.