Stratigraphical and Paleoecological studies on some Paleocene - Eocene Successions in Egypt
Abdel Aziz M. Tantawy;
Abstract
Six Egyptian Paleocene- Early Eocene sections have been analysed for stratigraphic completeness and faunal/floral turnover across the Cretaceous/Paleogene, Danian/Selandian, Selandian/Thanetian and Paleocene/Eocene (PIE) boundaries. All the sections straddle the PIE boundary while five also contain the Maastrichtian/Danian boundary. They are located
•along the southern Nile Valley (G. Owaina), the mid Nile Valley (G. Abu Had), the Quseir region (G. Duwi), the Western Desert (G. Urn Elghanayem, Kharga Oasis, and Bir Abu Nusf, Farafra Oasis) and the northern Eastern Desert (Wadi Tarfa, north of Wadi Qena).
The three best expanded Paleocene sections of G. Owaina, G.Duwi and G. Abu Had were critically analysed at high resolution, for carbon and oxygen isotope composition in order to recognize some of the prominent and global, geochemical events which characterize the KIP and P/E boundaries. The study of different kinds of marker events including planktonic foraminifera, calcareous nannofossils, calcareous benthic foraminifera and stable isotopes allow for prectston correlation and dating of rocks. Correlation with comparable events in other Paleocene-Eocene land sections and deep-sea sequences permit for the establishment of a unified and precise definition for the boundary levels between •different stages.
The results show that the section at G. Abu Had is biostratigraphically complete across the K/P boundary, with the earliest Tertiary Zone Pa 'present. The Gabal Duwi section, however, has a minor hiatus at the KIP boundary where the lower part of Zone Pa is missing. In the other sections, a major hiatus of longer duration exists across this boundary level and is usually marked by a conglomeratic bed. The presence of Cretaceous survivors together with dwarfed heterohelicids and Globigerinelloids in the basal Danian strata belonging to the P. eugubina Zone supports the hypothesis concerning the gradual disappearance of the declining Cretaceous taxa into the early Danian rather than the sudden mass killing theory of the Cretaceous fauna at the K/P boundary.
•along the southern Nile Valley (G. Owaina), the mid Nile Valley (G. Abu Had), the Quseir region (G. Duwi), the Western Desert (G. Urn Elghanayem, Kharga Oasis, and Bir Abu Nusf, Farafra Oasis) and the northern Eastern Desert (Wadi Tarfa, north of Wadi Qena).
The three best expanded Paleocene sections of G. Owaina, G.Duwi and G. Abu Had were critically analysed at high resolution, for carbon and oxygen isotope composition in order to recognize some of the prominent and global, geochemical events which characterize the KIP and P/E boundaries. The study of different kinds of marker events including planktonic foraminifera, calcareous nannofossils, calcareous benthic foraminifera and stable isotopes allow for prectston correlation and dating of rocks. Correlation with comparable events in other Paleocene-Eocene land sections and deep-sea sequences permit for the establishment of a unified and precise definition for the boundary levels between •different stages.
The results show that the section at G. Abu Had is biostratigraphically complete across the K/P boundary, with the earliest Tertiary Zone Pa 'present. The Gabal Duwi section, however, has a minor hiatus at the KIP boundary where the lower part of Zone Pa is missing. In the other sections, a major hiatus of longer duration exists across this boundary level and is usually marked by a conglomeratic bed. The presence of Cretaceous survivors together with dwarfed heterohelicids and Globigerinelloids in the basal Danian strata belonging to the P. eugubina Zone supports the hypothesis concerning the gradual disappearance of the declining Cretaceous taxa into the early Danian rather than the sudden mass killing theory of the Cretaceous fauna at the K/P boundary.
Other data
| Title | Stratigraphical and Paleoecological studies on some Paleocene - Eocene Successions in Egypt | Other Titles | دراسات طباقية وبيئية قديمة على بعض تتابعات الباليوسين - الأيوسين فى مصر | Authors | Abdel Aziz M. Tantawy | Issue Date | 1998 |
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