Title
Upper Cretaceous diatom biostratigraphy of the arctic archipelago and northern continental margin, Canada
Date Issued
01 December 2002
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Harwood D.M.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
Strata in the Canadian Arctic contain diverse and moderately well-preserved Late Cretaceous siliceous microfossil assemblages. One-hundred-twelve samples were analyzed from a composite stratigraphic section (1094m-thick) of the Smoking Hills, Mason River and Kanguk formations. Four sections were examined: (1) Slidre Fjord on Ellesmere Island; (2) Hoodoo Dome on Ellef Ringnes Island; (3) Cape Nares on Eglinton lsland; and (4) Horton River on the Anderson Plains, Northwest Territories. Two hundred-three diatom taxa were identified in forty-nine productive samples. Four Upper Cretaceous diatom zones are proposed for the Canadian Arctic based on the biostratigraphic distribution of diatoms: (i) the Upper Cenomanian to Upper Santonian(?) Gladius antiquus Concurrent Range Zone, (ii) the Lower Campanian Costopyxis antiqua Partial Range Zone, (iii) the lower Upper Campanian Trinacria indefinita Interval Zone, and (iv) the upper Upper Campanian Stephanopyxis simonseni Partial Range Zone. The diatom assemblages are similar to those of Alpha Ridge (Arctic Ocean), Ural Mountains (Russia), and Campbell Plateau (SW Pacific Ocean), enabling diatom-based biostratigraphical correlations within the northern high-latitudes and to the southern high-latitudes. A fifth biostratigraphic zone, Azpeitiopsis morenoensis Concurrent Range Zone, is also proposed, based on common and widespread distribution of the nominative taxon in lower to upper Maastrichtian sediments. Sufficient data is now available to establish the construction of a diatom-based standard zonal framework for the Upper Cretaceous. Two new combinations, Trochosira denticulatum (Strelnikova) Tapia and Trochosiropsis polychaeta (Strelnikova) Tapia are here proposed.
Start page
303
End page
342
Volume
48
Issue
4
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias de la Tierra, Ciencias ambientales
Paleontología
DOI
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-0345304466
Source
Micropaleontology
ISSN of the container
00262803
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus