Jan De Coninck

Dinoflagellate cyst events and depositional history of the Paleocene/Eocene boundary interval in the southern North Sea Basin

High-resolution stratigraphic and micropalaeontological investigations of 30 outcrop and borehole sections throughout Belgium and northern France (Fig. 1) have documented a complex mid-Paleocene to early Eocene depositional history, marked by many discontinuities and major biotic and lithofacies changes (Steurbaut et al. 1998, and in prep.). In the present paper the aquatic palynological stratigraphic record across the Paleocene/ Eocene boundary in northwestern Europe is summarised (pollen and spores are not discussed) and correlated to a revised lithostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic framework (lithostratigraphy based on Steurbaut 1998).

Organic-walled microfossils from the Upper Danian and Middle Paleocene of southern Sweden

Abstract Two samples from the Upper Danian in the Limhamn quarry and from the Middle Paleocene in the Klagshamn quarry, both situated near Malmo, Skane, southern Sweden, have been studied. The association of organic-walled microfossils from the Limhamn sample differs considerably from the one from the Klagshamn sample, apparently due to their different ages.

New Integrated High-Resolution Dinoflagellate Cyst Stratigraphy and Litho- and Chemostratigraphy from the Paris and Dieppe-Hampshire Basins for the ''Sparnacian''

The Paris Basin represents an historical cradle of Palaeogene stratigraphy, where during the nineteenth century the Palaeocene Series and the “Sparnacian Stage” were established. As highlighted by Aubry et al. (2005), whereas the chronostratigraphic connotation of the “Sparnacian Stage” has been controversial since its definition, modern studies of the late Palaeocene–early Eocene interval have revealed that the so-called “Sparnacian” deposits encompass a remarkable and short (~170 kyr) episode of the Cenozoic, the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, ~55.8–55.6 Ma). Dinoflagellate assemblages from the “Sparnacian” of the Dieppe–Hampshire and Paris basins do not contain the key species Apectodinium augustum, whereas it is present in the northern Belgian Basin Tienen Formation and is coeval there with the CIE and the Apectodinium acme interval. However, our calibration of the Apectodinium acme to the CIE in the Dieppe–Hampshire and Paris basins suggests its attribution to the A. augustum zone. The absence of species A. augustum in the Anglo–Paris Basin may be explained by its restriction to more offshore conditions.