A Late Barremian age for the onset of Urgonian‐type facies in the Swiss Jura Mountains Reply to the discussion by Conrad et al. on “Stratigraphic, sedimentological and palaeoenvironmental constraints on the rise of the Urgonian Platform in the western Swiss Jura” by Godet et al. (2010), Sedimentology, 57, 1088–1125

Reply to the discussion by Charollais et al. on “Reconciling strontium-isotope and K–Ar ages with biostratigraphy: the case of the Urgonian platform, Early Cretaceous of the Jura mountains, Western Switzerland” by Godet et al. (2011), Swiss Journal of Geosciences, 104, 147–160

“…The issue concerning calcareous nannofossils was already discussed in Godet et al (2012). Within the same samples, three different experts observed both late Hauterivian and late Barremian nannofloras (see Clavel et al 2007;Conrad et al 2012;Godet et al , 2012.…”

“…Clavel et al (2007), Conrad et al (2012) and Charollais et al (2013) assign a late Hauterivian age to a large part of the Urgonian deposits. This age interpretation is refuted by Arnaud et al (1998), Huck et al (2011Huck et al ( , 2013 and ourselves (Adatte et al 2005;Godet, 2006;Godet et al , 2011Godet et al , 2012, who showed that important reworking and stratigraphic hiati are located at and near the base of the 'Urgonien Jaune', and inferred a late Barremian age for the Urgonian platform deposits in the Swiss Jura mountains ('Urgonien Blanc').…”

“…The issue concerning calcareous nannofossils was already discussed in Godet et al (2012). Within the same samples, three different experts observed both late Hauterivian and late Barremian nannofloras (see Clavel et al 2007;Conrad et al 2012;Godet et al , 2012. It is important to note-and this is overlooked by Charollais et al (2013)that the sedimentological context of the lower part of the 'Urgonien Jaune' may explain this apparent juxtaposition of ages.…”

“…It is with such scientific concepts in mind that we interpreted our 87 Sr/ 86 Sr dataset. Although sequence stratigraphic issues have been already discussed in a former set of Discussion/Reply articles (Godet et al , 2012Conrad et al 2012), they provide valuable insights which need to be included when dealing with Sr-model ages. The main criticisms of Charollais et al (2013) are reported below, together with an explanation of our view:…”

Bio-chemostratigraphy of the Barremian-Aptian shallow-water carbonates of the southern Apennines (Italy): pinpointing the OAE1a in a Tethyan carbonate platform

“…This is particularly true of shallow-water carbonate platforms whose record is typically characterized by shallowing-upward cycles truncated by subaerial exposure surfaces. systems (e.g., Ginsburg, 1971;Pratt and James, 1986) but in many cases they are best interpreted as formed during one cycle of sea-level change (Strasser, 1991;Strasser et al, 1999). After emersion, a certain lag time elapses before prolific benthic carbonate production catches up (Tipper, 1997).…”