Palynological age constraints on the base of the Helvetiafjellet Formation (Barremian) on Spitsbergen

Grøsfjeld, Karl

doi:10.3402/polar.v11i1.6713

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The progradational deltaic developments in the Svalbard region terminated in the Barremian, with the deposition of the up to 30 m thick, coarse-grained, fluviodeltaic Festningen Sandstone Member of the Helvetiafjellet Formation. This unit directly overlies the Janusfjellet Sub-group (Major & Nagy 1972;Edwards 1976;Steel 1977;Steel et al 1978;Nemec et al 1988;Grøsfjeld 1992;Nemec 1992;Gjelberg & Steel 1995). Although there is no major hiatus at the base of the Barremian section, and despite the regression seen in the Ullaberget Member, there is clear erosion and likely deep fluvial incision in places at the base of the Helvetiafjellet Formation (with fluvial deposits directly on offshore shales in places).…”

Section: Svalbardmentioning

confidence: 98%

Jurassic and Cretaceous palaeogeography and stratigraphic comparisons in the North Greenland-Svalbard region

2002

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Section: Svalbardmentioning

confidence: 98%

Jurassic and Cretaceous palaeogeography and stratigraphic comparisons in the North Greenland-Svalbard region

2002

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“…Some authors (e.g., Gjelberg and Steel, 1995;Midtkandal et al, 2008) suggest that a major subaerial unconformity separates the Rurikfjellet Formation from the Helvetiafjellet Formation at some northwesterly locations, although the Rurikfjellet Formation grades conformably upwards into the Helvetiafjellet Formation in the southeast of Spitsbergen. Whether the uplift and erosion was great enough to cause a significant disconformity between the Rurikfjellet Formation and Helvetiafjellet Formation in the northwest is unclear (see Grøsfjeld, 1992).…”

Section: Geological Setting and Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current age model for the formations making up the Festningen section is based on a combination of biostratigraphy and lithostratigraphy ( Frebold, 1928;Hoel and Ørvin, 1937;Pčelina, 1970;Harland, 1972;Dypvik, 1984;Århus, 1992;Grøsfjeld, 1992; see Fig. 2 for an age model of the Spitsbergen Lower Cretaceous succession).…”

Section: Age Model For the Festningen Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Early studies suggest a Berriasian to Valanginian/Early Hauterivian age for the Rurikfjellet Formation at Festningen (as summarized by Frebold [1928] and Hoel and Ørvin [1937]). Later palynological studies from the Adventdalen region suggest that the Rurikfjellet Formation extends into the Barremian toward the top of the succession (Dypvik, 1984;Grøsfjeld, 1992). The amount of erosion of the Helvetiafjellet Formation into the Rurikfjellet Formation is variable across Spitsbergen; thus, the age of the upper Rurikfjellet Formation at Festningen can only be estimated based on lithostratigraphic correlations, which can certainly be improved upon.…”

Section: Age Model For the Festningen Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stratigraphic and geochemical expression of Barremian–Aptian global climate change in Arctic Svalbard

et al. 2016

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Significant changes in global climate and carbon cycling occurred during the Early Cretaceous. This study examines the expression of such climatic events in high-latitude Svalbard together with the stratigraphic utility of carbon-isotope stratigraphies. Isotopic analysis of fossil wood fragments (from the Rurikfjellet, Helvetiafjellet, and Carolinefjellet formations, Festningen, Spitsbergen) record a distinctive pattern including a negative isotope excursion preceding a positive event, correlatable with the global early Aptian isotope event. Our carbon-isotope profile improves the stratigraphic correlation and relative dating of the succession. We show that the upper part of the Helvetia fjellet Formation was deposited during the early Aptian, and not the late Barremian, as previously thought. Furthermore, we estimate an age for the abrupt contact of the Rurikfjellet Formation with the overlying Helvetiafjellet Formation (associated with a pulse of igneous activity) to be ca. 129 Ma or ca. 124 Ma, depending on which age model for the Early Cretaceous is used. The well-known dinosaur footprints of the Helvetiafjellet Formation at Fest ningen are constrained to the middle Barremian and, coupled with floral data, support a warm late Barremian prior to the Aptian carbon-isotope event. The appearance of glendonites at 655 m in the Carolinefjellet Formation is consistent with global cooling in the late Aptian-early Albian.

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“…Until recently, the Barremian age of the Helvetiafjellet Formation was inferred from stratigraphic relationships and plant fossils (Grøsfjeld 1992;Mørk et al 1999). Apart from plant fragments, macrofossils are scarce.…”

Section: Correlation and Age Of The Succession And Dinosaur Tracksmentioning

confidence: 99%

The theropod that wasn't: an ornithopod tracksite from the Helvetiafjellet Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Boltodden, Svalbard

Hurum

Druckenmiller

Hammer

et al. 2016

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Abstract:We re-examine a Lower Cretaceous dinosaur tracksite at Boltodden in the Kvalvågen area, on the east coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The tracks are preserved in the Helvetiafjellet Formation (Barremian). A sedimentological characterization of the site indicates that the tracks formed on a beach/margin of a lake or interdistributary bay, and were preserved by flooding. In addition to the two imprints already known from the site, we describe at least 34 additional, previously unrecognized pes and manus prints, including one trackway. Two pes morphotypes and one manus morphotype are recognized. Given the range of morphological variation and the presence of manus tracks, we reinterpret all the prints as being from an ornithopod rather than a theropod, as previously described. We assign the smaller (morphotype A, pes; morphotype B, manus) to Caririchnium billsarjeanti. The larger (morphotype C, pes) track is assigned to Caririchnium sp., differing in size and interdigital angle from the two described ichnospecies C. burreyi and C. billsarjeanti. The occurrence of a quadrupedal, small to medium-sized ornithopod in Svalbard is puzzling, considering the current palaeogeographical reconstructions and that such dinosaur tracks have mainly been described from Europe but not North America.Gold Open Access: This article is published under the terms of the CC-BY 3.0 license.

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Palynological age constraints on the base of the Helvetiafjellet Formation (Barremian) on Spitsbergen

Cited by 10 publications

References 3 publications

Jurassic and Cretaceous palaeogeography and stratigraphic comparisons in the North Greenland-Svalbard region

Jurassic and Cretaceous palaeogeography and stratigraphic comparisons in the North Greenland-Svalbard region

Stratigraphic and geochemical expression of Barremian–Aptian global climate change in Arctic Svalbard

The theropod that wasn't: an ornithopod tracksite from the Helvetiafjellet Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Boltodden, Svalbard

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