The early Cenomanian crippsi Event at Lüneburg (Germany): palaeontological and stratigraphical significance of a widespread Late Cretaceous bioevent

Abstract

The early Cenomanian crippsi Event comprises a 1–3-m-thick interval characterised by mass occurrences of the early Cenomanian inoceramid Gnesioceramus crippsi, identified in the uppermost Sharpeiceras schlueteri Subzone (lower lower Cenomanian Mantelliceras mantelli Zone), below an interregional sequence boundary (SB Ce 1). At Lüneburg, the event is characterised by densely packed, very large, disc-like valves of G. crippsi. Taphonomy as well as bio- and microfacies suggest an event formation in a deeper shelf setting below the storm-wave base as primary biogenic concentration, the inoceramids living as recumbent forms on a soft substrate in dense populations. When tracked between basins, the stratigraphic pattern of the crippsi Event suggests a moderately prolonged phase (< 100 kyr) of increased shell production with rapid deposition aiding in preserving the shell-rich event strata. Towards the basin margins, it grades into storm wave-reworked bioclastic concentrations. The crippsi Event formed by an interregional population bloom and provides, as an proliferation epibole, an important marker for intra- and interbasinal correlation. The first record of G. mowriensis within the crippsi Event at Lüneburg, hitherto endemic to the US Western Interior Seaway, and the occurrence of the ammonite Metengonoceras teigenense, likewise an endemic North American faunal element, from the level of the crippsi Event in northern France indicate faunal exchange between the New and Old worlds during the early Cenomanian. This faunal dispersal and contemporaneous occurrence of warm-water biofacies in Western Europe during the early Cenomanian is explained by the existence of a perpetual NE-directed current transporting warm surface waters from the Gulf of Mexico towards Europe. The occurrence of short-lived M. teigenense in France allows for the calibration of the uppermost schlueteri Subzone of the mantelli Zone in Europe to the lowermost Neogastroplites muelleri Zone in North America and to assign an age of ~ 98.6–98.7 Ma to the crippsi Event.

Albian to Turonian agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages of the Lower Saxony Cretaceous sub-basins – implications for sequence stratigraphy and paleoenvironmental interpretation

“…At the crippsi Event in the Wunstorf Wu2010/1 core, increased relative abundances of Tritaxia gaultina and T. tricarinata occur. They likely constitute the LHB of DS Al-Ce 1 as proposed for the crippsi Event by Wilmsen (2012) and Wilmsen et al (2021).…”

The extinct shark, Ptychodus (Elasmobranchii, Ptychodontidae) in the Upper Cretaceous of central-western Russia—The road to easternmost peri-Tethyan seas

“…9a). The heating of these shallow water areas probably were due to the superficial ‘proto-Gulf stream’, which distributed warm surface waters from the Gulf of Mexico towards northwestern Europe during the Late Cretaceous (see Ladant et al, 2020; Wilmsen et al, 2021).…”

“…Conversely, the warmer waters of the ‘proto-Gulf stream’, which accessed the peri-Tethyan seas through the northern Anglo-Paris and the Aquitaine basins (see also Wilmsen et al, 2021:fig. 10), allowed Ptychodus species to persist in the northwestern peri-Tethys until the Campanian.…”

Evaluation of compressibility of glacial till contaminated with hydrocarbons on the basis of CRL tests results

“…G. crippsi is a typical lower Cenomanian species widely distributed in Europe, which forms a distinctive bioevent (epibole) in the middle of the M. mantelli Zone (in the upper Sharpeiceras schlueteri Subzone, see e.g. Robaszynski et al 1998;Wilmsen 2012;Wilmsen et al 2021; Table 1). In the expanded successions around Hannover the first specimens appear 3-5 m above the Cenomanian onlap surface represented by a condensed glauconite-and phosphate-rich basal Cenomanian transgressive lag (the Neohibolites ultimus/Aucellina Bioevent of Ernst et al 1983; see also Wilmsen 2012).…”