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Latest Cretaceous/earliest Tertiary transition on Seymour Island, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2016

William J. Zinsmeister ,
Rodney M. Feldmann ,
Michael O. Woodburne  and
David H. Elliot
William J. Zinsmeister
Affiliation:
1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907
Rodney M. Feldmann
Affiliation:
2Department of Geology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242
Michael O. Woodburne
Affiliation:
3Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside 92521
David H. Elliot
Affiliation:
4Byrd Polar Research Center and Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210
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Abstract

Seymour Island, Antarctica (64°17'S), offers the first opportunity to examine the crisis at the end of the Cretaceous from the high southern latitudes. The K/T boundary sequence on Seymour Island consists of a nearly continuous sequence of siliciclastic sediments deposited in a mid-shelf environment. The faunal changes across the boundary occur through a 30-m interval with no single extinction horizon, in contrast to other well-studied K/T boundary sections. The “expanded” nature of the Seymour Island section makes placement of the K/T boundary difficult because boundary indicators such as planktic foraminifera, ammonites, and dinocysts disappear at different levels within the section.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 63 , Issue 6 , November 1989 , pp. 731 - 738
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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