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Eemian marine mollusks and barnacles from Ristinge Klint, Denmark: hydrodynamics and oxygen deficiency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2016

Jan K. Nielsen*
Affiliation:
Statoil ASA, Exploration and Production Norway, P.O. Box 273, NO-7501 Stjørdal, Norway
S. Helama
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, P.O. Box 64, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
D. Rodland
Affiliation:
George Washington University, Department of Biological Sciences / Geological Sciences Program, 2029 G St. NW, Washington DC 20052, USA
Jasper K. Nielsen
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Tromsø, Dramsvn. 201, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

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Taphonomic analysis of Eemian marine mollusks and barnacles at Ristinge Klint on the island of Langeland (Denmark) provides a distinct record of a temporal succession in preservation states. Four different states of preservation are recognized and related to a decreasing hydrodynamic regime in the depositional setting of the Eemian Baltic Sea. The states show a deepening-upward transition from shallow bay environment towards deeper offshore environment. The depositional setting changed significantly in hydrodynamics about 620 and 1550 years into the Eemian (130,000 to 115,000 years BP), according to biostratigraphic correlation with the varves of the Bispingen succession. The taxonomic composition of the paleofauna supports such a deepening-upward interpretation with a contemporaneous change from brackish water to nearly full marine conditions. The sea bottom was affected by at least one period of oxygen deficiency. The analysis also shows that the preservation of shells varies according to differences in shell structures and life habits. Here we show how these differences should be considered in paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on taphonomic analyses. Taphonomy may play an important role in understanding the hydrodynamic conditions within the Eemian Baltic Sea.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Stichting Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 2007

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