Herein, Ryazanian (Berriasian) macrofossils from three well cores in the Central Graben (wells B18-02, L06-02, The Netherlands) and on the Jæren High (well 7/7-2, Norway) in the southern North Sea region are described. Macrofossils are mainly represented by buchiid bivalves (Buchia volgensis) and ammonites (Surites, Lynnia and Praetollia?). The genus Lynnia is recorded for the first time outside its topotypical area, and its systematic position and stratigraphic ranges are discussed. Additionally, the studied core sections yielded coleoid remains and a single limid bivalve. Based on the stratigraphic ranges of key ammonite genera (Lynnia, Surites and Bojarkia), the zonation of the Ryazanian stage is reconsidered. Uppermost Volgian to Ryazanian ammonite faunas are quite consistent and diverse but showing a higher degree of similarity throughout the Panboreal Superrealm as compared to those from rest of the Upper Volgian and the Middle Volgian. Buchia volgensis is the only species known from the southern North Sea and East Anglia, which is in strong contrast to the high diversity of Buchia in East Greenland and the remainder of the Boreal Realm. We hypothesise that such differences in the distribution of ammonites and bivalves in general, and the absence of buchiid species other than Buchia volgensis south of East Greenland in particular, are the result of anoxic bottom water conditions in the southern Viking Strait. The unusually wide geographic range of B. volgensis, which is known from such distant areas as Mexico and the Crimea, suggests a potential higher tolerance of this species to adverse conditions.

A palynostratigraphic zonation is for the first time established for the entire Cretaceous succession in NE Greenland from Traill Ø in the south to Store Koldewey in the north (72–76.5° N). The zonation is based on samples from three cores and more than 100 outcrop sections. The zonation is calibrated to an updated ammonite zonation from the area and to palynozonations from the northern North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea areas. The palynozonation is primarily based on dinoflagellate cyst and accessory pollen. The Cretaceous succession is divided into 15 palynozones: seven Lower Cretaceous zones and eight Upper Cretaceous zones. The two lowermost zones are new. The following five (Lower Cretaceous) zones have already been described. Two of the Upper Cretaceous zones are new. The zones have been subdivided into 20 subzones, 11 of which have been described previously and one of which has been revised/redefined. Nine subzones (Upper Cretaceous) are new. More than 100 stratigraphical events representing more than 70 stratigraphic levels have been recognized and presented in an event-stratigraphic scheme.

The lower–upper Cenomanian boundaries interval of the Nouader site in the Aures Basin (NE Algeria) has been studied for the first time using the association of two particularly effective taxonomic groups, one macrofossil (ammonites), and the other microfossil (foraminifera). The study section is divided into two formations (Fahdene and Bahloul) and one member (Annaba). Biostratigraphicaly, six ammonite biozones and five foraminiferan biozones were identified and calibrated. The ammonite fauna allows recognition of the lower Cenomanian Mantelliceras mantelli Zone, the upper lower Cenomanian Mantelliceras dixoni Zone, the succeeding lower middle Cenomanian Cunningtoniceras inerme Zone, the Acanthoceras rhotomagense Zone and its subzones of Turrilites costatus and Turrilites acutus, followed by the upper middle Cenomanian Acanthoceras amphibolum Zone, the lower upper Cenomanian Eucalycoceras pentagonum Zone and finally the lower Turonian Pseudaspidoceras flexuosum Zone. The foraminiferan biozones are respectively: Thalmanninella brotzeni Zone, Thalmanninella reicheli Zone, Rotalipora cushmani Zone, Whiteinella archaeocretacea Zone and Helvetoglobotruncana helvetica Zone. Among 14 ammonite zones in the Tethyan domain versus 11 in the Boreal domain, seven are common to both domains. For the planktonic foraminifera the Tethyan domain has five zones, the Boreal domain also has five, with five in common. The succession of index species occurs in the same order in both Tethyan (NE Algeria and Central Tunisia) and Boreal realms (East and NW Europe). Furthermore, the supposed depositional setting is interpreted as a calm and relatively deep environment which can be located around the middle to the external platform.

In the extended type area of the Maastrichtian Stage (southern Limburg, the Netherlands; provinces of Limburg and Liège, Belgium; Aachen area, Germany), the pachydiscid Pachydiscus (P.) neubergicus (von Hauer, 1858) ranks amongst the rarer species of Campanian-Maastrichtian ammonites. To date, just four specimens are known, which show P. (P.) neubergicus in this area to have been confined to the Vijlen Member (Intervals 0–6, Gulpen Formation). This would correspond to the basal sumensis Zone to the lower cimbrica Zone, or tegulatus/junior Zone, depending on placement of the Lower/Upper Maastrichtian boundary. Material available has been collected in recent years at the CBR-Lixhe (Liège, Belgium) and ENCI-Maastricht bv (Maastricht) quarries as well as from outcrop 62D-26 at Vijlenerbosch (Vijlen, the Netherlands). Records of P. (P.) neubergicus, the proposed index for the base of the Maastrichtian Stage, from elsewhere in Europe (northern Spain, SW France, Austria, Denmark, Bulgaria), suggest it to have been fairly long-ranging and show local first occurrences to have been diachronous.

Two specimens of a pachydiscid ammonite, a fragmentary silicified phragmocone from the Kunrade Limestone facies at Kunrade (Schunck), and a partial external mould preserved in flint from the Nekum Member (both Maastricht Formation, Belemnitella junior Zone of authors) at the former Blom quarry (Berg en Terblijt), are identified as Pachydiscus (P.) noetlingi Kennedy, 1999, a species previously known only from the Upper Maastrichtian of Baluchistan (Pakistan). This new record underscores the proposal of incursions of Tethyan biota into the type area of the Maastrichtian Stage, previously documented for other groups, including echinoderms and bivalves, as well.

New sedimentological, biostratigraphical and geochemical data recording the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) are reported from a marginal marine succession in southern Beaujolais, France. The serpentinum and bifrons ammonite zones record black shales with high (1–10 wt%) total organic carbon contents (TOC) and dysoxia-tolerant benthic fauna typical of the ‘Schistes Carton’ facies well documented in contemporaneous nearby basins. The base of the serpentinum ammonite zone, however, differs from coeval strata of most adjacent basinal series in that it presents several massive storm beds particularly enriched in juvenile ammonites and the dysoxia-tolerant, miniaturized gastropod Coelodiscus. This storm-dominated interval records a marked negative 5‰ carbonate and organic carbon isotope excursion being time-equivalent with that recording storm- and mass flow-deposits in sections of the Lusitanian Basin, Portugal, pointing to the existence of a major tempestite/turbidite event over tropical areas during the T-OAE. Although several explanations remain possible at present, we favour climatically induced changes in platform morphology and storm activity as the main drivers of these sedimentological features. In addition, we show that recent weathering, most probably due to infiltration of O2-rich meteoric water, resulted in the preferential removal of 12C-enriched organic carbon, dramatic TOC loss and total destruction of the lamination of the black shale sequence over most of the studied exposure. These latter observations imply that extreme caution should be applied when interpreting the palaeoenvironmental significance of sediments lacking TOC enrichment and lamination from outcrops with limited surface exposures.

This paper describes extensive new collections of ammonites made bed-by-bed across the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary sequence in the Flodigarry sections at Staffin Bay on the Isle of Skye. The ammonites belong to the Sub-Boreal family Aulacostephanidae and the Boreal family Cardioceratidae, enabling recognition of both the current standard Sub-Boreal and Boreal ammonite zonations. In consequence, it is possible to make a close correlation of these two zonal schemes through the interval studied in Skye. The research has provided new palaeontological data at levels of precision that justify the proposal of the section at Staffin as the site of a potential Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary.

The traditional Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary placed at the Pseudocordata/Baylei zonal boundary of the Sub-Boreal zonal scheme corresponds precisely to the Rosenkrantzi/Bauhini zonal boundary of the Boreal zonal scheme. This level is characterised by the appearance of the first Pictonia (Pictonia flodigarriensis sp. nov.) together with first Prorasenia, replacing an older assemblage of Ringsteadia–Microbiplices (Sub-Boreal). It is also characterised by the first occurrence of small-sized Amoeboceras (Plasmatites) spp., as well as large Amoeboceras schulginae Mesezhnikov (Boreal). An alternative level that may be considered as a potential GSSP is the boundary between the Bauhini Zone and the Kitchini Zone of the Boreal zonal scheme, characterised by first occurrence of Amoeboceras (Amoebites) of the A. bayi group. This level corresponds to the Planula/Galar subzonal boundary of the Sub-Mediterranean zonal scheme, and lies close to the currently accepted Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary in the Sub-Mediterranean Province.