Elsevier

Cretaceous Research

Volume 26, Issue 5, October 2005, Pages 813-836
Cretaceous Research

The youngest Maastrichtian ammonite faunas from Poland and their dating by scaphitids

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2005.05.007Get rights and content

Abstract

The youngest Maastrichtian ammonite faunas from Poland are discussed in terms of their taxonomic composition, dating and significance for the end-Cretaceous extinction debate. The fauna from the top of the classic Upper Maastrichtian succession at Nasiłów comprises Baculites spp. (including B. anceps), Hoploscaphites constrictus subsp. A, Menuites terminus, Pachydiscus jacquoti and Sphenodiscus binckhorsti. The commonest components of this fauna, i.e. Baculites spp. and H. constrictus subsp. A, occur also at the top of the Maastrichtian at Bochotnica, Prawiedniki, Mętów and Klimusin. A distinctive fauna, identified for the first time in Poland, is present at the top of the Upper Maastrichtian at Mełgiew. It is composed of H. constrictus subsp. B and Baculites sp. In the standard Upper Maastrichtian Boreal succession at Stevns Klint, Denmark, H. constrictus subsp. A is present in the white chalk and is replaced by H. constrictus subsp. B in the overlying Grey Chalk. Details of the evolutionary succession of H. constrictus as recorded at Stevns Klint allow for relative dating of the ammonite occurrences in Poland. The youngest ammonite faunas from Nasiłów, Bochotnica, Prawiedniki, Mętów and Klimusin, which include H. constrictus subsp. A are considered to be older than the ammonite fauna from the Grey Chalk in Denmark. In contrast, the topmost Maastrichtian fauna from Mełgiew, with H. constrictus subsp. B, is thought to be coeval with that from the top of the Grey Chalk. The abundant occurrence of ammonite specimens at the top of the Maastrichtian successions at Stevns Klint and Mełgiew supports some earlier views that the Boreal ammonites did not suffer any perturbations immediately prior to the end of the Cretaceous.

Introduction

Ever since its inception, the impact-extinction hypothesis (Alvarez et al., 1980) has triggered discussions on the nature of the biotic turnover across the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary (e.g., Hallam and Wignall, 1997, Jablonski, 1997, MacLeod et al., 1997, Skelton, 2003). Ammonites are amongst the most frequently quoted victims of the K-Pg crisis, although recent data from the Netherlands and Denmark appear to document their survival into the Danian (Jagt et al., 2003, Machalski and Heinberg, in press). Whatever the age of the last ammonites may be, the rate and pattern of their demise remain enigmatic. This is mainly due to the paucity of sections with a well-dated record of the last ammonites (Kennedy, 1989, Kennedy, 1993, Ward, 1990).

The dating problem also concerns the youngest Maastrichtian ammonite faunas from Poland (Fig. 1A, B). These are known from classic outcrops of the upper Upper Maastrichtian deposits in the Kazimierz Dolny area, Wisła (Vistula) River valley, central Poland (Łopuski, 1911, Pożaryska, 1953, Błaszkiewicz, 1980, Marcinowski and Radwański, 1996, Machalski, 1996a, Radwański, 1996, Machalski and Jagt, 1998) and in the Lublin area (the latter only as records in non-palaeontological papers, e.g., Wyrwicka, 1977, Błaszkiewicz, 1983).

There are physical indications of a hiatus at the K-Pg boundary in both regions (Pożaryski, 1956, Pożaryska, 1965, Krach, 1974, Wyrwicka, 1977, Machalski and Walaszczyk, 1987, Hansen et al., 1989, Kennedy, 1993, Machalski, 1998). The extent of the Maastrichtian portion of this gap has been discussed for the Kazimierz Dolny area only, and opinions on the matter differed widely (Wicher, 1953, Pożaryska, 1965, Hansen et al., 1989, Marcinowski and Radwański, 1996, Machalski, 1996a). Consequently, the precise dating of the last Polish ammonites is not clear, which renders difficult their use in the end-Cretaceous extinction debate.

This paper presents a summary of the youngest Maastrichtian ammonite faunas from Poland and attempts to establish their dating. The latter is based mainly on scaphitid material from Poland and on its comparison to that from the standard Boreal K-Pg section at Stevns Klint, Denmark (Fig. 1A).

I collected most of the ammonite material from Poland; some specimens were kindly donated or loaned by other people, both private collectors and professionals. The material studied is deposited in the Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa (abbreviated ZPAL).

Section snippets

General stratigraphy

Ammonites from the Kazimierz Dolny area come from the upper part of the Kazimierz Opoka, an informal lithostratigraphic unit (Wyrwicka, 1980) of late Late Maastrichtian age (see Abdel-Gawad, 1986 and Machalski, 1996a, for reviews of biostratigraphy). The Kazimierz Opoka unit is composed of siliceous chalk, “opoka” of Polish workers (Pożaryska, 1952), with rare marly and hard limestone intercalations. The material from the Lublin area was collected from an unnamed unit of opoka, also of late

The youngest ammonites in Poland

Ammonites from the upper part of the Kazimierz Opoka in the Kazimierz Dolny area have been described by several authors (Łopuski, 1911, Pożaryska, 1953, Błaszkiewicz, 1980, Machalski, 1996a, Radwański, 1996, Marcinowski and Radwański, 1996, Machalski and Jagt, 1998). This fauna is best known from Nasiłów (Fig. 3; Table 1). Its dominant components are Baculites spp., including Baculites anceps Lamarck, 1822 (Fig. 5C), the latter distinguished by the distinctive teardrop-shaped cross-section with

Reference section and ammonites at Stevns Klint, Denmark

Most of the late Late Maastrichtian ammonites known from Denmark come from the cliff section of Stevns Klint (Sjælland, 60 km south of Copenhagen). The section is 12 km long and exposes up to 40 m of Upper Maastrichtian chalk and 20 m of Danian bryozoan limestone (Birkelund and Håkansson, 1982, Surlyk, 1997, Surlyk and Håkansson, 1999).

The main portion of the Maastrichtian succession at Stevns Klint is composed of a deep-water white chalk (“Skrivekridt”) with abundant Zoophycos burrows, relatively

Biostratigraphic significance of non-scaphitid ammonites

Among non-scaphitids, the youngest ammonite faunas of Denmark and Poland (Table 1) have just a single species in common, the pachydiscid Menuites terminus. Its presence at Nasiłów (Machalski and Jagt, 1998) and Stevns Klint (Birkelund, 1993) documents the highest Maastrichtian ammonite zone, the Menuites terminus Zone, as defined originally in the Bay of Biscay region by Ward and Kennedy (1993, as Anapachydiscus terminus Zone). Two specimens of this species are on record from the hard limestone

Hoploscaphites constrictus as a biostratigraphic tool

Hoploscaphites constrictus is common in the upper Upper Maastrichtian deposits of Poland and Denmark (cf. Birkelund, 1979, Birkelund, 1993, Błaszkiewicz, 1980, Machalski, 1996a). This species turns out to be a key element in ammonite faunas from both countries in terms of biostratigraphic correlation and dating. The samples of H. constrictus from Poland and Denmark and their biostratigraphic potential are discussed below.

Discussion

The extent of the Maastrichtian part of the K-Pg hiatus in Poland was discussed only for the Kazimierz Dolny area (Wicher, 1953, Pożaryska, 1965, Hansen et al., 1989, Marcinowski and Radwański, 1996, Machalski, 1996a, Machalski, 1998). Wicher, 1953, Pożaryska, 1965 and Machalski (1996a) suggested that there is a relatively large hiatus in the Kazimierz Dolny area, with several metres of the uppermost Maastrichtian missing. In contrast, H.J. Hansen et al. (1989, p. 5) argued, on dinoflagellate

Implications

Implications for the mass extinction debate. If the correlations and dating by scaphitids presented above are correct, the ammonites preserved at the top of the upper Upper Maastrichtian successions at Nasiłów, Bochotnica, Prawiedniki, Mętów and Klimusin are older than those from the Grey Chalk at Stevns Klint. Thus these faunas are not suitable for discussions on ammonite evolution just prior to the K-Pg event. In contrast, the ammonite fauna recovered from the top of the upper Upper

Conclusions

The ammonite fauna preserved in the topmost metre of the upper Upper Maastrichtian succession at Nasiłów (Kazimierz Dolny area, central Poland) is composed of common Baculites spp., including B. anceps, and Hoploscaphites constrictus subsp. A, accompanied by extremely rare Menuites terminus, Pachydiscus jacquoti and Sphenodiscus binckhorsti. Newly collected specimens of the three last-named species from Nasiłów have been considered. Abundant Baculites spp., including B. anceps, and H.

Acknowledgements

I am greatly indebted to the Młynarczyk (Mełgiew) and Piasecki (Mętów) families for hospitality, help and permission to dig on their properties. Ryszard Marcinowski, Andrzej Radwański, Krzysztof Dembicz, Janusz Pudełko, Krzysztof Golik and Maciej Małysiak are thanked for the donation or loan of material. Andrzej Błaszkiewicz is thanked for discussions on scaphitid taxonomy and John W.M. Jagt for critical reading and linguistic corrections of the manuscript. Field work in Poland was supported by

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