Resumen de Morphometry of selected calcareous nannofossils across the Cretaceous-Paleocene boundary at the Bidart (France) and Elles (Tunisia) sections.: Comparison with carbon and oxygen stable isotope ratios
Nicolas Thibault, Fabrice Minoletti, Silvia Gardin, Maurice Renard
A detailed biometric analysis of five species of calcareous nannofossils was carried out on samples from the uppermost Maastrichtian and lowermost Danian of Bidart (Basque Country, SW France) and Elles (central Tunisia). This study reveals the existence of two morphotypes of A. cymbiformis and an abrupt reduction of the five species immediately below the K-T boundary, likely in relation with a stressful environment, which would have developed just before the deposition of the iridium level, followed by a sudden size increase in the basal Danian reflecting the reworking pattern of the Cretaceous species. In addition, the comparison of biometric and isotopic data seems to indicate that the two morphotypes of A. cymbiformis have different ecologies, the large one being favoured in cool waters.
