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The Upper Cretaceous belemnite Praeactinocamax plenus (Blainville, 1827) from Lower Saxony (Upper Cenomanian, northwest Germany) and its distribution pattern in Europe

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Abstract

Occurrences of the Upper Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) belemnite Praeactinocamax plenus from the plenus Bed of northwest Germany (Söhlde-Loges working quarry near Salzgitter, Lower Saxony) are documented and described for the first time on the basis of two in situ finds. The find horizon and its surrounding beds are re-evaluated in a sequence stratigraphical context. In contrast to the interpretations of other authors, the plenus Bed is seen as a pelagization event in a parasequence of transgressively stacked beds, delimited by two significant erosion surfaces below and above. The exclusive occurrence of P. plenus in the top part of the plenus Bed and its absence from the post-plenus Bed succession, in the equivalent of which (higher part of the Plenus Marls Member) it is very common in southern England (Anglo-Paris Basin), is explained by ecological factors in stratigraphically complete sections (intra-shelf depressions) and by gaps in the stratigraphic records in swell settings. The distribution pattern of P. plenus suggests a preference for nearshore settings and a demersal mode of life.

Zusammenfassung

Erstmals werden genau horizontierte Funde des Ober-Cenoman-Belemniten Praeactinocamax plenus aus NW Deutschland (Söhlde bei Salzgitter) abgebildet und beschrieben. Das Fundintervall wird sequenzstratigraphisch als Teil einer transgressiven Parasequenz interpretiert. Das ausschließliche Auftreten vom P. plenus im oberen Teil der plenus Bank NW-Deutschlands und das Fehlen in post-plenus Abfolgen (in denen die Art in England häufig ist) kann ökologisch (Nährstoffangebot, demersale Lebensweise) sowie mit lückenhafter Überlieferung erklärt werden.

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Acknowledgments

Wiese thanks cand. geol. T. Liebrecht and D. Krüger (Berlin) for the donation of the two specimens, and T. Höschel for thin-section analyses. We are indebted to M. Wilmsen (Würzburg) for his careful and helpful review of an early version of this paper. Košták is grateful for funding from the following grants GAČR: 205/06/0842, 205/07/1365 and MSM 0021620855.

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  1. Fachrichtung Paläontologie, Institut für geologische Wissenschaften FU Berlin, Malteserstr. 74-100, 12249, Berlin, Germany

    Frank Wiese

  2. Faculty of Science, Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Charles University Prague, Albertov 6, 128 43, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Martin Košták

  3. Scops Geological Services Ltd., 31 Periton Lane, Minehead, Somerset, TA24 8AQ, UK

    Christopher J. Wood

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Wiese, F., Košták, M. & J. Wood, C. The Upper Cretaceous belemnite Praeactinocamax plenus (Blainville, 1827) from Lower Saxony (Upper Cenomanian, northwest Germany) and its distribution pattern in Europe. Paläontol Z 83, 309–321 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-009-0022-8

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