ASGP (2020), vol. 90: 447–462

MAASTRICHTIAN CLIMATE CHANGES – THE CALCAREOUS NANNOFOSSIL RECORD FROM FLYSCH DEPOSITS OF THE OUTER CARPATHIANS

Adam WIERZBICKI* & Mariusz KĘDZIERSKI

Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Institute of Geological Sciences, Gronostajowa 3a, Kraków, Poland; e-mails: adam.wierzbicki@doctoral.uj.edu.pl; mariusz.kedzierski@uj.edu.pl
*) Corresponding author

Wierzbicki, A. & Kędzierski, M., 2020. Maastrichtian climate changes – the calcareous nannofossil record from flysch deposits of the Outer Carpathians. Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, 90: 447–462.

Abstract: The Outer Carpathians are known for a few sections, where transitions from the Upper Cretaceous to the Palaeogene, including the K-Pg boundary interval, were described. One of them, the Bąkowiec section in the Skole Nappe, was examined with reference to the record of biostratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental changes, mainly based on the analysis of calcareous nannofossil assemblages. This study shows no evidence for the K-Pg boundary; however, the presence of the nannofossil species Micula prinsii, marking the topmost Maastrichtian UC20dTP Zone, was noted. The appearance of this low-latitude taxon and relevant changes in the composition of nannofossil assemblages indicate an influx of Tethyan warm water into the northern Carpathian basins during the latest Maastrichtian, shortly before the K-Pg boundary event. Therefore, the authors infer that the upper part of the Bąkowiec section recorded the latest Maastrichtian warming of climate, probably triggered by Deccan volcanic activity.

Manuscript received 05 August 2020, accepted 20 October 2020