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Eustatic sea-level record for the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous)-Extension to

the Western Interior Basin, USA

Article  in  Geology · November 2008

DOI: 10.1130/G24838a.1

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Eustatic sea-level record for the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous)—
Extension to the Western Interior Basin, USA
Andrew S. Gale1, Silke Voigt2, Bradley B. Sageman3, William J. Kennedy4
1
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3QL, UK
2
Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences, 24148 Kiel, Germany
3
Department of Geological Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA
4
University Museum of Natural History, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK
ABSTRACT
A combination of biostratigraphic markers (ammonites, inoceramid bivalves) and carbon
isotope excursions is employed to establish a high-resolution correlation between the middle to
late Cenomanian successions of the Western Interior Basin (USA) and the Anglo-Paris Basin
(southern UK). Sequences identified from sedimentologic criteria in the Pueblo succession
and elsewhere in the Western Interior Basin are shown to coincide precisely with globally
recognized sea-level events and were therefore under eustatic control. This evidence refutes
arguments that Cenomanian sequences in the Western Interior Basin were formed by local
tectonic events. The interaction of longer-term tectonic movements and more rapid eustatic
change may have simply enhanced the amount of erosion associated with sequence bound-
aries. A crossplot of radiometric ages derived from North American bentonites against an
orbitally tuned time scale developed in the Anglo-Paris Basin provides support for the argu- Figure 1. Cenomanian map showing Dover,
ment that the sequences were controlled by the 405-k.y.-long eccentricity cycle. UK (Anglo-Paris Basin), Pueblo, Colorado
(Western Interior Basin), and Cauvery Basin,
INTRODUCTION basement fault systems. Vakarelov et al. (2006) southeast India [map source: [Link]
(Ocean Drilling Stratigraphic Network)].
A major controversy in sequence stratig- suggested that these subtle tectonic movements
raphy centers on the relative importance of probably exerted a widespread control of sea
tectonic versus eustatic control on the forma- level at sub-million year frequencies across the Bridge Creek Limestone of Colorado, faunas of
tion of sequence bounding unconformities. northwestern Western Interior (WI) Basin. the Sciponoceras gracile and Neocardioceras
Two extreme viewpoints share little common In this paper we use carbon isotope, ammonite, juddii zones are very similar to those recorded
ground; on the one hand, some workers con- and inoceramid evidence to establish a detailed from the UK and elsewhere, and enable very
sider sequence boundaries to be primarily tec- correlation between the A-P Basin (UK) and the precise correlation down to individual preces-
tonic in origin (e.g., Yoshida et al., 1996), and WI Basin (USA), thus providing a template on sion cycles (Gale et al., 2005).
on the other, the eustatic tradition (e.g., Haq which to compare the sea-level cycles identi- The biostratigraphic datums used in this
et al., 1987) promulgates the view that sea-level fied in each basin from sequence stratigraphic study are:
changes are driven primarily by glacioeustasy. analysis (Fig. 1). The sequence interpretation in (1) First occurrence (FO) of Cunningtoniceras
High-resolution correlation of sea-level signals the southern UK succession is based on data spp.
from widely separated regions with independent in Robaszynski et al. (1998) and modifications by (2) FO of Turrilites acutus Passy, approxi-
tectonic histories provides a means of testing Gale et al. (2002). The establishment of secure mately equivalent with the FO of Calyco-
whether sea-level cycles in different parts of the correlation also allows the direct comparison ceras tunetanum (Pervinquiere) and Acan-
world are contemporaneous and therefore under of time scales based on 40Ar/39Ar dates derived thoceras amphibolum
eustatic control. from sanidines in bentonites in the WI (Obrado- (3) FO of Calycoceras (Proeucalycoceras)
The Cenomanian is an excellent subject for vich, 1993) with an orbital time scale based on spp., corresponding with the FO of Acan-
this type of study, due to the high resolution Milankovitch bedding of hemipelagic marly thoceras jukesbrownei Spath and Calyco-
afforded by biostratigraphy based on cosmo- chalks of the A-P Basin succession (Gale et al., ceras planicostatum (Kossmat)
politan ammonite taxa, and the presence of a 1999), and helps to test the hypothesis that the (4) FO of Inoceramus pictus (J. Sowerby)
widely established δ13C curve that contains eustatic sequence sea-level changes are driven (5) FO of Cunningtoniceras arizonense Kirk-
distinctive, globally correlatable excursions. by the 405-k.y.-long eccentricity cycle (Strasser land and Cobban
In addition, the existence of an orbital time et al., 2000; Gale et al., 2002). (6) FO of Calycoceras guerangeri (Spath)
scale for the stage provides a means of relat- (7) FO of Metoicoceras geslinianum
ing sequence development directly to frequen- Ammonite and Inoceramid Stratigraphy (d’Orbigny)
cies of Milankovitch forcing (Gale et al., 1999, Cenomanian ammonite faunas are mark- (8) Last occurrence (LO) of Calycoceras
2002). Gale et al. (1999, 2002) used ammonites edly cosmopolitan, major exceptions being naviculare (Mantell)
to correlate Cenomanian sequences driven by the hoplitid and acanthoceratid assemblages of (9) occurrence of Puebloites spiralis (Stanton)
the 405-k.y.-long eccentricity cycle between the the WI Seaway. However, the southern WI suc- (10) FO of Euomphaloceras septemseriatum
Cauvery Basin in southeast India and the Anglo- cession locally contains cosmopolitan ammo- (Craigin)
Paris (A-P) Basin in southern England. nites (Cobban and Scott, 1972; Cobban, 1977; (11) FO of Neocardioceras juddii (Barrois
Studies on Cenomanian successions in Wyo- Cobban et al., 1989). A few species character- and Guerne) corresponding with FO
ming and Utah (Kamola and Huntoon, 1995; istic of and largely restricted to the WI Seaway Euomphaloceras costatum Cobban, Hook
Yoshida et al., 1996; Bhattacharya and Willis, are found in other parts of the world, where they and Kennedy
2001; Vakarelov et al., 2006) have identified co-occur with widespread taxa (e.g., Acantho- (12) FO of Watinoceras devonense (Wright
nested, tectonically forced erosional surfaces ceras amphibolum [Morrow], found in Tunisia, and Kennedy) and Mytiloides puebloensis
that have been related to movement on local Nigeria, and Japan). In the late Cenomanian Walazyczck and Cobban (Fig. 2).

© 2008 The Geological Society of America. For permission to copy, contact Copyright Permissions, GSA, or editing@[Link].
GEOLOGY,
Geology, November
November 2008
2008; v. 36; no. 11; p. 859–862; doi: 10.1130/G24838A.1; 5 figures. 859
Carbon Isotope Stratigraphy Pueblo, Colorado Southeast UK
High-resolution correlation of Cretaceous δ13Ccarb (‰ VPDB)
2.0
strata has been facilitated greatly by the dis-
covery of distinctive δ13C excursions that can MM
3-4
be correlated globally and are characterized
individually by their detailed structure (Gale
et al., 1993; Jarvis et al., 2006). In the succes-
sion studied, a double positive excursion in the
early-middle Cenomanian has been described
from the UK (Paul et al., 1994; Jenkyns et al.,
1994), Italy (Jenkyns et al., 1994; Coccioni and

Age
Galeotti, 2003), and the deep sea (Huber et al.,
2002; Moriya et al., 2007). Here we record this
excursion (δ13Corg) based on published (Pratt,
1985) and new high-resolution sampling from
the Rock Canyon succession at Pueblo, where
A.a.
the lower peak is found immediately beneath the
Thatcher Limestone Member of the Graneros
Shale, and the upper is within the Thatcher
(Fig. 3). The correspondence between individ-
δ13Corg (‰ VPDB)
ual minor peaks at Pueblo and Dover is striking,
–28.0 –26.0 –24.0
and provides a time resolution of ~20 k.y.
A large positive excursion in δ13C is present Figure 2. Correlation of middle to late Cenomanian sequences in the Western Interior and
in late Cenomanian–early Turonian sediments Anglo-Paris basins using ammonite and δ13C datums (data are from this study; Pratt, 1985;
worldwide, and is recorded from North America Snow et al., 2005; Jenkyns et al., 1994; Paul et al., 1999) to show that sea-level events (gray
lines) are contemporaneous. Absolute ages are bentonite 40Ar/ 39Ar ages (Obradovich, 1993).
(Pratt, 1985; Snow et al., 2005) and numerous Abbreviations for ammonite zones: C.g. —Calycoceras gilberti; A.g.—Acanthoceras granero-
sites in Europe, Asia, and the Atlantic Ocean. sense; A.m.—Acanthoceras muldoonense; A.b.—Acanthoceras bellense.; A.a.—Acantho-
Detailed correlation is possible using the ceras amphibolum; P.w.—Plesiacanthoceras wyomingense; C.c.—Calycoceras caniturinum;
detailed structure of the curve (Tsikos et al., M.m.—Metoicoceras mosbyense; S.g.—Scipononceras gracile; N.j.—Neocardioceras
juddii; W.d.—Watinoceras devonense. Abbreviations: TL—Thatcher Limestone; SCB—Soap
2004), and together with ammonite stratigra- Creek Bentonite; LL—Lincoln Limestone; MHL—Mid-Hartland Limestone; PM—Plenus Marl
phy, allows correlation of individual precession Member; BC—Ballard Cliff Member; CB—Cast Bed; MM—Meads Marls; JB7—Juke’s Brown
cycles between southern England and Pueblo Bed 7; MM3-4—Meads Marls 3-4; VPDB—Vienna Peedee belemnite.
(Gale et al., 2005).

SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY AND

CORRELATION OF THE WESTERN
Acanthoceras rhotomagense

Calycoceras gilberti
INTERIOR BASIN SUCCESSION
One of the most complete and best studied
Cenomanian successions from the perspectives
of both sedimentology and biostratigraphy in
the WI Basin is that exposed in the Rock Can-
yon anticline at Pueblo, Colorado (Cobban
Cunnigtoniceras

and Scott, 1972; Sageman and Johnson, 1985;

inerme

Sageman, 1985). Here, the middle and upper

Cenomanian are represented by 40 m of marine
Graneros Shale and 34 m of Greenhorn Lime-
stone (Fig. 2). The base of Bed 86 of the Bridge
Creek Limestone here is the Global Boundary 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 –25.5 –25.0 –24.5
Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the δ13C (‰) δ13C (‰)
Turonian (Kennedy et al., 2000).
Figure 3. Correlation of middle Cenomanian δ13C excursion at Folkstone (Anglo-Paris Basin)
A sequence stratigraphic model for the later and at Rock Canyon, Colorado. Note coeval occurrence of transgressive surfaces (TS) in
part of the Cenomanian and Turonian succes- Cast Bed and at base of Thatcher Limestone (Th. L.). L—lower; U—upper.
sion of the central WI Basin was described by
Sageman (1996): he identified recurring skeletal valley deposits (Sageman, 1985). The skeletal tive levels extending north into Wyoming and
limestone packages as tempestites formed close limestones formed by storm winnowing during South Dakota; Cobban, 1984); (2) limestone
to storm wave base during sea-level lows, on a sea-level fall, and condensation due to starvation lenses associated with the Soap Creek bentonite
basinal profile with very gentle slopes. Sage- during the subsequent rise. They thus represent at the summit of the Graneros Shale, extending
man (1996) traced four such levels, set within lowstands and/or deposits of early transgres- across the Great Plains region (Cobban, 1984);
a monotonous succession of shales, across the sion. Six widely traceable skeletal packages (3) the calcarentic thinly bedded Upper Lincoln
central part of the basin (New Mexico, Colo- of this type are present in the Cenomanian Limestone Member of Kansas and Colorado
rado, and Kansas). Toward the western sea- successions of Colorado and Kansas: (1) the (Sageman and Johnson, 1985) of Calycoceras
board of the WI Basin these pass laterally into Thatcher Limestone Member (northeastern canitaurinum zone age; (4) the thin calcarenites
prograding clastic wedges that contain incised New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, correla- of the Middle Hartland Shale Member (Sage-

860 GEOLOGY, November 2008

man, 1985, 1996) of Kansas and Colorado; 1984), which in New Mexico yields Calyco- tectonic sequences described from these states
(5) the basal Bridge Creek Limestone Member ceras (Procalycoceras) guerangeri (Cobban directly with a eustatic template.
of S. gracile zone age in Colorado and Kansas et al., 1989), a species that appears close to the The Soap Creek bentonite is a particularly use-
(Sageman, 1996); and (6) the calcarenitic part late Cenomanian fourth sequence boundary in ful isochronous marker bed because it extends
of the Bridge Creek Limestone of N. juddii zone India and England (Gale et al., 2002). from Texas to Alberta, Canada (Obradovitch,
age in Kansas and Colorado. 1993). The erosional surface (with an over-
Sequence 5
The 12 faunal and δ13C events enumer- lying transgressive lag), which truncates the
The fifth sequence boundary in the A-P Basin
ated above provide high-resolution correlation Second Frontier Sandstone in Wyoming, directly
is at the base of the Plenus Marls (Robaszynski
between the Cenomanian sequences developed underlies the Soap Creek bentonite (Vakarelov
et al., 1998) and the FO of M. geslinianum and
in the WI and those described for the A-P Basin et al., 2006) and can thus be correlated precisely
the base of the late Cenomanian δ13C excursion.
(Robaszynski et al., 1998; Gale et al., 2002). The with the second sequence boundary identified at
The latter event is in the uppermost part of the
high density of correlation points in the two car- Pueblo in the Acanthoceras amphibolum zone.
Hartland Shale at Pueblo, and the basal bed of
bon isotope excursions allows correlation with This coincidence means that there is probably
the Bridge Creek Limestone (Bed 63) represents
a precision of ~20 k.y. for these intervals, but a an overriding eustatic control to the erosional
the overlying transgressive surface, equivalent
lower resolution of 100 k.y. for the intervening unconformity developed on the surface of the
to Bed 3 of the Plenus Marls in the UK (Fig. 4;
strata. It is thus possible to investigate whether Second Frontier Sandstone in Wyoming. How-
Gale et al., 2005).
sea-level events in the UK and WI successions ever, the close relationship between development
are contemporaneous. In the studied middle Sequence 6 of the unconformity and local basement fault-
Cenomanian to earliest Turonian interval, five The presence of a hiatus within the lower ing (Vakarelov et al., 2006) is evidence that this
complete and one partial sequence have been Bridge Creek Limestone (Bed 78) with an esti- primarily eustatic event was locally tectonically
independently identified in the WI and A-P suc- mated duration of 17 k.y. was noted by Meyers enhanced. Thus, rather than representing discrete,
cessions, and these can therefore be correlated and Sageman (2004), and coincides with a bed short tectonic pulses, it is likely that movement on
between the two regions. of calcarenite. This correlates with the sequence basement structures interacted with rapid eustatic
boundary within the N. juddii zone identified by sea-level fluctuations to enhance the magnitude
Sequence 1
Gale et al. (2002). The FOs of W. devonense and of the erosional unconformities.
The Thatcher Limestone at Pueblo, Colorado,
M. puebloensis are close to the overlying trans- The establishment of a detailed correlation
contains the upper peak of the middle Ceno-
gressive surface. between the orbitally tuned Cenomanian suc-
manian δ13C excursion, and the first middle
cession in southern England (Gale et al., 1999)
Cenomanian ammonites, and thus correlates
DISCUSSION and the succession in the WI Basin that con-
precisely with the Cast Bed (couplet C1) in the
The identification of eustatically generated tains radiometrically dated bentonites allows a
Lower Chalk succession of southern England
sequences in the WI Basin extends the global direct comparison to be made between the two
(Fig. 3). The Thatcher Limestone is identified
correlation of middle and late Cenomanian time scales (Fig. 5). The relative ages based on
as the earliest transgressive deposit of the first
cycles proposed by Gale et al. (2002) to the the identification of 405 k.y. cycles in England
middle Cenomanian sequence in the WI Basin.
well-described succession at Pueblo, Colorado. are crossplotted (Fig. 5) against the 40Ar/39Ar
A correlative transgressive horizon can be iden-
Using marker bentonites and biostratigraphy it dates for seven Cenomanian bentonites given by
tified in India, containing ammonite faunas of
is then possible to correlate accurately to the Obradovitch (1993). The fact that the dates plot
the low T. costatus zone (Gale et al., 2002).
Cenomanian successions in Utah and Wyo- very close to the x = y line provides support for
Sequence 2 ming, and thus to compare one of the proposed the accuracy of the orbital time scale.
The second sequence boundary in Europe
and India is close to the FO of Turrilites acutus
(Gale et al., 2002), which at Pueblo corre-
sponds with the base of the limestone unit 1.7 m
beneath the Soap Creek bentonite at the summit
of the Graneros Shale at Pueblo (Cobban and
Scott, 1972).
Sequence 3
The transgressive surface of this sequence is
close to the FO of Calycoceras (Proeucalyco-
ceras) and Inoceramus pictus (Gale et al., 2002),
which at Pueblo appear in the uppermost part of
the Lincoln Limestone Member (Cobban and
Scott, 1972; Bed 11A of Sageman and Johnson,
1985). In England and southeast India this coin-
cides with the FO of C. (Proeucalycoceras),
I. pictus, and Acanthoceras jukesbrownei, and 3.0 4.0 5.0
Calycoceras planicostatum in transgressive strata. δ13Ccarb (‰ VPDB)

–28.0 –26.0 –24.0 –22.0

Sequence 4 δ13Corg (‰ VPDB)
The calcarenites in the middle part of the
Hartland Shale (Beds 28–35 of Sageman 1985) Figure 4. Correlation of late Cenomanian δ13C excursion and ammonite datums at Rock
Canyon, Colorado, and Eastbourne showing coeval occurrence of transgressive surfaces.
represent a lowstand or early transgressive sedi- δ13C data are from Paul et al. (1999) and Snow et al. (2005). Bentonite ages are from Obrado-
ment (Sageman, 1996). This is in the middle of vich (1993). Absolute ages (right scale) refer to orbital time scale (Sageman et al., 2006).
the Metoicoceras mosbyensis zone (Cobban, VPDB—Vienna Peedee belemnite.

GEOLOGY, November 2008 861

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with couplet C1 in the UK and the Thatcher sion at Eastbourne, Sussex, UK: Ammonites, oxygen-deficient epicontinental sea, in Pratt,
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Cenomanian successions at Pueblo, Colorado, 10.1126/science.235.4793.1156. sitional model for Cretaceous skeletal lime-
US, and the A-P Basin, UK, is established using Huber, B.T., Norris, R.D., and MacLeod, K.G., 2002, stones, Western Interior Basin: Geology, v. 24,
Deep-sea paleotemperature record of extreme p. 888–892.
biostratigraphy and carbon isotope excursions. warmth during the Cretaceous: Geology, v. 30, Sageman, B.B., and Johnson, C.C., 1985, Stratig-
Sequences and systems tracts at Pueblo were p. 123–126. raphy and paleobiology of the Lincoln Lime-
identified from sedimentologic criteria and are Jarvis, I., Gale, A.S., Jenkyns, H.C., and Pearce, M., stone Member, Greenhorn Limestone, Rock
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS and their possible tectonic significance: Geol- tary section and their relationship to Carib-
This work was partly funded by a Natural Envi- ogy, v. 23, p. 177–180. bean plateau construction and oxygen anoxic
ronment Research Council grant (GR3/12516) to Kennedy, W.J., Walaszczyk, I., and Cobban, W.A., event 2: Paleoceanography, v. 20, PA3005, doi:
Gale and a Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant 2000, Pueblo, Colorado, USA, candidate Global 10.1029/2004PA001093.
(VO687/3) to Voigt. Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Strasser, A., Hillgärtner, H., Hug, W., and Pittet,
base of the Turonian stage of the Cretaceous, and B., 2000, Third-order depositional sequences
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