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Dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy of the Barremian to Albian, Lower Cretaceous, north-east Greenland
| Nøhr Hansen, H. | |
| 1993a | |
| Bull. Gronlands geol. Unders. 166, 171 pp.Bull. Gronlands geol. Unders. 166, 171 pp. | |
| Dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy of the Barremian to Albian, Lower Cretaceous, north-east Greenland |
Nøhr Hansen, H., 1993; Dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy of the Barremian to Albian, Lower Cretaceous, north-east Greenland. Bull. Gronlands geol. Unders. 166, 171 pp. Stratigraphical ranges, geographical distribution and taxonomy of 176 dinoflagellate cyst species are described based on analysis of 192 samples from 40 sections of Early Cretaceous age in North-East Greenland (72¦-76¦N). The sections make up an approximately 1500 m thick sandy shale sequence previously referred to as the Aptian-Albian series because of scattered ammonite and Inoceramus occurrences. The dinoflagellate cysts indicate the presence of approximately 140 m of Barremian sediments, not previously identified in North-East Greenland, 220 m of Aptian sediments and approximately 1120 m of Albian sediments. The stratigraphical ranges of 40 sections are documented by range-charts for each section. The previously published ages, based on macrofossils from the area, are discussed in the light of the present results. Five new species are erected: Batioladinium shaftesburiense, Pseudoceratium iveri, P. toveae, Hapsocysta ?benteae and Subtilisphaera kalaalliti. The definition of the genus Bourkidinium and its type species B. granulatum is emended. The relationship between the species Vesperopsis mayi and Muderongia asymmetrica is discussed. The size, shape and ornamentation of 12 species of the genus Pseudoceratium are described in detail. The stratigraphical ranges and frequency of the dinoflagellate cysts recorded in the present study are evaluated on the basis of published literature. Selected papers are discussed in detail, mainly those dealing with the stratigraphical range of Early Cretaceous dinoflagellate cysts in north-western Europe and the Arctic. Five new dinoflagellate cyst zones and 13 new subzones are proposed for the studied sequence. The zonation is compared with previously established Early Cretaceous dinoflagellate cyst zonations from north-western Europe and Canada.