Calcareous Nannoplankton Biostratigraphy of the Bartin Province, Western Black Sea, Turkey

Abstract

Calcareous nannoplankton biostratigraphy has been performed on five sedimentary sections through the marine Akveren Formation from the Bartin region of northern Turkey, on the southern Black Sea coast. This new biostratigraphy provides an age for the formation of the Early Campanian (nannofossil zone UC15aTP) to Early Selandian (nannofossil zone NP5), and highlights the presence of the Campanian/Maastrichtian, Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T), and Danian/Selandian boundaries in this intermediate palaeolatitude location. Micula murus was identified below the K/T boundary, but Micula prinsii and Nephrolithus frequens were not, which implies that the K/T boundary interval is not complete in the study area. These dates are in agreement with previous micropaleontological studies.