Lower Cretaceous calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy in the Danish Central Trough

Abstract

Calcareous nannofossils are described from Lower Cretaceous strata of four borings in the Central Trough of the Danish North Sea sector, and from three Aptian units on Helgoland and at Sarstedt, northern Germany. The assemblages range in age from Upper Hauterivian to Albian-?Cenomanian. Abundances of calcareous nannofossils varied considerably throughout the investigated sequences. They were rock-forming in several Lower Barremian - Aptian sediments, but rare or lacking in many of the Hauterivian and Albian strata. The Middle Barremian - Lower Aptian assemblages were often dominated by nannoconids. Preservation was generally bad in chalk and good in marl deposits. Some finely laminated black sediments yielded extremely well-preserved assemblages. One hundred and sixteen species were recognized. Eighteen species were selected as biostratigraphically particularly useful and their chronostratigraphic ranges are shown and discussed. The ages of the investigated sequences were determined on the basis of the selected nannofossil events. Some distinct sedimentary units in the North Sea could be correlated with time-equivalent formations in eastern England and northern Germany.