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Southeastern Section - 62nd Annual Meeting (20-21 March 2013)

Paper No. 2
Presentation Time: 8:30 AM

CARBON ISOTOPE (δ13C) STRATIGRAPHY AND BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC RECORD OF THE MID-CRETACEOUS HATILLO LIMESTONE IN THE SEIBO TECTONIC TERRANE OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC


BONILLA-RODRÍGUEZ, Alvin J., Department of Geology, University of Kansas, 1107 George Court Apt 2, Lawrence, KS 66044, GONZALEZ, Luis A., Department of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045-7613, VÉLEZ-JUARBE, Jorge, Howard University, 20059, SANTOS, Hernán, Department of Geology, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, PO Box 9017, Mayaguez, PR 00660 and RAMIREZ, Wilson, Dept. of Geology, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, PO Box 9017, Mayaguez, PR 00681, alvin12@ku.edu

The Hatillo Limestone in the Dominican Republic was evaluated for their biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic records. This lithostratigraphic unit exposed in the Seibo tectonic terrane of the Dominican Republic consisted of (1) basal calcarenites and marly limestone, (2) skeletal rudist packtone to grainstone, (3) upper marly limestone, and (4) lime-mud lithofacies. The biostratigraphic record shows strong affinities with the lower Albian Glen Rose Limestone of Central Texas, consisting of rudist taxa from the Coalcomana interval zones, and the orbitolinid foraminifers Mesorbitolina (Orbitulina) subconcava (Leymerie) and Paracoskinolina sunnilandensis (Maync). The Early Albian age for the Hatillo Limestone agreed with published zircon ages from the underlying upper Los Ranchos Formation and reports of the Douvilleiceras mammillatum ammonite subzone in the basal units of the Hatillo Limestone. The occurrence of the Coskinolinoides texanus (Keijzer), however, suggests that the Hatillo Limestone extended up into the middle Albian. Our key δ13C chemostratigraphic events consist of (1) a positive δ13Corg excursion of +5‰ occurring in carbonaceous sediments of the upper Los Ranchos Formation, and (2) a short-live negative excursion of -5.0‰ δ13Corg and -3.0‰ δ13Ccarb occurring in the skeletal-rudist packstone to grainstone litohfacie. The short-live negative δ13C excursion shows strong affinities with the negative δ13C shift associated with the Mediterranean OAE1b Niveau Léehardt (Urbino) event. The middle Albian Coskinolinoides texanus (Keijzer) superimposing the δ13C event in the Hatillo Limestone supports our correlation with the final lower Albian OAE1b event of the Mediterranean record. Our findings corroborate the practical uses of δ13C chemostratigraphy and biostratigraphy to establish correlations of Cretaceous strata, and its applications in complex geologic structural areas.

Session No. 2

T3. Multidisciplinary Approaches to Caribbean Stratigraphy and Paleontology
Wednesday, 20 March 2013: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Flamboyan Room (Caribe Hilton)
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 45, No. 2, p.3
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