This study aims to document the dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental record of the Maastrichtian Neylandville and Corsicana Formations and the lower part of the Danian Kincaid Formation from the Brazos River, Texas. Rock samples are exposed to standard palynological methods for biostratigraphic interpretations. The quantitative data collected from palynological samples are combined with δ13C and δ18O stable isotope geochemistry and TEX86 and BIT Index organic geochemistry data for paleoenvironmental interpretations. Biostratigraphically important species of dinoflagellates divide the section into three intervals. Interval 1 occurs within the Neylandville Formation, and the presence of Alterbidinium acutulum, Xenascus ceratioides and Isabelidinium cooksoniae indicate that this interval is not younger than early Maastrichtian. Interval 2 represents the Corsicana Formation. The presence of the late Maastrichtian species Disphaerogena carposphaeropsis, Palynodinium grallator and Deflandrea galeata at the base of the Corsicana Formation indicate that this interval is of late Maastrichtian age. Interval 3 occurs within the Kincaid Formation. The presence of Carpetalla cornuta and Damassadinium californicum at the base of the Kincaid Formation indicates that this interval is of Danian age. Previously published Gulf of Mexico palynology studies, as well as planktonic foraminifera and nannoplankton data confirm the age assignments of the studied interval. Dinoflagellate species assemblages increase in diversity upwards from Interval 1 to Interval 2, and then show a small decrease above the K-Pg boundary within Interval 3, indicating that the K-Pg event was not catastrophic for the dinoflagellates. The Cerodinium spp. and Spiniferites spp. complex comprise a large proportion of the species within the section. High abundance peaks of Glaphyrocysta spp., Cribroperidinium spp., and Yolkinigymnium lanceolatum occur within Interval 2. Two intervals in the section are dominated by peridinioid dinoflagellates, measured by the Peridinioid/Gonyaulacoid (P/G) ratio. The first one occurs within Interval 2 and contains peaks of the P/G ratio that correlate with increases in δ13C, suggestive of an increase in paleoproductivity. Two more peaks occur within Interval 3. Bottom water δ18O temperatures determined from benthic foraminifera and sea surface temperatures determined from TEX86 organic geochemistry show an overall cooling trend from Early Maastrichtian to the K-Pg boundary.

The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary marks one of the major crises in the history of life on Earth. The cause is widely regarded as a large bolide impact at Chicxulub, Mexico, coincident with a major series of volcanic eruptions on the Deccan Plateau, India. Fieldwork in the Brazos River area of Texas has involved an investigation of the sections on the Brazos River and its tributaries. A previously overlooked K/Pg section (RBS) on the Brazos River was found and contains the most accessible and complete K/Pg boundary succession in the area. The RBS succession provides a clear exposure of the various lithological units within the Paleocene and was used to correlate to the successions in the nearby creeks. The K/Pg boundary is also well-exposed and records an erosional relief of ~1 m, cut into the Maastrichtian mudstone succession, creating a mounded topography. The overlying ‘Event Bed’, containing reworked impact spherules at its base, is shown to infill troughs on this irregular surface. The same features were recorded in tributary creeks, with all previous descriptions of these locations clearly failing to recognise the various sedimentary relationships. Distinct, thin, yellow clay horizons within the uppermost Maastrichtian mudstones are present in some sections. Geochemical analysis and radiometric dating have confirmed these as volcanic ashes, with extracted zircons giving a date of 65.95+0.04 Ma. These ash bands are located in Maastrichtian mudstones just below the K/Pg boundary and the recorded date is, within error, that of the K/Pg boundary. This identification of this latest Maastrichtian volcanic ash negates the suggestion of a pre-K/Pg boundary impact, a pre-extinction impact or multiple impacts. The benthic foraminiferal data generated indicates significant changes in palaeoecology of the benthic foraminifera across the K/Pg boundary. The benthic foraminifera do not experience a mass extinction, unlike the planktic foraminifera, which were significantly affected by the end-Maastrichtian extinction event. The benthic foraminferal assemblage appears to only experience transient, short-lived changes with pulses of agglutinated, elongate and large species in the early Paleocene. Mono-specific samples of Lenticulina rotulata have been analysed for stable isotopes and the data may indicate the presence cyclicity across the K/Pg boundary interval. In the earliest Paleocene significant negative δ18O excursions near the Pα/P1a and NP1/NP2 boundary represents a potential hyperthermal event that may be coeval with the DAN-C2 and Lower C29n events respectively recorded at Gubbio, and in the Atlantic Ocean. A sequence stratigraphy package is determined based on the micropaleontology and sedimentology in the Brazos River area. The latest Maastrichtian is marked by a sealevel rise immediately before the K/Pg boundary. Immediately after the K/Pg event, sealevel fell and is recorded as a change from mid to inner shelf. The condensed unit of the Middle Sandstone Bed (MSB) represents a Transgressive systems tract, with increasing diversity and abundance of benthic foraminifera to the top of the MSB, where maximum abundance and diversity is marks a Maximum Flooding Surface. The interval above indicates sea-level continuing to rise to a mid to outer-shelf setting. These sealevel changes are also recorded at the same stratigraphic level in Alabama, and at more distal K/Pg boundary sections (e.g., Denmark and Tunisia) suggesting that these sealevel changes are eustatically controlled.

The several million years preceding the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary has been the focus of many studies. Changes in ocean circulation and sea level, extinctions, and major volcanic events have all been documented for this interval. Important research questions these changes raise include the climate dynamics during the warm, but not hot, time after the decay of the Late Cretaceous greenhouse interval and the stability of ecosystems prior to the mass extinctions at the end-Cretaceous. I document several biotic perturbations as well as changes in ocean circulation during the Maastrichtian stage of the latest Cretaceous that question whether the biosphere was being preconditioned for the end-Cretaceous extinction. The first event at Shatsky Rise in the tropical North Pacific was the brief acme of inoceramid clams at ~71 Ma, followed by their abrupt extinction during the “mid-Maastrichtian event” at 70.1 Ma. The second is an intriguing dissolution event that began ~67.8 Ma at Ocean Drilling Program Site 1209 (2387 m). The dissolution event is marked by very poor planktic foraminiferal preservation and sharply reduced calcareous plankton diversity. The shift into the dissolution interval was initially gradual, then rapid. Within the late Maastrichtian dissolution interval, the planktic/benthic (P/B) ratio is low, planktic foraminifera are highly fragmented, larger taxa are mostly absent, small taxa are relatively abundant, and planktic foraminifera and nannofossil species richness are low. The event is followed by an abrupt recovery in carbonate preservation ~300 kyr prior to the K/Pg boundary. Was the dissolution event caused by a change in deep water circulation, migration of the site out of the high productivity tropical belt, or ocean acidification associated with Deccan Traps volcanism? Our data show that changing deep water masses, coupled with reduced productivity and associated decrease in pelagic carbonate flux was responsible for the dissolution interval, while Deccan Traps volcanism may have caused surface ocean acidification ~200-kyr prior to the K/Pg mass extinction event.

The central objective of this study is to understand phytoplankton community response following the global mass extinction event at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary. The objective is approached through analysis of dinoflagellate cyst assemblages across the boundary interval in the North Pacific. Dinoflagellate cysts are powerful tools for deep time paleoenvironmental reconstructions and this group of microfossils has been vastly underutilized in this region of the world. On this premise, comprehensive marine palynological surveys were undertaken for the Oyster Bay Formation of eastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada and Shatsky Rise in the northwest Pacific. The Oyster Bay Formation work resulted in the discovery of the first K/Pg boundary succession west of the Rocky Mountains based on biostratigraphic controls and refined taxonomy for the genus Cannosphaeropsis found within these strata. Three new taxa are described: Cannosphaeropsis franciscana subsp. vacuoseptata subsp. nov., Cannosphaeropsis franciscana subsp. vesiculata subsp. nov. and Phelodinium fensomei sp. nov. The cyst assemblages reveal endemic associations and signals of transition between offshore coastal to estuarine settings in keeping with global eustatic trends. Oyster Bay Formation results and interpretations are compared to analyses of core samples from Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 577 at Shatsky Rise. Contrast is seen between a diverse, highly productive coastal to estuarine environment in the Oyster Bay Formation as represented by organic-walled taxa and an oligotrophic bathyal environment at Shatsky Rise during the same interval as represented by a small number of calcareous taxa. These two regions form the basis for comparison between differing assemblages in order to ascertain the extent to which phytoplankton communities were affected by changes in sea-surface and water mass conditions in conjunction with the K/Pg event. The findings reveal measurable impacts of climate and paleoenvironmental change reflected by shifts in assemblage composition and cyst morphology. A lack of extinction among many forms is consistent with studies from around the globe as presented in an exhaustive review of the literature. The dinoflagellates were marginally impacted with the most specialized taxa presenting a record of sea-surface temperature fluctuation, nutrient supply and opportunistic niche exploitation. / Graduate / 2022-08-20

The Late Cretaceous–early Paleogene is the most recent period of Earth history with a dynamic carbon cycle that experienced sustained global greenhouse warmth and can offer a valuable insight into our anthropogenically-warmer future world. Yet, knowledge of ambient climate conditions and evolution of the carbon cycle at this time, along with their relation to forcing mechanisms, are still poorly constrained. In this thesis, I examine marine sediments recovered from the South Atlantic Walvis Ridge (ODP Site 1262) and Indian Ocean Ninetyeast Ridge (IODP Site U1443 and ODP Site 758), to shed new light on the evolution of the climate and carbon cycle from the Late Maastrichtian through to the Early Eocene (~67.10–52.35 Ma). The overarching aims of this thesis are: 1) to identify the long-term trends and principle forcing mechanisms driving the climate and carbon cycle during this time period, through construction of 14.75 million-year-long, orbital-resolution (~1.5–4 kyr), stratigraphically complete, benthic stable carbon (δ13Cbenthic) and oxygen (δ18Obenthic) isotope records; 2) to investigate in more detail the climatic and carbon-cycle perturbations of the Early–Middle Paleocene (e.g., the Dan-C2 event, Latest Danian Event and the Danian/Selandian Transition Event) and place these in their proper (orbital) temporal context; 3) to investigate the Late Maastrichtian warming event and its relationship to the eruption of the Deccan Traps Large Igneous Province, as well as its role (if any) in the subsequent Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction; 4) to provide the first orbital-resolution estimates of temperature and carbonate chemistry variability from the low latitude Indian Ocean spanning the Late Paleocene–Early Eocene, through analysis of trace element and stable isotope data from multiple foraminiferal species. Taken together, the results presented in this thesis provide a critical new insight into the dynamic evolution of the climate and carbon cycle during the greenhouse world of the early Paleogene, and shed light on the potential forcing mechanisms driving the climate and carbon cycle during this time.

As part of the wider European GTS Next project, I propose new constraints on the ages of the Late Cretaceous, derived from a multitude of geochronological techniques, and successful stratigraphic interpretations from Canada and Japan. In the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, we propose a new constraint on the age of the K/Pg boundary in the Red Deer River section (Alberta, Canada). We were able to cyclostratigraphically tune sediments in a non-marine, fluvial environment utilising high-resolution proxy records suggesting a 11-12 precession related cyclicity. Assuming the 40Ar/39Ar method is inter-calibrated with the cyclostratigraphy, the apparent age for C29r suggests that the K/Pg boundary falls between eccentricity maxima and minima, yielding an age of the C29r between 65.89 ± 0.08 and 66.30 ± 0.08 Ma. Assuming that the bundle containing the coal horizon represents a precession cycle, the K/Pg boundary is within the analytical uncertainty of the youngest zircon population achieving a revised age for the K/Pg boundary as 65.75 ± 0.06 Ma. The Campanian - Maastrichtian boundary is preserved in the sedimentary succession of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation and has been placed ~8 m below Coal nr. 10. Cyclostratigraphic studies show that the formation of these depositional sequences (alternations) of all scales are influenced directly by sea-level changes due to precession but more dominated by eccentricity cycles proved in the cyclostratigraphic framework and is mainly controlled by sand horizons, which have been related by autocyclicity in a dynamic sedimentary setting. Our work shows that the Campanian - Maastrichtian boundary in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin coincides with ~2.5 eccentricity cycles above the youngest zircon age population at the bottom of the section and ~4.9 Myr before the Cretaceous - Palaeogene boundary (K/Pg), and thus corresponds to an absolute age of 70.65 ± 0.09 Ma producing an ~1.4 Myr younger age than recent published ages. Finally, using advances with terrestrial carbon isotope and planktonic foraminifera records within central Hokkaido, Northwest Pacific, sections from the Cretaceous Yezo group were correlated to that of European and North American counterparts. Datable ash layers throughout the Kotanbetsu and Shumarinai section were analysed using both 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb methods. We successfully dated two ash tuff layers falling either side of the Turonian - Coniacian boundary, yielding an age range for the boundary between 89.31 ± 0.11 Ma and 89.57 ± 0.11 Ma or a boundary age of 89.44 ± 0.24 Ma. Combining these U-Pb ages with recent published ages we are able to reduce the age limit once more and propose an age for the Turonian - Coniacian boundary as 89.62 ± 0.04 Ma.

Dans le cadre du projet Européen GTS Next, nous avons obtenu des nouvelles contraintes sur l’âge des étages du Crétacé Supérieur à partir de plusieurs techniques de géochronologie et d’interprétations stratigraphiques au Canada et au Japon. Dans le bassin sédimentaire du Western Interior Canada, nous proposons une nouvelle détermination de l’âge de la limite Crétacé - Tertiaire (K/Pg) enregistrée dans la coupe de Red Deer River (Alberta). Il a été possible de calibrer par cyclostratigraphie haute-résolution cette série sédimentaire fluviatile non-marine et d’identifier 11-12 cycles associés à la précession orbitale de la Terre. En considérant la technique 40Ar/39Ar intercalibrée avec la cyclostratigraphie, l’âge apparent de la base du chron magnétique C29r suggère que la limite K/Pg se trouve entre un minimum et un maximum de l’excentricité, avec une durée pour C29r de 66.30 ± 0.08 à 65.89 ± 0.08 Ma. En supposant que le cycle contenant le niveau de charbon soit associé à un cycle de précession, l’âge révisé de la limite Crétacé - Tertiaire est donné par la plus jeune des populations de zircon datée par U-Pb à 65.75 ± 0.06 Ma.La limite Campanien – Maastrichtien est également enregistrée dans ce même bassin canadien, et se trouve à environ 8 m sous le niveau de charbon No. 10 dans la formation de Horseshoe Canyon. L’étude cyclostratigraphique montre que le dépôt de cette séquence sédimentaire est directement influencé par les changements du niveau marin dû à la précession et dominés par l’excentricité Notre travail montre que la position de la limite Campanien – Maastrichtien dans ce bassin sédimentaire du Western Canada est placée à environ 2.5 cycles d’excentricité au dessus d’un niveau de téphra de la base de la coupe dont l’âge U-Pb est donné par la plus jeune population des zircons, et ~4.9 Myr avant la limite Crétacé - Tertiaire. Nous en déduisons un âge absolu de 70.65 ± 0.09 Ma pour la limite Campanien – Maastrichtien, ce qui est ~1.4 Myr plus jeune que les études récemment publiées.Enfin, à partir des isotopes du carbone et des foraminifères planctoniques enregistrés au centre d’Hokkaido (Pacifique Nord-Ouest), les coupes Crétacé du groupe Yezo ont été corrélée avec les séries européennes et nord-américaines. Plusieurs niveaux de téphra prélevés au sein des coupes de Kotanbetsu et Shumarinai ont été datés par les méthodes 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb. Deux d’entre eux, placés de part et d’autre de la limite Turonien – Coniacien, ont donné des âges de 89.31 ± 0.11 et 89.57 ± 0.11 Ma, ce qui suggère un âge de 89.44 ± 0.24 Ma pour cette limite. En combinant notre résultat avec les âges récemment publiés, nous pouvons proposer un âge de 89.62 ± 0.04 Ma pour la limite Turonien – Coniacien. / As part of the wider European GTS Next project, I propose new constraints on the ages of the Late Cretaceous, derived from a multitude of geochronological techniques, and successful stratigraphic interpretations from Canada and Japan. In the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, we propose a new constraint on the age of the K/Pg boundary in the Red Deer River section (Alberta, Canada). We were able to cyclostratigraphically tune sediments in a non-marine, fluvial environment utilising high-resolution proxy records suggesting a 11-12 precession related cyclicity. Assuming the 40Ar/39Ar method is inter-calibrated with the cyclostratigraphy, the apparent age for C29r suggests that the K/Pg boundary falls between eccentricity maxima and minima, yielding an age of the C29r between 65.89 ± 0.08 and 66.30 ± 0.08 Ma. Assuming that the bundle containing the coal horizon represents a precession cycle, the K/Pg boundary is within the analytical uncertainty of the youngest zircon population achieving a revised age for the K/Pg boundary as 65.75 ± 0.06 Ma. The Campanian - Maastrichtian boundary is preserved in the sedimentary succession of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation and has been placed ~8 m below Coal nr. 10. Cyclostratigraphic studies show that the formation of these depositional sequences (alternations) of all scales are influenced directly by sea-level changes due to precession but more dominated by eccentricity cycles proved in the cyclostratigraphic framework and is mainly controlled by sand horizons, which have been related by autocyclicity in a dynamic sedimentary setting. Our work shows that the Campanian - Maastrichtian boundary in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin coincides with ~2.5 eccentricity cycles above the youngest zircon age population at the bottom of the section and ~4.9 Myr before the Cretaceous - Palaeogene boundary (K/Pg), and thus corresponds to an absolute age of 70.65 ± 0.09 Ma producing an ~1.4 Myr younger age than recent published ages. Finally, using advances with terrestrial carbon isotope and planktonic foraminifera records within central Hokkaido, Northwest Pacific, sections from the Cretaceous Yezo group were correlated to that of European and North American counterparts. Datable ash layers throughout the Kotanbetsu and Shumarinai section were analysed using both 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb methods. We successfully dated two ash tuff layers falling either side of the Turonian - Coniacian boundary, yielding an age range for the boundary between 89.31 ± 0.11 Ma and 89.57 ± 0.11 Ma or a boundary age of 89.44 ± 0.24 Ma. Combining these U-Pb ages with recent published ages we are able to reduce the age limit once more and propose an age for the Turonian - Coniacian boundary as 89.62 ± 0.04 Ma.