Cretaceous Research最新文献

{"title":"Detrital zircon populations in the early cretaceous Laiyang Sag: Implications for the evolution of the Basin and peripheral orogenic belt","authors":"Chenlin Zhu ,&nbsp;Chao Han ,&nbsp;Zhigang Song ,&nbsp;Shourui Dai ,&nbsp;Jie Li ,&nbsp;Yuetong Zhang ,&nbsp;Xiang Ren ,&nbsp;Zuozhen Han","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106267","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106267","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>During the Early Cretaceous, the Paleo Pacific Plate underwent extensive subduction beneath the Eurasian continent, which coincided with substantial lithospheric thinning in the North China Craton. The Jiaolai Basin, which formed during this period, is located along the southeastern margin of the North China Craton, and is positioned between the Sulu Orogenic Belt (SLOB) and the Jiaobei Terrane (JBT). The sedimentary sequences in the basin record relevant information on the evolution of the surrounding tectonic units. Thus, this study conducted petrographic and detrital zircon U–Pb geochronological analyses on sandstones from the Lower Cretaceous Laiyang Formation in the Laiyang Sag. The findings indicate that: (1) during the Early Cretaceous, detrital sources within the Laiyang Sag displayed a distinct evolutionary pattern: early-stage deposits were primarily sourced from the JBT, with a subsequent transition towards dual-source inputs from both the JBT and the SLOB. (2) At approximately 123 Ma, intensified faulting along the southern margin of Jiaolai Basin led to the rapid deposition of substantial amounts of detrital material from the SLOB. (3) The SLOB may have been exhumed above the surface during the Middle–Late Jurassic and continued to supply sediment to the Laiyang Sag.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106267"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145623593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global dispersal patterns of non-marine ostracods in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian)","authors":"Silvia Regina Gobbo,&nbsp;Reinaldo J. Bertini","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106242","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106242","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the origin and intercontinental dispersal routes of non-marine ostracods during the Campanian–Maastrichtian, with emphasis on the biogeographic history of the subfamily Talicyprideinae and related genera. Fossil distribution data from the literature were analysed, key species were taxonomically revised, and the results were integrated with palaeogeographic reconstructions to infer dispersal pathways. The findings indicate that Talicyprideinae originated in north-eastern Brazil and dispersed along two main routes: one through Africa and Eurasia, and another through South America to India via Antarctica. Genera such as <em>Harbinia</em>, <em>Vecticypris</em>, <em>Zonocypris</em> and <em>Virgatocypris</em> spread from northern Africa into Europe, southern South America, and North America (via Beringia). The Antarctic route explains ostracod occurrences in south-eastern Brazil, Argentina and India. The revised diagnosis of four Talicyprideinae species confirms their presence in South America. Dispersal mechanisms—wind, water and animal-mediated—were evaluated for their role in these patterns. A complex network of Campanian–Maastrichtian dispersal routes is highlighted, including the Kerguelen Plateau, Ninetyeast Ridge, Seychelles–Laxmi Ridge, Apulian Microplate, Beringia, and the Caribbean region, revealing global connectivity among ostracod faunas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106242"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145322957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diving in the Maastrichtian of Marambio (Seymour) Island: A new member of the Neoaves in the Cretaceous Antarctic avifauna","authors":"Facundo Irazoqui ,&nbsp;Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche ,&nbsp;Javier N. Gelfo ,&nbsp;Ariana Paulina Carabajal ,&nbsp;Paula Bona ,&nbsp;Leonel Acosta Burlaille","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106259","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106259","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A new genus and species of Cretaceous bird from Antarctica with implications for the early evolution of Neornithes is described here. The type specimen of <em>Pujatopouli soberana</em> gen. et sp. nov. (MLP-PV 08-XI-30-44), preserving part of the skull and postcranium, was recovered from Maastrichtian deposits of the López de Bertodano Formation on Marambio (Seymour) Island, James Ross Basin, West Antarctica. The phylogenetic relationships of <em>Pujatopouli</em> with other avian species, including all previously described Cretaceous birds from Antarctica, were assessed using two different datasets. The first, mainly composed of Mesozoic birds, places <em>Pujatopouli</em> within the crown group of birds (Neornithes), whereas the second, which includes a broad sampling of modern taxa, positions it within Neoaves, and closely related to the ‘core-waterbirds’ (Aequornithes). Besides, morphological evidence suggests that <em>Pujatopouli</em> was a foot-propelled diver with an ichthyophagous diet, living sympatrically with other neornithine birds along the Antarctic coast during the latest Cretaceous.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106259"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A new euornithine from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) of China reveals the first radiation of fish-eating birds","authors":"Jiandong Huang ,&nbsp;Xuri Wang ,&nbsp;Andrea Cau ,&nbsp;Lei Mao ,&nbsp;Yichuan Liu ,&nbsp;Yang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106244","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106244","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A new euornithine bird, <em>Kunpengornis anhuimusei</em> gen. et sp. nov., is described based on a nearly complete skeleton from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Jehol Biota in western Liaoning, China. The new taxon is characterized by possessing the unique combination of reduced maxillary ramus of premaxilla shorter than half the buccal margin of premaxilla, coracoid having a trapezoidal procoracoid process not expanded craniocaudally at its medial margin, sternum with blunt craniolateral process, drop-shaped distal end of lateral trabecula and reduced intermediate trabecula not enclosing a caudal fenestra, pubis lacking ossified distal symphysis and with gradually expanding distal end, resulting twice longer craniocaudally than at mid-shaft, but lacking an abrupt distinction between shaft and distal foot. The macerated fish bones preserved in the abdominal cavity provides direct evidence that <em>Kunpengornis</em> was piscivorous. Despite overall similarity with some yanornithids and other piscivorous euornithines, the phylogenetic analysis places <em>Kunpengornis</em> as sister taxon of <em>Piscivoravis</em> and closer to the \"ornithuromorph-gansuid\" clade than Yanornithidae, a result which supports the hypothesis that a piscivorous \"<em>Yanornis</em>-like\" <em>bauplan</em> was a grade along the evolutionary sequence leading to the precursors of the modern avians. The acquisition of the fish-eating ecology and the exploitation of the aquatic environments represented key innovations for the successful radiation of the euornithine birds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106244"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145270468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"More diverse and abundant than assumed: Eucommiidites pollen preserved in a deltaic setting (Lower Cretaceous) of the Araripe Basin (NE Brazil)","authors":"Christa-Ch. Hofmann ,&nbsp;Ulrich Heimhofer ,&nbsp;Emily A. Roberts ,&nbsp;Leyla J. Seyfullah","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106210","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106210","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Twelve species of <em>Eucommiidites</em> pollen from deltaic sedimentary rocks of the Rio da Batateira and lowermost Crato formations are here described and depicted with light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A clump of <em>Eucommiidites</em> sp. 6 from sample CAS 27 of the lowermost Crato Formation is thought to be the dispersed equivalent of <em>in situ</em> pollen of <em>Araripestrobus resiniferous</em> found in the laminitic limestone of the Crato Formation. The other <em>Eucommiidites</em> taxa are known only as dispersed taxa. The separation of individual <em>Eucommiidites</em> species using LM is often very difficult and helped by the use of SEM to observe the position of lateral sulci/furrows, plus the sculpture and ornamentation of the sulcus membrane and ektexine. Only two <em>Eucommi</em><em>i</em><em>di</em><em>tes</em> taxa<em>, E</em>. sp. 2 and <em>E</em>. sp. 3, occur frequently and generally abundantly in medium percentages (4–15 %) in the pollen sum throughout the section, and are interpreted to come from either wind pollinated plants or plants with no specific edaphic requirements. All other taxa are interpreted to have grown further away from the distributary channels, probably in more specialized stands. Two of them (<em>Eucommiidites</em> sp. 6 and <em>E</em>. sp. 8) are preserved in clumps and are suggested to be animal pollinated. The presence of unusually high percentages of 8–14 % of <em>Eucommiidites</em> in the pollen sums reveal that <em>Eucommiidites</em> taxa constituted a significant portion of the ancient vegetation habitats located upriver, but only comprise a few fragments in the macrofossil record of the Araripe Basin.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106210"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145520350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Paleoenvironmental evolution and sequence stratigraphic reconstruction during the Late Cretaceous in southern Egypt: Implications for palynological and geochemical proxy data","authors":"Abdallah Rabea ,&nbsp;Omar Mohamed ,&nbsp;Ahmed Mansour ,&nbsp;Ramadan S. Mohamed ,&nbsp;Ahmed Ali","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106239","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106239","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>During the Campanian-Maastrichtian, long-term cooling drove eustatic sea-level fall, promoting carbonate platform deposition at mid-to-high paleolatitudes. Here, 85 rock samples were collected from the Campanian-Maastrichtian uppermost Qusseir, Duwi, and lowermost Dakhla formations at three sections in the El-Sebaiya area of the Nile Valley (Egypt). A comprehensive approach, including palynological, whole rock geochemistry, and total organic carbon (TOC) analyses, was performed. Four palynofacies assemblages (PFA) were identified in the three sections. PFA-A shows high abundances of amorphous organic matter (AOM), suggesting deposition in a shallow marine environment, whereas PFA-B exhibits moderate abundances of phytoclasts and AOM, indicative of deposition in fluvio-deltaic to marginal shallow marine conditions. PFA-C is dominated by phytoclasts, mainly of opaque equidimensional particles, characterizing a fluvio-deltaic environment, while PFA-D is characterized by moderate levels of AOM and dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) with low phytoclasts, pointing to a shallow marine shelf environment. Dinocysts are dominated by peridinioid forms combined with the common distribution of phosphorite belts, reflecting that the southern Tethys was controlled by upwelling-driven elevated productivity settings under varying redox conditions. Data further allowed the reconstruction of three third-order transgressive-regressive sequences. The transgressive systems tract (TST) sediments are characterized by an increase in AOM, coincided with elevated carbonate content, Mn, and Mn/Al ratios, with maxima corresponding to the maximum flooding surface (MFS) within most sequences. Conversely, the regressive systems tract (RST) sediments show an increase in phytoclasts and elevated SiO₂, Zr, Zr/Al, Ti, Ti/Al, and Sr/Ca ratios, with their highest values corresponding to the maximum regressive surface (MRS).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106239"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145159476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lower Cretaceous palynoflora from the Binggou Formation of Jianchang Basin, western Liaoning, NE China and its U–Pb zircon age","authors":"Xiao Tan ,&nbsp;Yuhui Feng ,&nbsp;Fei Liang ,&nbsp;Yunfeng Li ,&nbsp;Chunlin Sun ,&nbsp;Ge Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106247","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106247","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Jianchang Basin of western Liaoning, NE China is one of the important Mesozoic non-marine sedimentary basins in China. The Lower Cretaceous Binggou Formation is well exposed in this basin yielding abundant coal and fossils. Lately research on the invertebrate and plant fossils from this formation indicates this biota chronologically corresponding to the famous Fuxin biota. The present work uncovers a palynoflora in the Formation composed of 153 species of 59 genera which are represented by the assemblage of <em>Cicatricosisporites-Osmundacidites-Concentrisporites</em>. The assemblage is dominated by gymnospermous pollen and is evidenced of the upper Lower Cretaceous by the characters of its composition and the occurrence of such age-diagnostic elements as <em>Cicatricosisporite</em>s, <em>Appendicisporites</em>, <em>Erlianpollis</em> and <em>Jiaohepollis</em>. New U–Pb zircon dating made by the authors from the middle of the coal seam of the formation, indicates a 106.5 ± 1.9 Ma age, and confirms the Binggou Formation and palynoflora belonging to the Albian of the Lower Cretaceous, for the first time. The paleoecological and paleoenvironmental characteristics based on the palynoflora are also reconstructed by using the Sporopollen EcoGroup (SEG) model and the Plant Ecological Model (Eco-plant model). It suggests that the flora flourished in an environment characterized by the coexistence of both highland and lowland river systems. During the period when this flora existed, humidity levels increased slightly, and the environment remained stable, showing no evidence of large-scale climatic disturbances.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106247"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145270467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Vegetation and climate during the primary formation of the Songliao Basin, NE China","authors":"Miaoqin Lin ,&nbsp;Jianguo Li ,&nbsp;Yixiao Wu ,&nbsp;Tan Tan ,&nbsp;Yigang Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106217","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106217","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The International Continental Scientific Drilling Project (ICDP) in the Songliao Basin that has produced a continuous core of the Lower Cretaceous in 4134.81 m thickness, i.e. the SK-II borehole, provides an exceptional archive for studying tectonic and palaeoenvironmental history of the basin under the Cretaceous greenhouse climate. The Shahezi Formation that consists of the main part of this core, represents the primary basin fills at the syn-rift stage of the Songliao Basin and thus marks its commencement and is crucial for studying the timing and mechanism of this basin's early evolution. The precise age of the Shahezi Formation, however, remains controversial and little is known about the palaeovegetation and palaeoenvironment during its deposition. In this study, plenty of pollen and spores are extracted from core samples near the base of the Shahezi Formation. They are the oldest fossils so-far identified from the SK-Ⅱ borehole. The high abundance and diversity of <em>Cicatricosisporites</em>, in association with some other fossils as <em>Pilosisporites</em>, indicate a clear early–middle Aptian age for the base of the Shahezi Formation, i.e. the primary formation of the Songliao Basin. The vegetation was overall featured by abundant ferns, common cycads and some bryophytes in the ground storey, alongside conifer trees or shrubs of Pinaceae, Taxodiaceae, Araucariaceae and Cheirolepidiaceae in the upper canopy, with increases of Cheirolepidiaceae and cycads over time. A generally warm and humid tropical to subtropical climate with a trend to be slightly drier was developed, which might be a response of terrestrial ecosystem to the Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106217"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145107828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fish Faunas from the Bissekty Formation (Turonian), Uzbekistan: Insights into biogeographic connectivity and climate-driven Faunal Turnover","authors":"Donald B. Brinkman ,&nbsp;Martin Kundrát ,&nbsp;David J. Ward ,&nbsp;Alison M. Murray ,&nbsp;Izzet K. Aimbetov ,&nbsp;Lisa L. Van Loon ,&nbsp;Neil R. Banerjee","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106252","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106252","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Bissekty Formation (Turonian, Uzbekistan) provides new insights into the reorganization of aquatic paleocommunities that occurred during the Turonian thermal maximum, a period of significant climatic and faunal change. The assemblage includes four basal neopterygians and 13 teleosts. Teleosts are dominated by members of early diverging lineages, including Ichthyodectiformes, Elopomorpha, Osteoglossiformes, and Clupeomorpha. More derived teleosts present in the assemblage includes a characiform and an acanthomorph. The assemblage is distinctive compared to Late Cretaceous assemblages from North America in the high abundance of ichthyodectiforms and elopomorphs and both high abundance and large size of acanthomorphs. The Bissekty fish assemblages differs from preceding Cenomanian assemblages of Laurasia in the absence of two taxa that were dominant in the earlier Cenomanian assemblages, <em>Scheenstia</em> López-Arbarello and Sferco, 2011 (Lepidotidae) and a pycnodont, and the appearance of seven new taxa. One of the newly appearing taxa is a member of Characiformes, a group that is thought to have originated in Gondwana, adding to the evidence that the introduction of new taxa was a result, in part, of intercontinental dispersal events. All seven of the taxa that first appear in the Bissekty Formation are closely related to, or indistinguishable from, taxa present in the North American portion of Laurasia. However, only two of these are known to occur in North America during the Turonian, with the remaining taxa first occurring in North America in a step-wise pattern during the Late Cretaceous. Conversely, two of the taxa that first occur in the Turonian of the North American portion of Laurasia are absent in Asian assemblages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106252"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145418134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Seawater properties based on clumped isotope analyses of macrofossil assemblages from the Upper Cretaceous–lower Paleocene Type-Maastrichtian area","authors":"Inigo A. Müller ,&nbsp;David Rijkes ,&nbsp;Emily J. Judd ,&nbsp;Maartje F. Hamers ,&nbsp;Oliver Plümper ,&nbsp;John W.M. Jagt ,&nbsp;Martin Ziegler","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106258","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106258","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Carbonate fossils from the Maastrichtian Type area offer important insights into climate dynamics across the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary. While previous research has established the biostratigraphy and a carbon isotope-based geochronological timescale, allowing for global data comparison, constraints on the local seawater properties remain limited. Our study utilizes oxygen and carbon isotopes, as well as clumped isotope thermometry to reconstruct seawater temperature and its oxygen isotope composition based on carbonate fossil assemblages. Novel analyses of fossil echinoderms, brachiopods, gastropods, bivalves, bryozoans and existing studies were clustered according to their stratigraphy and show temperature fluctuations ranging between <span><math><mrow><msubsup><mn>18.3</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>3.2</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo><mn>3.4</mn></mrow></msubsup></mrow></math></span> to <span><math><mrow><msubsup><mn>22.7</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>4.9</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo><mn>5.1</mn></mrow></msubsup></mrow></math></span> °C (±95 % CI) that together with existing studies temporary match varying activity of Deccan Trap volcanism. The mean temperature estimate for the late Maastrichtian–early Danian of <span><math><mrow><msubsup><mn>20.6</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>1.2</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo><mn>1.2</mn></mrow></msubsup></mrow></math></span> °C is slightly warmer than modern annual sea surface temperatures at the same latitude and in line with palaeoclimate simulations using 3 times the preindustrial atmospheric pCO₂ as model input. The oxygen isotope composition of the shallow sea environment fluctuate between <span><math><mrow><msubsup><mn>0.3</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>0.9</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo><mn>0.9</mn></mrow></msubsup></mrow></math></span> to <span><math><mrow><msubsup><mn>1.0</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>0.9</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo><mn>1.0</mn></mrow></msubsup></mrow></math></span>‰, together with existing data even to slightly negative values. These fluctuations reflect the highly dynamic hydrologic conditions linked to variations in the evaporation/precipitation budget, sea-level fluctuations and eventual changes in seawater circulation. This study on fossil assemblages from the Maastrichtian Type area shows the dynamic seawater conditions in shallow sea systems and the urgent need for higher spatial and subseasonal resolution when reconstructing regional climate conditions in epeiric marine environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106258"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145466986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}