The Aucellina biostratigraphy of the Upper Albian (Early Cretaceous) of the Kirchrode I cored borehole, Hannover-Kirchrode, northern Germany

Abstract

The Aucellina biostratigraphy of the Upper Albian Kirchrode Marls Member succession in the Kirchrode I (1/91) cored borehole is described and the fauna illustrated. The borehole commenced at an unknown depth below the Early Cenomanian marls of the Bemerode Member, but higher beds of the Kirchrode Marls and the basal beds of the Bemerode Member were exposed in the Mittellandkanal and its Stichkanal extension at Misburg. The borehole and surface exposures permit a virtually complete Late Albian succession of Aucellina species to be observed. Published Aucellina range data from the borehole are reassessed and it is suggested that the lower part of the recorded range is based partly on misidentifications of fragments of thin-shelled bivalves such as Syncyclonema and Amussium. Aucellina appears in the borehole succession within the upper part of the Callihoplites auritus
ammonite Subzone (Mortoniceras inflatum Zone) and continues to the top of the borehole succession within the Preaeschloenbachia briacensis ammonite Subzone (Stoliczkaia spp. Zone). Aucellina from higher in the briacensis Subzone collected from the Misburg Mittellandkanal section are also discussed and illustrated.

There is some evidence that Aucellina occurs typically at levels in the borehole containing predominantly Boreal European Province ammonites, supporting the general inference that Aucellina lived in cooler northern waters. In contrast, Aucellina is poorly represented in intervals with Tethyan ammonites and thin-shelled inoceramids (e.g. the Mortoniceras (Durnovarites) perinflatum Subzone, Stoliczkaia spp. Zone). The briacensis Subzone, with an admixture of Tethyan (Stoliczkaia) and Boreal ammonites contains a distinctive, taxonomically highly diverse Aucellina assemblage.

Relevant taxonomic research on European Late Albian and Early Cenomanian Aucellina faunas is reviewed. The Late Albian Aucellina succession in the borehole differs from that established from partially correlative successions in England.