Research-paper
The sequence of Mammals in the Thanetian and Ypresian of the London and Belgian Basins. Location of the Palaeocene-Eocene Boundary
Hooker, Jeremy J.
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Abstract
This paper reviews the mammalian succession in the London and Belgian Basins through stratotype Thanetian and early Ypresian deposits and their immediate correlates. It adds new records from the London Basin and proposes modifications to attributed MP ages and to the age and succession of some localities in the Paris Basin. It attempts to integrate the mammal records with those of calcareous nannoplankton, dinocysts and charophytes. It is concluded that the Palaeocene-Eocene boundary as generally interpreted in the deep sea (base P6b c. = base NP 10) and extrapolated to the North Sea Basin via tephrostratigraphy does not coincide with the Sparnacian mammalian dispersal event (MP7) but is between MP7 and MP8-9 or within the early part of MP8-9. This is consistent with a similarly extrapolated boundary in continental deposits in western USA. Climatic change traced isotopically across this boundary may also be recognisable in changes in the mammal and plant palaeocommunities in the London Basin.