Upper Cretaceous deposits in the of Saratov oblast, Part 1: Litho- and biostratigraphic analysis of the Vishnevoe section

摘要

The work is dedicated to multidisciplinary study of Upper Cretaceous deposits exposed at the day surface in a ravine near the village of Vishnevoe, the Petrovsk district of Saratov oblast. The exposed section includes deposits of the Bannovka, Mozzhevelovyi Ovrag, Mesino-Lapshinovka, Rybushka, Ardym, Lokh formations and of the Borisoglebsk sequence first distinguished in the Volga River basin. Age ranges of the formations studied are confirmed or defined more precisely (the Ardym and Lokh formations) based on fossil faunas of cephalopods, bivalves, radiolarians, planktonic and benthic foraminifers. The middle-upper Coniacian range of the Borisoglebsk sequence is substantiated. Distribution of brachiopods, sponges, radiolarians, ostracodes and calcareous nannoplankton in the section is established. Radiolarian assemblages are used to distinguish biostratigraphic subdivisions corresponding in rank to faunal beds. Based on nannofossil assemblages, zones and subzones of standard zonations after Perch-Nielsen (1985) and Burnett (1998) are established. Stratigraphic ranges of certain radiolarian, ostracode and calcareous nannoplankton taxa are verified.