Lyell Collection
Journal of the Geological Society
Lyell Centre  |   Lyell Collection  |   Subscriptions   |   Geological Society  |   Email alerts  |   Online bookshop  |   Help

Keywords:
Author:
Advanced search>>
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hounslow, M. W.
Right arrow Articles by Orchard, M. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Journal of the Geological Society; 2007; v. 164; issue.3; p. 581-597;
DOI: 10.1144/0016-76492005-184
© 2007 Geological Society of London

Original Article

Magneto-biostratigraphy of the Middle to Upper Triassic transition, central Spitsbergen, arctic Norway

Mark W. Hounslow1, Mengyu Hu1, Atle MØrk2, Jorunn Os Vigran2, Wolfgang Weitschat3 & Michael J. Orchard4

1 1Department of Geography, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB UK (e-mail: m.hounslow@lancs.ac.uk)
2 2SINTEF Petroleum Research, N-7465 Trondheim, Norway
3 3Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut und Museum, Universität Hamburg, Bundesstrasse 55, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
4 4Geological Survey of Canada, 101–605 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, V6b 5J3, Canada

Palaeomagnetic and biostratigraphic data were obtained for the latest Ladinian and most of the Carnian (Botneheia Formation to basal Kapp Toscana Group), from two sections in central Spitsbergen (Svalbard archipelago). Thermal and alternating field (AF) demagnetization reveals a magnetization of both normal and reversed polarities. The mean directions pass reversal and fold tests and are similar to other European Late Triassic palaeopoles. One of the sections displays 15° of vertical-axis, clockwise, tectonic rotation on a décollement in the underlying Botneheia Formation. The magnetostratigraphy is dominated by normal polarity in the uppermost Botneheia Formation and into the Tschermakfjellet and basal De Geerdalen formations. A substantial hiatus characterizes the Ladinian–Carnian boundary in central Spitsbergen, so reverse magnetozones, identified in Tethyan sections near this boundary, are absent. Magnetostratigraphic correlation, along with palynostratigraphic constraints, indicates that most of the De Geerdalen Formation is Lower Carnian. The magnetostratigraphy and palynology indicates that the Isfjorden Member (upper unit of the De Geerdalen Formation) is probably mid-Carnian in age. Change in the lithological architecture in the Isfjorden Member, compared with the underlying parts of the De Geerdalen Fm, suggests a hiatus near the base of the member, which may represent a mid-Carnian unconformity, not previously recognized on Spitsbergen.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Geol Soc Am BullHome page
M. W. Hounslow, C. Peters, A. Mork, W. Weitschat, and J. O. Vigran
Biomagnetostratigraphy of the Vikinghogda Formation, Svalbard (Arctic Norway), and the geomagnetic polarity timescale for the Lower Triassic
GSA Bulletin, 2008; 120: 1305 - 1325.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]