MJøLNIR (BARENTS SEA) METEORITE IMPACT EJECTA OFFERS A VOLGIAN-RYAZANIAN BOUNDARY MARKER

Abstract

New biostratigraphic evidences from a core drilled in the central part of the 40 km diameter submarine Mjølnir meteorite crater on the Barents Shelf are presented. The data suggest a stratigraphical age for the meteorite impact approximating the Volgian - Ryazaman boundary. This age corresponds to the later pan of the Early Berriasian (Berriasella jacobi Zone) of the Tethyan Realm. A similar age for the impact is further documented from the macro- and microfaunas and microfloras found in the ejecta-bearing strata in an additional borehole located 30 km northeast of the crater. Iridium anomalies found in the Volgian-Ryazaman boundary strata on central Spitsbergen - Svalbard and Nordvik Peninsula in northern Siberia appear also to be related to the Mjølnir impact, providing additional support for a Volgian-Ryazanian boundary age of the impact.