PALEOGEOGRAPHY OF THE BERRIASIAN-BARREMIAN AGES OF THE EARLY CRETACEOUS

Abstract

Global litholologic-paleogeographic maps are compiled for the Berriasian, Valanginian, Hauterivian, and Barremian ages of the Early Cretaceous. Main features of paleogeography, sedimentation environments in oceans, regularities in distribution of paleogeographic environments in continental margins, spatial position of arid and humid sedimentation settings in continents, and position of latitudinal climatic belts of the Neocomian time are considered. It is noted that clayey-calcareous hemipelagic and pelagic sedimentation prevailed in the Tethys; carbonate-free clayey-siliceous and calcareous pelagic sedimentation was characteristic of the Pacific, whereas hemipelagic terrigenous sediments were mainly accumulated in the Southern Ocean. Morphological-structural lateral series of deep-water trenches, turbidite fore-arc basins, and volcanic belts of island-arcs and continental margins are distinguished at the convergent boundaries between continental and oceanic plates. Five latitudinal climatic belts of the Neocomian time corresponded to the northern circumpolar humid zone with coal deposits, the northern midlatitudinal humid zone with coal-bauxite-kaolinite deposits, the intersubtropical arid zone with evaporites, the southern midlatitudinal humid zone with coal-kaolinite deposits, and the southern humid zone with coal-bearing sequences.