Ammonite biostratigraphy in the Polish Jura sections (central Poland) as a clue for recognition of the uniform base of the Kimmeridgian Stage

Abstract

The ammonite succession in the stratigraphical interval from the Bifurcatus Zone, through the Hypselum Zone, up to the lower part of the Bimammatum Zone corresponding to a large part of the Submediterranean Upper Oxfordian is studied in several sections of the Polish Jura in central Poland. The sections have yielded numerous ammonites of Submediterranean–Mediterranean affinity, but also, some of Boreal and Subboreal character. The co-occurrence of ammonites of different bioprovinces makes possible the correlation between the different zonal schemes – especially between the Subboreal/Boreal zonations and the Submediterranean/Mediterranean zonation. The correlation shows that the boundary of the Pseudocordata and Baylei zones (Subboreal) and its equivalent – the boundary of the Rosenkrantzi and Bauhini zones (Boreal), currently proposed as the primary standard of the Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian boundary within its GSSP at Staffin Bay (Isle of Skye, Scotland), runs in the Submediterranean/Mediterranean Upper Oxfordian near the base of the Bimammatum Zone. This discovery removes the main obstacle against the formal recognition of the Staffin Bay section as representing the uniform base of the Kimmeridgian Stage in the World and its GSSP.The ammonite taxa recognized are commented on and/or described, and suggestions on their taxonomical and phylogenetical relations are given in the palaeontological part of the study. A new taxon is established: Microbiplices anglicus vieluniensis subsp. nov.