The Hesseltal Formation or Blackcoloured Formation is a Late Cretaceous (late Cenomanian to early Turonian) geological formation from northern Germany. It consists of lithified marls and limestone, with a unique series of black shales deposited in anoxic conditions during the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
| Hesseltal Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Planerkalk Group |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Marl, limestone |
| Other | Black shale |
| Location | |
| Country |  Germany |
| Extent | North Rhine-Westphalia Lower Saxony |
| Type section | |
| Named by | Hiss, Kaplan & Wiese |
| Year defined | 2007 |
It provides an important record of the fauna of the proto-North Sea basin. The formation's diversity of fossil fish is thought to be due to a consequence of an expanding oxygen minimum zone that caused mass mortalities among different communities of fish, including both those associated with warm surface waters and those associated with colder waters from upwelling. The anoxic conditions allowed for detailed preservation of some of these fish, including bony fish with their stomach contents preserved and even a few partial body fossils of cartilaginous fish.[5][7] Fossil ammonites with preserved soft parts are also known.[8]
The formation's deposition also documents the Plenus Cold Event, an enigmatic, brief but severe cooling event that occurred during the otherwise rapid global warming from the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event, possibly as a consequence of changing ocean circulation.[5]
Paleobiota
editMost fish are documented in Diedrich (2012) and a species list from Amalfitano et al (2020).[7][9]
Bony fish
edit| Genus | Species | Location | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apateodus | A. striatus | An ichthyotringid aulopiform. | |||
| Armigatus | A. brevissimus | An ellimmichthyiform clupeomorph. | |||
| Anomoeodus | A. angustus | A pycnodont. | |||
| A. muensteri | |||||
| Aulolepis | A. typus | A ctenothrissiform. | |||
| Apsopelix | A. anglicus | A crossognathid crossognathiform. | |||
| Bananogmius | B. ornatus | A plethodid tselfatiiform. Preserved with Clupavus in the stomach. | |||
| Belonostomus | B. cinctus | An aspidorhynchid. | |||
| Cimolichthys | C. levesiensis | A cimolichthyid aulopiform. | |||
| Clupavus | C. maroccanus | A basal ostariophysian. The most common fish of the formation. | |||
| Cylindracanthus | C. cf. minor | Rostral fragment | A fish of uncertain affinities. | ||
| Dercetis (=Leptotrachelus) | D. sp. | A dercetid aulopiform. | |||
| ?Dixonanogmius | D. sp.[10] | A plethodid. | |||
| Elopopsis | E. microdon | A pachyrhizodontid crossognathiform. | |||
| Enchodus | E. lewesiensis | An enchodontid aulopiform. | |||
| E. venator | |||||
| Halec | H. sp. | A halecid aulopiform. | |||
| Hoplopteryx | H. lewesiensis | A trachichthyiform. | |||
| Ichthyodectes | I. sp. | An ichthyodectid. | |||
| Ichthyotringa | I. africana | An ichthyotringid aulopiform. | |||
| Njoerdichthys | N. dyckerhoffi[11] | Galgenknapp Quarry, Hohne Quarry | A pycnodont. | ||
| Osmeroides | O. lewesiensis | An osmeroidid elopiform. | |||
| Pachyrhizodus | P. subulidens | A pachyrhizodontid crossognathiform. | |||
| P. sp. | |||||
| Paranursallia | P. gutturosa | A pycnodont. | |||
| Protosphyraena | P. sp. | A billfish-like pachycormid. | |||
| "Pycnodus" | "P." scrobiculatus | A pycnodont. | |||
| Rhamphoichthys | R. taxidiotis[10] | DIMAC Quarry | A billfish-like plethodid. | 
| |
| Rharbichthys | R. ferox | An aulopiform. | |||
| Rhynchodercetis | R. sp. | A dercetid aulopiform. | |||
| Protostomias | P. maroccanus | A dragonfish-like teleost. | |||
| Tselfatia | T. formosa | A plethodid. | |||
| Xiphactinus | X. sp. | An ichthyodectid. |
Chondrichthyans
edit| Genus | Species | Location | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cantioscyllium | C. decipiens | A nurse shark. | |||
| Carcharias | C. sp. | A sand shark. | |||
| Chiloscyllium | C. greenei | A bamboo shark. | |||
| Cretalamna | C. appendiculata | An otodontid shark. | |||
| Cretascyliorhinus | C. aff. destombesi | A scyliorhinid shark. | |||
| Cretodus | C. semiplicatus | A pseudoscapanorhynchid shark. | |||
| Cretoxyrhina | C. denticulata | A cretoxyrhinid shark. | |||
| C. mantelli | |||||
| Diprosopovenator | D. hilperti[5] | Partial body fossils | A pseudoscyliorhinid shark (formerly Paraorthacodus sp.) | ||
| ?Eostriatolamia | ?E. subulata | A sand shark. | |||
| Heterodontus | H. caniculatus | A bullhead shark. | |||
| H. polydictyos | |||||
| Paranomotodon | P. angustidens | A thresher shark. | |||
| Protolamna | P. acuta | A pseudoscapanorhynchid shark. | |||
| P. sokolovi | |||||
| Pseudoscyliorhinus | P. schwarzhansi | A pseudoscyliorhinid shark | |||
| Posadaia | P. nolfi | A sand shark. | |||
| Pseudospinax | P. pusillus | A bamboo shark. | |||
| Ptychodus | P. decurrens | Articulated specimen, teeth | A ptychodontid shark. | ||
| P. mammilaris | |||||
| Polyacrodus | P. polyptychus | A hybodontid shark. | |||
| Scapanorhynchus | S. raphiodon | A goblin shark. | |||
| Squalicorax | S. falcatus | A crow shark. | |||
| Squatina (Cretascyllium) | S. cranei | An angelshark. | |||
| Squatirhina | S. westfalica | A ray of uncertain affinities. | |||
| Turoniabatis | T. ornata | A ray of uncertain affinities. |
Reptiles
edit| Genus | Species | Location | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coniasaurus | C. crassidens[12] | DIMAC quarry | Dentary, teeth | A dolichosaurid squamate | |
| Dolichosaurus | D. longicollis[12] | DIMAC quarry | Dorsal vertebra | A dolichosaurid squamate | |
| Mosasauroidea indet.[12] | DIMAC quarry | Articulated tail | The oldest articulated mosasaur remains from Europe. |
References
edit- ^ "PBDB Strata Results". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ^ Voigt, Silke; Aurag, Aissa; Leis, Florian; Kaplan, Ulrich (2007-01-15). "Late Cenomanian to Middle Turonian high-resolution carbon isotope stratigraphy: New data from the Münsterland Cretaceous Basin, Germany". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 253 (1): 196–210. Bibcode:2007E&PSL.253..196V. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2006.10.026. ISSN 0012-821X.
- ^ Diedrich, Cajus G. (2013-04-01). "Facies related phylostratigraphy of the benthic neoselachian Ptychodus from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian/Turonian) of the Pre-North Sea Basin of Europe". Cretaceous Research. 41: 17–30. Bibcode:2013CrRes..41...17D. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2012.10.007. ISSN 0195-6671.
- ^ Hetzel, Almut; März, Christian; Vogt, Christoph; Brumsack, Hans-Jürgen (2011). "Geochemical environment of Cenomanian - Turonian black shale deposition at Wunstorf (northern Germany)". Cretaceous Research. 32 (4): 480–494. Bibcode:2011CrRes..32..480H. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2011.03.004. ISSN 0195-6671.
- ^ a b c d Stumpf, Sebastian; Scheer, Udo; Kriwet, Jürgen (2019-03-04). "A new genus and species of extinct ground shark, † Diprosopovenator hilperti , gen. et sp. nov. (Carcharhiniformes, †Pseudoscyliorhinidae, fam. nov.), from the Upper Cretaceous of Germany". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 39 (2): e1593185. Bibcode:2019JVPal..39E3185S. doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1593185. ISSN 0272-4634.
- ^ van Helmond, N. a. G. M.; Sluijs, A.; Sinninghe Damsté, J. S.; Reichart, G.-J.; Voigt, S.; Erbacher, J.; Pross, J.; Brinkhuis, H. (2015-03-18). "Freshwater discharge controlled deposition of Cenomanian–Turonian black shales on the NW European epicontinental shelf (Wunstorf, northern Germany)". Climate of the Past. 11 (3): 495–508. Bibcode:2015CliPa..11..495V. doi:10.5194/cp-11-495-2015. ISSN 1814-9324.
- ^ a b Hunt, Adrian P.; Milàn, Jesper; Lucas, Spencer G.; Spielmann, Justin A. (2012). Vertebrate Coprolites: Bulletin 57. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
- ^ Klug, Christian; Riegraf, Wolfgang; Lehmann, Jens (2012). "Soft–part preservation in heteromorph ammonites from the Cenomanian–Turonian Boundary Event (OAE 2) in north–west Germany". Palaeontology. 55 (6): 1307–1331. Bibcode:2012Palgy..55.1307K. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01196.x. ISSN 0031-0239.
- ^ Amalfitano, Jacopo; Giusberti, Luca; Fornaciari, Eliana; Carnevale, Giorgio (2020-04-03). "UPPER CENOMANIAN FISHES FROM THE BONARELLI LEVEL (OAE2) OF NORTHEASTERN ITALY". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 126 (2). doi:10.13130/2039-4942/13224. ISSN 2039-4942.
- ^ a b El Hossny, Tamara; Cavin, Lionel; Kaplan, Ulrich; Schwermann, Achim H.; Samankassou, Elias; Friedman, Matt (2023). "The first articulated skeletons of enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish-like actinopterygians". Royal Society Open Science. 10 (12): 231296. Bibcode:2023RSOS...1031296E. doi:10.1098/rsos.231296. ISSN 2054-5703. PMC 10698480. PMID 38077217.
- ^ Cawley, John; Lehnmann, Jens; Wiese, Frank; Kriwet, Jürgen (2020). "Njoerdichthys dyckerhoffi gen. et sp. nov. (Pycnodontiformes, lower Turonian) northward migration caused by the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum". Cretaceous Research. 116. Bibcode:2020CrRes.11604590C. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104590. PMC 7611863. PMID 34690488.
- ^ a b c Smith, Krister T.; Schwermann, Achim H.; Wilmsen, Markus (2019). "The oldest articulated mosasaurian remains (earliest Turonian) from Germany". Geologie und Paläontologie in Westfalen. 91: 3–23.