Mapping the rise and demise of Urgonian platforms

Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
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Cretaceous Research
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Mapping the rise and demise of Urgonian platforms (Late Hauterivian - Early
Aptian) in southeastern France and the Swiss Jura
Bernard Clavel a, Marc André Conrad b, Robert Busnardo c, Jean Charollais d, Bruno Granier e, f, *
a
24 Chemin des Champs d’Amot, F-74140 Messery, France
71 Chemin de Planta, CH-12223 Cologny, Switzerland
c
Chemin Meruzin, F-69370 St Didier au Mont d’Or, France
d
Département de Géologie et de Paléontologie, Sciences de la Terre et de l’Environnement, 13 Rue des Maraîchers, CH-1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
e
Université de Brest, UMR 6538 Domaines Océaniques, 29238 Brest, France
f
CNRS, UMR 6538 Domaines Océaniques, 29238 Brest, France
b
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 26 July 2011
Accepted in revised form 9 February 2012
Available online 12 April 2012
Lower Cretaceous carbonate deposits historically called “Urgonian limestones” are widely exposed
around the margins of the Vocontian basin in southeastern France and in the adjacent Swiss Jura. This
paper presents the history of their rise, growth and sudden demise. Eleven maps were constructed for
deposits ranging in age from the Late Hauterivian pro parte to the Early Aptian (Bedoulian) pro parte.
Based on sequential interpretations, they illustrate the present geographical distribution of the inner
platform facies (Urgonian limestones stricto sensu, with rudists), the outer platform facies (essentially
bioclastic deposits) and the basinal facies (slope, hemipelagic, pelagic deposits). These maps depict only
the final terms of each successive sequence (the late highstand intervals). Chronostratigraphy is constrained by ammonites found mainly in basinal deposits, by echinoids, by rudists and to a lesser extent by
dinoflagellates and calcareous nannoplancton. Inner platform, outer platform and slope (talus) deposits
are dated by rich assemblages of orbitolinids and dasycladalean algae. Currently 39 species of orbitolinids
have been recognized and their ranges collated with those of the ammonites in the area.
In the Jura and in Provence the oldest Urgonian deposits are dated early Late Hauterivian, thus
showing the synchroneity of the onset of platform carbonates development on both the southern and
northern margins of the basin. Thereafter, growth of the platforms led a clearly regressive shallowingupward trend, resulting from a stepwise progradation toward the center of the Vocontian area, coordinated with cyclical exposures in the inner platform areas. The maximum reduction of the platform
deposits occurred early in Late Barremian times, coeval with a noticeable turnover in the orbitolinids
assemblages.
Thereafter, carbonate platform deposition shifted toward the margins of the Vocontian basin. In Early
Aptian time, a well-dated discontinuity of regional extent marks the sudden, almost synchronous
disappearance of the Urgonian deposits.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Urgonian
Late Hauterivian
Barremian
Bedoulian
Aptian
SE France
Swiss Jura
Orbitolinids
Vocontian basin
Paleogeography
Sequence stratigraphy
1. Introduction
Sequence stratigraphic interpretation (according to EXXON
model, Van Wagoner et al., 1988; Catuneanu et al. 2011) of
a number of sections and a new biostratigraphic calibration (based
among other considerations on a refined orbitolinid scale) made
* Corresponding author. Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l’Univers, UFR
des Sciences et Techniques, Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO), 6 avenue Le
Gorgeu - CS 93837, F-29238 Brest Cedex 3, France. Tel.: þ33 (0) 2 98 01 62 89.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (B. Clavel), [email protected]
(B. Granier).
0195-6671/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2012.02.009
feasible the recognition of successive sequences in the development of the Urgonian platforms of southeastern France and the
adjacent Swiss Jura. Their build-up and rapid disappearance took
place in an interval of time ranging from Late Hauterivian to Early
Aptian. Here we present transects that illustrate the results obtained to date supplemented thereafter by eleven paleogeographic
maps that portray the successive periods of highstand deposits.
They include the Ha5 sequence of the Lower Hauterivian through
the Bd 3e4 of upper Lower Aptian. A special emphasis is made on
the termination of Urgonian facies deposition, with a number of
correlated sections in the Jura, Subalpine, Vivarais, Provence and
Vocontian provinces supporting the idea of a rapid, nearly
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B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
contemporaneous demise of shallow-water carbonates everywhere
in the studied area. So it is now possible to reconstruct the development of the Urgonian platforms, dating it to an interval involving
the Late Hauterivian, the Barremian and the Early Aptian. Available
paleontological criteria are briefly discussed, followed by an
examination of the rise and sudden demise of the platform
carbonates, and differences in their development on either side of
the Vocontian basin.
2. Dating the Urgonian limestones
Paleontological studies involving primarily orbitolinids and
dasycladalean algae are progressing. However recent advances of
this work in southeastern France and the adjacent Swiss Jura
(Fig. 1) have made feasible the development of a reasonably
precise stratigraphic framework, making it possible to date
depositional sequences and their discontinuities as observed in
the field.
Biostratigraphic analysis of the Urgonian limestones relies
primarily on the presence in the interior of the platforms, on their
margins, and in adjacent talus deposits, of numerous orbitolinids
and dasycladalean algae (Clavel et al., 1987, 2007). A recent work,
published by Clavel et al. (2009), deals with the distribution of
orbitolinids in southeastern France and adjacent portions of the
Swiss Jura, in strata dated Late Hauterivian (sequences Ha3 to Ha7
pars), Barremian (sequences Ha7 pars to Ba5 pars) and Early Aptian
(sequences Ba5 pars to Bd4 pars). Here (Fig. 2), this distribution is
supplemented by frequencies, based on data from a number of
sections. Among them 23 include levels containing orbitolinids
associated with, framed, or capped by beds containing
Fig. 1. General location map. A: Jura and Subalpine chains; B: Vivarais; C: Provence. See Fig. 3 for details.
B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
31
Fig. 2. Stratigraphic distribution of the orbitolinids and their calibration with the ammonites in southeastern France and the Swiss Jura. Strata are dated Late Hauterivian, Barremian
and Early Aptian. A pronounced turnover in species occurs in lower Upper Barremian strata, coeval with a maximum reduction of the Urgonian platform deposits. Data in Clavel
et al. (2009) are revised as follows: distributions of Eopalorbitolina charollaisi and Valserina turbinata are corrected. In accordance with observations by J.-P. Masse (Marseille, oral
comm.) and new studies on the Barremian stratotype (Vermeulen, 2005), the TST of the sequence Ba4 begins at the base of the ammonite Sartousiana Zone.
stratigraphically significant ammonites (Clavel et al., 1986;
Charollais et al., 2003, 2009).
Currently, 27 species of orbitolinids are listed in the Upper
Hauterivian pro parte (sequences Ha3 to Ha7 pars) of the Jura of the
Swiss Canton Vaud and of the Vercors massif in France, Urgonian
deposits containing orbitolinids are directly dated Late Hauterivian
by assemblages of dinoflagellates and calcareous nannofossils
(Clavel et al., 2007). Currently, 36 species of orbitolinids are listed in
an interval of time involving the whole of the Early Barremian and
the base of the Late Barremian (sequences Ha7 pars to Ba4 pars). A
pivotal turnover of orbitolinids occurred during the lowstand of
Ba4 sequence, which included the maximum regression of the sea
on the Urgonian platforms. Nearly half of the species of orbitolinids
present at that moment disappeared. A similar loss took place
among the dasycladalean algae.
Present higher in the same interval are other fossils that serve
to define the Barremian-Aptian boundary: echinoids (Heteraster
couloni, H. oblongus), rudists, dasycladalean algae and charophytes (Martin-Closas et al., 2009). However, their presence
provides sufficiently precise biostratigraphic criteria only for
a half-stage.
3. Distribution of the facies around the Vocontian basin
Three transects, dated and interpreted in a sequence stratigraphy point of view, have been used to illustrate the rise, the
stepwise growth and sudden demise of the Urgonian platforms on
either margin of the Vocontian basin (Figs. 3e6). The transects are
located respectively on the northern, western and southern
margins of the basin. Those shown in Figs. 4 and 5, i.e. on the
northern and western margins illustrate the development of the
platforms in a relatively stable tectonic setting. On the other hand,
the transect shown in Fig. 6, i.e. on the southern margin, is located
in a structurally complex area.
3.1. Northern margin of the Vocontian area: Jura and northern
Subalpine chains
A first transect perpendicular to the structural trends of the Jura
in a tract between the French Jura and the Subalpine Chains (Bornes
massif) has already been published by Charollais et al. (2001, 2003).
The new transect (Fig. 4) trending NNE-SSW runs for about 300 km
beginning in the Neuchâtel Jura and continues across the northern
subalpine chains, the Chartreuse and Vercors massifs. It improves
an earlier version by Clavel et al. (1995, fig. 7), for it benefits from
substantial data acquired later (Clavel et al., 2007, 2010; MartinClosas et al., 2009).
This transect illustrates the regional, pulsed, rapid progradation
of the outer and inner platform deposits toward the southsouthwest. Progradation was also directed toward the southeast
(Charollais et al., 2003). This pattern changes to aggradation after
Ba1 sequence: surface areas of the successive platforms may then
be relatively small during sequences Ba2 to Bd1. Sequence Bd2
marks a new change in trend to retrogradation. The demise of the
platform took place during the next sequence, i.e. Bd3, that is
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B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
Fig. 3. Location maps of the transect areas. 3A: Jura - Subalpine chains; 3B: Vivarais (1: Montagne de la Serre; 2: Les Darboussières; 3: Gorges de l’Ardèche; 4: Forêt de Bois Sauvage;
5: Mas de Gras/Chirolong; 6: Saint Montan; 7: Viviers). 3C: Provence (1: Marseille area; 2: La Fare; 3: Alpilles; 4: SW Monts de Vaucluse; 5: Gorges de la Nesque; 6: Ventoux;
7: Rissas). Red arrows ¼ the illustrated transects.
B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
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Fig. 4. Schematic lithostratigraphical transect across the Urgonian limestones in the Jura and Subalpine chains sited on the northern, relatively stable margin of the Vocontian basin.
1: charophytes from La Lance (Blanc-Alétru, 1995; Clavel unpublished); 2.: charophytes from Bellegarde e Montanges (Martin-Closas et al., 2009); 3: charophytes from Chartreuse,
Pas du Frou and Berland sections (Mojon and Médus, 1990; Arnaud et al., 1998; Mojon, 2002; Clavel et al., 2002, 2007; Martin-Closas et al., 2009) and from Vercors, Font Renard and
Gorges du Nant sections (Clavel et al., 2007; Martin-Closas et al., 2009); 4: charophytes from the Chartreuse, Pas du Frou and Berland sections (Mojon and Médus, 1990; Arnaud
et al., 1998; Mojon, 2002; Clavel et al., 2002, 2007; Martin-Closas et al., 2009); 5: charophytes from the Chartreuse, Pas du Frou sections (Clavel et al., 2002; Martin-Closas et al.,
2009); 6: ammonites (Ancyloceras matheroni, Pseudohaploceras matheroni) from the Vercors, le Faz and Rochefort-Samson sections (Paquier, 1900; Jacob, 1907; Girod and Weiss,
1965; Arnaud et al., 1998); 7: ammonite (Ancyloceras gr. matheroni) from the Chartreuse, Cirque de Roche Blanche section (Gidon, 1952; Arnaud et al., 1998); 8: ammonite
(Deshayesites gr. saxbyi) from the Geneva Jura, Bellegarde e Montanges section (“Valserine valley”, Clavel et al., 2007).
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B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
Fig. 5. Schematic lithostratigraphical transect across the Urgonian limestones in the Vivarais. 1: ammonites (Holcodiscus diversecostatus, Astieridiscus menglonensis) from the Gorges
de l’Ardèche - Serre de Tourre (coll. Busnardo, Clavel et al., nearing completion); 2: ammonites (Toxoceras moutonianum, Holcodiscus perezi) from Mas de Gras (Schroeder et al.,
2000; Clavel et al., 2007); 3: ammonite (Toxoceras gr. moutonianum) from the Forêt de Bois Sauvage e Chastelas de Baravon section (Renaud, 1978); 4: ammonites (Puezalpella
cf. uhligi, Silesites cf. cirtense) from the Gorges de l’Ardèche - Serre de Tourre section. (Clavel et al., nearing completion); 5: ammonite (Pseudocrioceras sp.) from the Gorges de
l’Ardèche - Pont d’Arc section (coll. Busnardo, Clavel et al., nearing completion).
B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
Fig. 6. Schematic lithostratigraphical transect across the Urgonian limestones of Provence.
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B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
Fig. 7. Latest Barremian and earliest Aptian evolution of the northern Urgonian platform in a proximal setting (innermost platform). The section illustrates the succession of the
Urgonian strata near Bellegarde-Montanges, west of Geneva in the French Jura (Ain Department). Five sequences (Ba2 to Bd1) are missing below a conspicuous disconformity, while
farther south the deposits that represent these sequences are present. Log: Martin-Closas et al., 2009; biostratigraphy: Clavel et al., 2007; sequence stratigraphy: this work. For
symbols, see Fig. 13.
B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
during the Early Aptian Weissi ammonite Zone. In Chartreuse, there
is no record of sequences younger than Bd2 due to postdepositional (Late Cretaceous) erosion. In southern Vercors too,
erosion may even cut deeply into Barremian strata. We found relicts
of Upper Barremian and Lower Aptian platform carbonates deposits
farther south in the Vocontian basin where they are found within
huge debris flows and megaslumps involving mostly slope facies
(see sub-section 3.4).
The paleogeographic setting at Bellegarde-Montanges
(southern Jura, southwest of Geneva) is illustrated in Fig. 7. The
rudistid limestone forming the lower third of the section is dated by
orbitolinids and dasycladalean algae as lowermost Barremian (Ba1
sequence). A large, conformable discontinuity terminates this unit.
The hiatus involved covers the stratigraphic range of five sequences
(Ba2 to Bd1, i.e. Barremian pro parte and Lower Aptian pro parte).
These missing sequences are present south, because there the
hiatus is progressively shorter. At Bellegarde, the sequences Bd2
and Bd3 are dated Early Aptian by ammonites and orbitolinids.
Fresh or brackish water deposits containing charophytes occur at
the base of the series (Martin-Closas et al., 2009). As shown by the
small maps in Fig. 8, highstand deposits of the sequences Ba4 and
Ba5 follow a southward progradational trend. In contrast, above the
discontinuity the trend is clearly retrogradational, starting with
Bd1 sequence.
37
Fig. 9 depicts the depositional environments underneath the
final discontinuity of the Lower Aptian (Bedoulian) Urgonian strata
in the northern Vocontian domain. The succession has been
correlated with the Bedoulian stratotype at Cassis-La Bédoule, east
of Marseille (Moullade et al., 1998a, 1998b). The Selli Oceanic anoxic
Event (OAE1a) matches the HST of the Bd3 sequence.
3.2. Western margin of the Vocontian basin: Vivarais - Ardèche
transect
Located on the western margin of the Vocontian basin this
transect (Fig. 5) trending WSW-ENE with a length of about 35 km,
subtends the area between the Montagne de la Serre and the Rhône
valley and cuts across the Cevennes fault. It occupies only the
central part of the platform. In this region a general, eastwardly
progradation in the direction of the Vocontian basin occurred.
Eastward progradation takes place in strata dated Early Barremian and Late Barremian pro parte. Higher up, aggradation occurs
where the transect crosses the center of the platform. Platform
conditions ceased to exist in strata referred to the middle Lower
Aptian (Weissi Zone).
Six sections (Fig. 8) present the depositional environments and
final discontinuity of the Lower Aptian (Bedoulian) Urgonian strata
in Vivarais (western margin of the Vocontian domain). Correlations
Fig. 8. Depositional environments and the final discontinuity between Urgonian facies and upper Lower Aptian (upper Bedoulian) strata in Vivarais (Ardèche): dating the overall
demise of the Urgonian platform in the western Vocontian area. Correlated with the Bedoulian stratotype at Cassis-La Bédoule, east of Marseille. Location of the Selli Oceanic Anoxic
Event (OAE1a) noted. 1) Cassis-La Bédoule: log and biostratigraphy: Moullade et al., 1998a, 1998b; sequence stratigraphy: this work; 2) Bourg-Saint-Andéol (Font de Beaume),
Vallon-Pont-d’Arc (Mézelet), and others sections: logs and biostratigraphy: Busnardo in Elmi et al. (1996); Busnardo, unpublished; sequence stratigraphy: this work.
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B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
Fig. 9. Depositional environments and the final discontinuity between Urgonian facies and upper Lower Aptian (upper Bedoulian) strata in the Jura and Vercors dating the overall
demise of the Urgonian platform in the northern Vocontian area, and correlated with the Bedoulian stratotype at Cassis-La Bédoule, east of Marseille. The location of the Selli
Oceanic anoxic Event (OAE1a), above the flooding event, is highlighted. 1) Cassis-La Bédoule: log and biostratigraphy: Moullade et al., 1998a, 1998b; sequence stratigraphy: this
work; 2) L’Achard: log and depositional environments: Arnaud-Vanneau, 1980, modified; biostratigraphy: Arnaud-Vanneau, 1980; Busnardo, unpublished; sequence stratigraphy:
this work; 3) Les Rimets: log: Clavel, unpublished; biostratigraphy: Arnaud-Vanneau, 1980; Busnardo, unpublished; sequence stratigraphy: this work; 4) Bellegarde e Montanges:
log: Clavel et al., 2007; Delamette in Clavel et al. (2007); biostratigraphy: Delamette in Clavel et al. (2007); sequence stratigraphy: this work; 5) La Presta: log : Clavel et al., 2007;
biostratigraphy: Renz and Jung, 1978; sequence stratigraphy: this work.
Fig. 10. Latest Barremian and earliest Aptian evolution of the southern Urgonian platform in a distal setting (outermost platform). The section illustrates the succession of the Urgonian
strata at Gorges de la Nesque, northeast of Avignon (Provence). Log: Masse, 1976, modified; ammonites: Masse,1976; Busnardo, unpublished; bio- and sequence stratigraphy: this work.
For symbols, see Fig. 13.
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B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
are made with the Bedoulian stratotype at Cassis-La Bédoule, east
of Marseille.
3.3. Southern margin of the Vocontian basin: Provence transect
As shown by the transect in the Marseille area (Fig. 5), the oldest
inner platform deposits are dated early Late Hauterivian. So the
onset of Urgonian limestone deposition was synchronous in the
southern and northern margins of the basin. However, in southern
Provence these Upper Hauterivian platform deposits are unconformably overlain by Upper Barremian hemipelagic sediments of
the South-Provence furrow (Masse, 1976). Higher in the succession
of this area, platform progradation began in the basal Barremian,
moving northward in the direction of the Vocontian basin.
However, here too the demise of shallow-water carbonates
occurred during Early Aptian times (Masse, 1976; Masse and
Fenerci-Masse, 2011), above Bd2 sequence.
The transect is located on the southern margin of the Vocontian basin. Note the conspicuous progradational trend, ending in
the middle Early Aptian. Post-depositional erosion may have
caused ablation and downslope transportation of Lower Aptian
deposits.
The Gorges de la Nesque section northeast of Avignon was
first surveyed by Masse (1976). Here, the Upper Barremian
sequences appear to be complete and inner platform deposits
with rudists are found high enough to include the Lower Aptian
Bd1 sequence. As shown in the small maps of Fig. 10, the rise of
the platforms clearly follows a northward progradational trend.
Like that of the northern margin of the basin, a change in trend
to retrogradation occurs at the base of Bd2 sequence. The
transgression is marked by a change in facies to outer platform
deposits.
Fig. 11 shows the depositional environments and the terminating discontinuity of the Lower Aptian (Bedoulian) Urgonian
strata in the Monts de Vaucluse (Provence) and the Gard (southern
margin of the Vocontian domain). Again, correlations are made
with the Bedoulian stratotype at Cassis-La Bédoule, east of
Marseille.
Fig. 11. Depositional environments and the final discontinuity between Urgonian facies and upper Lower Aptian (upper Bedoulian) strata in the Monts de Vaucluse (Provence) and
the Gard (southern margin of the Vocontian domain): dating the overall demise of the Urgonian platform in the southern Vocontian area. Correlated with the Bedoulian stratotype
at Cassis-La Bédoule, east of Marseille. Location of the Selli Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE1a) noted. 1) Cassis-La Bédoule: log and biostratigraphy: Moullade et al., 1998a, 1998b;
sequence stratigraphy: this work; 2) Plateau d’Albion: logs and depositional environments: Masse, 1976; biostratigraphy: Kilian, 1888; sequence stratigraphy: this work; 3)
Le Rissas: logs, depositional environments and biostratigraphy: Monier, 1986; sequence stratigraphy: this work; 4) Gorges de la Nesque: logs and depositional environments :
Masse, 1976 modified; biostratigraphy: Leenhardt, 1883; Masse, 1976; sequence stratigraphy: this work. Rustrel-Lagarde: logs and depositional environments: Masse, 1976 modified;
biostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy: this work; 5) Gargas - Le Chêne: logs and depositional environments: Moullade, 1963; biostratigraphy: Leenhardt, 1883; Moullade, 1963;
Moullade et al., 2009; sequence stratigraphy: this work; 6) Serviers: logs and depositional environments: Clavel, unpublished; biostratigraphy: Dumas, 1876; Pellat, 1903; Thieuloy,
1990; Conte, 1999, 2001; Masse and Fenerci-Masse, 2011; sequence stratigraphy: this work.
B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
41
Fig. 12. Schematic lithostratigraphical transect across the northwestern margin of the Vocontian basin illustrating the geographical distribution of Urgonian, slope and basinal
deposits dated Early Barremian pro parte to Early Aptian pro parte, according to Ferry (1988). A: paleogeographic map; B: location map; C: lithostratigraphical transect according to
Ferry (1988), revised; D: lithology and significant fauna according to Ferry (1976); bio- and sequence stratigraphy according to the present authors.
3.4. Fourth transect: the northwestern margin of the Vocontian
basin
The relationship of the edge of the Urgonian platform to the
northwestern margin of the Vocontian basin has been discussed in
several publications (Ferry, 1976, 1979, 1988; Ferry and Flandrin,
1979). We refigure their principal conclusions (Fig. 12).
During Late Barremian and Early Aptian times the northwestern
margin of the Vocontian basin sank to form a saddle (the Rhodanian corridor) separating the Vercors and Vivarais Urgonian platforms. The related fan is represented, farther in the deep Vocontian
Trough, by bioclastic debris flows, megabreccias, along with large
lenses of slump ranging up to 10 sq km in area from the ablated
margins of the platforms. The largest lenses have been mapped by
the aforementioned authors. Here (Fig. 12) these phenomena are
illustrated by a revision of Ferry’s original profile (1988) and his La
Chaudière section (1976) whereby the debris flows correspond to
lowstand deposits. Correlations are also made with the stratotypic
sections.
4. Paleogeographical maps
The 11 maps of Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate the progradation and
retrogradation of the platforms in the several domains (Jura,
Subalpine, Vivarais, Provence, and Vocontian), surrounding the
Vocontian basin. They are built to show highstand deposits, so
represent only the upper part of the sequences named. In the
Late Hauterivian pro parte, inner platform deposits, commonly
with rudists (historically the Urgonian limestones sensu stricto),
are first developed only in the Jura and southern Provence,
Marseille area. They then expand, progressively and concentrically, toward the depositional center of the basin. In lowermost
Barremian strata (Ba1 sequence), highstand deposits appear in
the Vivarais and the northern subalpine chains. Progradation
continued southward in Vercors (south of Grenoble), eastward in
the Vivarais and northward in Provence. By Early Aptian times
(sequences Bd1 and Bd2), Urgonian deposits are present in all of
the northern Subalpine chains, the Vivarais and southern
Provence.
The main steps of this evolution are as follows, noting that
because the succession of outcrop sections is diachronous, none of
them can span the whole of the time represented by these Urgonian deposits:
1. onset of the carbonate platforms, with bioclastic marginal and
rudistid inner platform deposits. These appear as early as the
base of the Late Hauterivian in the central Jura and Provence
(references for 1, 2, 3, 4: Clavel et al., 1986, 1987, 1995, 2002,
2007, 2010; Charollais et al., 2003, 2008, 2009; Conrad et al.,
2011; Schroeder et al., 2000; Martin-Closas et al., 2009);
2. stepwise progradation expands in all directions toward the
Vocontian basin;
3. cyclical exposures occur in the innermost platform areas,
paired with long hiatuses in the more distal areas (Jura);
4. a maximum reduction of the platform deposits occurs early in
Late Barremian time;
5. Upper Barremian and Lower Aptian platform debris are transported into the basin (Ferry, 1976, 1979, 1988; this work).
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B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
Fig. 13. Geographical distribution of the Urgonian, slope and basinal deposits from Upper Hauterivian pro parte (Ha5 sequence) to Lower Barremian pro parte (Ba2 sequence). Only
highstand deposits are shown.
6. platform demise dated Early Aptian is sudden and almost
synchronous in all localities (this work), a conclusion that does
not concern the whole of the Provence platform because
earlier, near the transition from the Barremian to the Aptian,
two segments, a Northern and a Southern domains, get individualized by the collapse of the median segment of this
platform, that is by the genesis of the South Provence basin
(Masse and Fenerci-Masse, 2011).
5. Dating the end of the Urgonian platforms as illustrated by
sections of the upper portion of the Urgonian limestones in
the southern Jura and in southeastern France
From a stratigraphic standpoint these sections are properly
dated, directly by ammonites or indirectly by coeval assemblages of
orbitolinids, dasycladalean algae and charophytes. Because the
ranges of the microfossils have been calibrated in basinal or transitional (talus) settings on the ammonite zones they allow us to
identify the sequences in the platform environments too. Fig. 15
depicts the known distribution of the most significant Bedoulian
ammonites in the stratotypic section of Cassis-la Bédoule, along
with the corresponding biozonation and a tentative scheme of their
sequential distribution.
The paleontological data and correlations shown in Figs. 8, 9
and 11 are based mainly on literature. They are constructed to
delineate the demise of the Urgonian platforms on the northern
(Fig. 9), western (Fig. 8) and southwestern (Fig. 11) margins of the
Vocontian basin. Each of the 15 outcrop sections shown in Figs. 8, 9
and 11 is correlated with the Lower Aptian basinal deposits at
Cassis-La Bédoule, east of Marseille. At this location a conspicuous
discontinuity caused by emergence occurs just above Bd2
sequence. Based on paleontological evidence (ammonites and
orbitolinids below and above the discontinuity), the Urgonian
platforms lost their identities almost synchronously everywhere in
the area surrounding the Vocontian basin, during the lowstand of
our Bd3 sequence, in the upper part of the Weissi ammonite Zone.
Below the discontinuity, the distribution of three types of sedimentation (lagoon, shoal -eventually preserved in channels- and
outer ramp) shows that the facies of the inner platform are
progressively younger toward the margins of the basin, thus
B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
43
Fig. 14. Geographical distribution of the Urgonian, slope and basinal deposits dated Early Barremian pro parte (Ba3 sequence) and Early Aptian pro parte (sequence Bd3/4). Only
highstand deposits are shown. Note the inception of a northward transgressive, onlapping trend in sequence Ba4. Arrows shown in sequences Ba4 and Bd3/4 indicate downslope
transportations of platform deposits. For symbols, see Fig. 13.
illustrating the retrogressive-transgressive character of Urgonian
deposits during Early Aptian times.
6. Discussion
The phenomenon responsible for the termination of the Urgonian platforms is often referred to as a typical example of
“drowning” events. However this name does not offer a key to an
understanding of how and why Urgonian sedimentation came to an
end. The “drowning” concept was first introduced to explain
stratigraphic events during which production of carbonate sediments stopped abruptly: it was assumed to be caused by a rapid rise
of the relative sea-level “submerging” the platform to a level below
the euphotic zone (Schlager, 1981). In our opinion, the same
concept is better expressed by the term “give-up” (Neumann and
MacIntyre, 1985). Schlager (1989) suggested that drowning events
could also be effected by a decrease in the clarity of the water (due
to an increase of its turbidity) or even by a sea-water cooling. His
concept originally applied to isolated platforms (like the Bahamas).
When platform growth take place on the margin of a continent
(Florida for example), a rapid transgression leads to a landward
shift of the shoreline and to the back stepping of the carbonate
facies, but not to their demise. For example, for the Wilmington
platform illustrated by Schlager (1989), it is correct to say that there
is no record of Lower Valanginian carbonate sediments in the distal
part of the continental shelf, however shallow-water carbonates
are present in the proximal area: there facies belts are merely
backstepped at the distances prescribed by the amplitude of the
related transgression.
In the Urgonian platforms, the flooding events of the sequences
Bd3 and Bd4 led to deposition of hemipelagic facies immediately
above the fossilized Urgonian platforms. Carbonate sedimentation
probably backstepped on previously emergent tracts. Hypothetically,
we suggest that the rise in relative sea-level made possible
connections with cooler northern seaways which caused a change in
sedimentation from tropical carbonates to cooler-water carbonates.
44
B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
Fig. 15. Stratotypic Bedoulian section at Cassis e La Bédoule. Log and biostratigraphy: Moullade et al., 1998a, 1998b; Ropolo et al., 1998, 2008a, 2008b; additional biostratigraphic
data from Bogdanova and Tovbina (1994); sequence stratigraphy: this work. Location of the Selli Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE1a) noted.
B. Clavel et al. / Cretaceous Research 39 (2013) 29e46
7. Conclusions
Advances in paleontological studies, particularly those concerning the taxonomy and distribution of the orbitolinids, permit
a calibrated interregional correlation of the strata in an Urgonian
facies that then delimited the Vocontian basin and its adjuncts. The
bulk of Urgonian limestones range in age from the time represented
by the youngest beds of the Upper Hauterivian substage, the whole
of the Lower Barremian and the lower Upper Barremian. Within
this interval the depositional setting is clearly progradational on
both margins of the Vocontian basin, confirming a model explicitly
described and named more than a decade ago (Clavel et al., 1995,
2007). This interpretation is clearly the opposite of that put
forward by H. Arnaud (in Adatte et al., 2005) and Godet et al. (2010)
as discussed in detail in Conrad et al. (2011).
In the long term the “maximum regression” (that is, the
maximum reduction of the platform deposits) observed in the early
Late Barremian (during the lowstand of the Ba4 sequence) is coeval
with a pivotal turnover in the distribution of the orbitolinids, and as
yet not properly documented with that of the dasycladalean algae.
From that point in time, the carbonate factory moved toward the
margins of the basin and succeeding platforms are generally
narrow fringes with an aggradational rather than a progradational
pattern. In Early Aptian time, that is in the Weissi ammonite Zone,
a pronounced discontinuity marks the final, almost synchronous
disappearance of the carbonate platforms.
Acknowledgments
The core of this paper was presented during STRATI2010
(4ème Congrès Français de Stratigraphie, UPMC, Paris, August
30eSeptember 2, 2010) in the form of a set of conferences
and posters: http://www.univ-brest.fr/geosciences/conference/
ocs/index.php/CFS/STRATI2010/schedConf/presentations
We thank the guest editors, Michel Moullade and Peter Skelton,
as well as Serge Ferry and an anonymous reviewer, whose
comments and suggestions have helped improving the original
manuscript.
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