RT Journal Article
T1 Mid-Albian to earliest Cenomanian climate cycles indicated by humid paleosols developed within the arid braidplain facies of the Utrillas Group of east-central Spain
A1 Bueno Cebollada, Carlos A.
A1 Horra Del Barco, Raúl De La
A1 Fernández Barrenechea, José María
A1 Meléndez Hevia, María Nieves
A1 Barrón López, Eduardo
A1 Fregenal Martínez, María Antonia
AB The development of arid climate conditions in eastern Iberia during the mid-Cretaceous (mid-Albian to earliest Cenomanian) has been postulated by several authors over the last two decades based on sedimentological and palaeobotanical datasets. In this paper, we present a combined sedimentological and paleosol study of the mid-Albian to earliest Cenomanian Utrillas Group in the Cuenca Basin of east-central Spain, to improve knowledge of palaeoclimate. Four facies associations are identified as follows: Proximal alluvial braidplain (FA I), Distal alluvial braidplain (FA II), Aeolian dunes (FA III), and Inner estuarine settings (FA IV). The succession records the development of a braidplain system under dominantly arid conditions followed by a marine transgressive phase. In contrast to the overall arid palaeoclimate interpretation, multi-proxy palaeoedaphological analyses conducted for three paleosol profiles (Spodosols) indicate the occurrence of periods of increased humidity in the basin. These findings allow us to infer the occurrence of shorter-term climatic oscillations characterised by a tropical savanna climate when the palaeosols developed, suggesting significantly more humid conditions than those inferred based on the sedimentological and previous palaeobotanical datasets. We propose a palaeoclimatic model that explains the alternation between the dominantly arid and these more humid periods based on the cyclical latitudinal shifting of the mid-Cretaceous climatic belts, shedding new light on the mid-Albian to earliest Cenomanian climate of Iberia.
PB Elsevier
SN 0031-0182
YR 2023
FD 2023-09-15
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/87863
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/87863
LA eng
NO Agencia Estatal de Investigación
NO Unión Europea
DS Docta Complutense
RD 25 ago 2024