Papers by Prof. Marcelle Boudagher-Fadel
Seismic tomographic images of the mantle below the Hellenides indicate that the Vardar ocean prob... more Seismic tomographic images of the mantle below the Hellenides indicate that the Vardar ocean probably had a composite width of over 3000 kilometres. From surface geology we know that this ocean was initially located between two passive margins: Pelagonian Adria in the west and Serbo-Macedonian-Eurasia in the east. Pelagonia was covered by a carbonate platform that accumulated, during Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous time, where highly diversified carbonate sedimentary environments evolved and reacted to the adjacent, converging Vardar ocean plate. We conceive that on the east side of the Vardar ocean, a Cretaceous carbonate platform evolved from Aptian to Maastrichtian time in the forearc basin of the Vardar supra-subduction volcanic arc complex. The closure of the Vardar ocean occurred in one episode of ophiolite obduction and in two episodes of intra-oceanic subduction. 1. During Middle Jurassic time a 1200-kilometre slab of west Vardar lithosphere subducted beneath the supra-subduction, "Eohellenic", arc, while a 200-kilometre-wide slab obducted onto Pelagonia between Callovian and Valanginian time. 2. During Late Jurassic through Cretaceous time a 1700-kilometre-wide slab subducted beneath the evolving east Vardar-zone arc-complex. Pelagonia, the trailing edge of the subducting east-Vardar ocean slab, crashed and underthrust the Vardar arc complex during Paleocene time and ultimately crashed with Serbo-Macedonia. Since late Early Jurassic time, the Hellenides have moved about 3000 kilometres toward the northeast while the Atlantic Ocean spread.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2008
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright
The superfamily Alveolinoidea is a member of the Order Miliolida, and is comprised of three main ... more The superfamily Alveolinoidea is a member of the Order Miliolida, and is comprised of three main families, the Alveolinidae, the Fabulariidae and the Rhapydioninidae. They are examples of Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF), which are single-celled organisms with specific characteristic endoskeletons. Alveolinoids are found globally from the Cretaceous to the the repeated re-occurrence of certain morphological features. Understanding this propensity to homoplasy is essential in understanding and constructing the phylogenetic relationships within the alveolinoid superfamily.
Abstract: Elevated whole-rock concentrations in Cr, Ni and V as well as the occurrence of detrita... more Abstract: Elevated whole-rock concentrations in Cr, Ni and V as well as the occurrence of detrital chrome spinel suggest an input of (ultra)mafic detritus into the Eocene clastic sediments of Samo-thraki Island. Detrital chrome spinel chemistry indicates a mixed source of MOR-type peridotites and supra-subduction zone (SSZ) peridotites, and minor volcanic rocks, supposedly island-arc basalts and MORB-type rocks, most likely derived from Vardarian ophiolites. Wackestones from the southwest of Samothraki contain a moderately well-preserved calcareous microfossil assemblage, comprising Nummulites fabianii (PREVER), Nummulites striatus (BRUGUIÈRE), Pellatispira sp., and Operculina sp., indicating an early Priabonian age (Late Eocene). The sedimentation of the Eocene succession was influenced by regional tectonic and volcanic activity. The rocks have been deposited contemporaneous with the extensional exhumation of the eastern Rhodope Massif.
Benthic foraminifera distribution and sedimentary environmental evolution of a carbonate platform: A case study of the Guadalupian (middle Permian) in eastern Sichuan Basin
Marine Micropaleontology
The superfamily Alveolinoidea is a member of the Order Miliolida, and is comprised of three main ... more The superfamily Alveolinoidea is a member of the Order Miliolida, and is comprised of three main families, the Alveolinidae, the Fabulariidae and the Rhapydioninidae. They are examples of Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF), which are single cell organisms with specific characteristic endoskeletons. Alveolinoids are found globally from the Cretaceous to present day and are very important biostratigraphic index fossils in shallow-marine carbonates. They are often associated with significant hydrocarbon reservoirs, and exhibit provincialism with characteristic genera often confined to one of the American, Tethyan or Indo-Pacific provinces. Previously, the systematic study of the global interrelationship between the various alveolinoid lineages has not been possible because of the absence of biostratigraphic correlation between the geographically scattered assemblages, and the scarcity of described material from the Indo-Pacific province. Here we use the literature and new material from ...
When the genera Septatrocholina BouDagher-Fadel and Banner and Alzonorbitopsella BouDagher-Fadel ... more When the genera Septatrocholina BouDagher-Fadel and Banner and Alzonorbitopsella BouDagher-Fadel were erected (BouDagher-Fadel 2008, pp. 161; 175), the genotypes Septatrocholina banneri and Alzonorbitopsella arabia, respectively, were described and figured, but through an oversight the holotypes and paratypes were not identified among the illustrated specimens. The type specimens are here subsequently designated, in accordance with ICZN 1999, article 69, and are further described. The type specimen slides are deposited in the invertebrate collections of the Natural History Museum, London.
A specimen of Loftusia persica Brady is described that contains as a part of its inner test a spe... more A specimen of Loftusia persica Brady is described that contains as a part of its inner test a specimen of Turborotalia pomeroli (Toumarkine and Both), which is a very distinctive Middle to Late Eocene planktonic foraminifera. Although originally described as a "Tertiary" form, more recently Loftusia persica has been considered to be restricted to the Maastrichtian. A number of scenarios that could have led to the inclusion of an Eocene planktonic foraminifera deep within the test of a specimen of Loftusia are discussed, and it is concluded that the most probable interpretation is that Loftusia persica reappeared as a "Lazarus" species in the Eocene having survived the Cretaceous-Paleocene mass extinction, but was eventually driven to extinction by the orogeny that led to the formation of the Zagros Mountains.
The Gunung Sewu area of South Central Java, Indonesia during Mid Miocene, Langhian-Serravallian (... more The Gunung Sewu area of South Central Java, Indonesia during Mid Miocene, Langhian-Serravallian (Tf1-Tf2), was deposited in a large area of warm, very shallow-marine water. Coralline algae and abundant larger benthic foraminifera dominate the carbonate lithologies. Larger benthic foraminifera from previously unstudied sections in South Central Java are described and figured. They have led to an understanding of sequence stratigraphic and facies relationship of Miocene carbonates in Indonesia. Thirteen larger foraminifera species are described and illustrated. A detailed biostratigraphical studies of The phylogeny Katacycloclypeus annulatus - K. martini and the gradual evolution from Austrotrillina asmariensis into A. howchini are recognised. Analysis of the larger benthic foraminifera has allowed accurate dating of the carbonate sections studied using the East Indian Letter Classification.
The diagnostic first and last occurrences of Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene planktonic foramin... more The diagnostic first and last occurrences of Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene planktonic foraminifera species are given, and have been calibrated against the most recent biostratigraphical time scale and radio-isotope data.
UCL Open Environment
The Pelagonian stratigraphy of the Internal Hellenides consists of a Permo-Triassic basement and ... more The Pelagonian stratigraphy of the Internal Hellenides consists of a Permo-Triassic basement and an Upper Triassic and Jurassic carbonate platform formation that has been overthrust by the Eohellenic ophiolite sheet during the Early Cretaceous. Intensive erosion, during the Cretaceous, removed most of the ophiolite and parts of the Jurassic formation. It is hypothesised that uplift and erosion of eastern Pelagonia was triggered by the break-off of the subducted oceanic leading edge of the Pelagonian plate. An investigation of the rocks that succeed the erosional unconformity shows that they constitute a shear-zone that is tectonically overlain by Cretaceous platform carbonates. Geochemical analyses of the shear-zone rocks substantiate that they are of mid-oceanic ridge and island arc provenience. Eastern Pelagonia collided with a Cretaceous carbonate platform, probably the Paikon forearc basin, as the Almopias ocean crust subducted beneath that island–arc complex. The Cretaceous pla...
Geophysical Research Letters
The timing of Bangong-Nujiang suture ophiolite obduction between the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes... more The timing of Bangong-Nujiang suture ophiolite obduction between the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes in central Tibet is important for understanding the closure history of the Meso-Tethys but remains poorly constrained. We investigated subaerial to shallow marine strata of the Dongqiao Formation that sit unconformably on Bangong-Nujiang suture ophiolites that crystallized in a supra-subduction zone setting at 189-181 Ma. Based on foraminiferal and coral studies, the depositional age of the Dongqiao Formation is constrained to be Oxfordian and Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic). Provenance analyses including detrital modes, geochemistry of detrital chromian spinels, and U-Pb age populations of detrital zircons suggest the Dongqiao Formation was sourced from uplifted Bangong-Nujiang suture ophiolites and sedimentary and metamorphic rocks of Lhasa terrane affinity to the south. We conclude that Bangong-Nujiang suture ophiolites were obducted soon after crystallization (prior to Oxfordian time; >163 Ma) onto the Lhasa terrane or a microcontinent of Lhasa terrane affinity. Plain Language Summary Ophiolite obduction often occurs when a passive continental margin enters an oceanic subduction zone and thus may mark when an arc-continent or continent-continent collision begins. In central Tibet, the Dongqiao ophiolite represents a relict of Meso-Tethys oceanic lithosphere. Initial research during the 1980s provided rough constraints on the timing, polarity, and mechanism of Dongqiao ophiolite obduction. However, there has been little advancement in our knowledge of the obduction history since. Here we report results of sedimentologic, stratigraphic, and provenance studies on the Dongqiao Formation overlying the Dongqiao ophiolite. Our foraminiferal and coral biostratigraphic data show that subaerial to shallow marine strata of the Dongqiao Formation were deposited between 163 and 152 million years ago. We demonstrate that the clastic rocks in the Dongqiao Formation received detritus from both the underlying Dongqiao ophiolite and Lhasa terrane affinity continental crust. We propose that a continental margin of Lhasa terrane affinity entered a north-dipping oceanic trench, and the Dongqiao ophiolite was obducted southwards on to it, no later than 163 million years ago.
Newsletters on Stratigraphy
Saint Barthélemy is the only island of the northern Lesser Antilles where it is possible to inves... more Saint Barthélemy is the only island of the northern Lesser Antilles where it is possible to investigate in the detail the chronostratigraphy of the mixed carbonate-volcaniclastic deposits of the Paleogene Caribbean volcanic arc. Based on field mapping and new biostratigraphical and sedimentological data, we study the limestone units interbedded in the Paleogene volcaniclastic deposits. We find that four main carbonate units occur instead of previously believed six ones. Based on the ages given by the foraminifera assemblages, and taking into account the recently published 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages of magmatic rocks, the Lower Limestone unit dates Lutetian, the Intermediate Limestone unit late (?) Bartonian-late Priabonian, the Upper Limestone late Priabonian and the Top Limestone unit early Miocene. The Paleogene carbonate beds were deposited on gently dipping submarine volcaniclastic deposits issued from emergent volcanoes, in muddy, unrimmed inner to mid-ramp setting dominated by bottom communities. A major subaerial unconformity is evidenced during the Oligocene, most probably corresponding to uplift affecting Saint Barthélemy. Our work offers a revised lithostratigraphic succession of Saint Barthélemy as a first key-point for further studies of the Paleogene Caribbean arc deposits which were dismembered following the entrance of the Bahamas Bank in the Lesser Antilles subduction zone.
UCL Open Environment
The biostratigraphy and sedimentology of the outcrops and bedrock recently exposed in archaeologi... more The biostratigraphy and sedimentology of the outcrops and bedrock recently exposed in archaeological excavations around the harbour area of Beirut (~5 km²) unlock the geological and structural history of that area, which in turn are key to understanding the hydrocarbon and hydrogeological potential of the region. A key location (Site 2) of a studied outcrop section and newly uncovered bedrock is on the northern foothill cliff of East Beirut (Achrafieh). The outcrop section of carbonates is of Eocene beds overlain by conformable Miocene beds. The excavation of the slope bordering the outcrop uncovered a bedrock section of an early Pliocene shoreline of carbonate/siliciclastic sands at its base and topped by a beach-rock structure. The early Pliocene age of the shoreline section is dated by an assemblage of planktonic foraminifera that includes Sphaeroidinellopsis subdehiscens , Sphaeroidinella dehiscens and Orbulina universa . The Eocene carbonates of Site 2 extend the coverage of th...
The history of Cenozoic magmatism and collision in NW New Guinea – New insights into the tectonic evolution of the northernmost margin of the Australian Plate
Gondwana Research
Abstract Evidence of Cenozoic magmatism is found along the length of New Guinea. However, the pet... more Abstract Evidence of Cenozoic magmatism is found along the length of New Guinea. However, the petrogenetic and tectonic setting for this magmatism is poorly understood. This study presents new field, petrographic, U–Pb zircon, and geochemical data from NW New Guinea. These data have been used to identify six units of Cenozoic igneous rocks which record episodes of magmatism during the Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene. These episodes occurred in response to the ongoing interaction between the Australian and Philippine Sea plates. During the Eocene, the Australian Plate began to obliquely subduct beneath the Philippine Sea Plate forming the Philippine–Caroline Arc. Magmatism in this arc is recorded in the Dore, Mandi, and Arfak volcanics of NW New Guinea where calc-alkaline and tholeiitic rocks formed within subduction-related fore-arc and extension-related back-arc settings from 32 to 27 Ma. Collision along this plate boundary in the Oligocene–Miocene jammed the subduction zone and caused a reversal in subduction polarity from north-dipping to south-dipping. Following this, subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Australian Plate produced magmatism throughout western New Guinea. In NW New Guinea this is recorded by the middle Miocene (18–12 Ma) Moon Volcanics, which include an early period of high-K to shoshonitic igneous activity. These earlier magmatic rocks are associated with the subduction zone polarity reversal and an initially steeply dipping slab. The magmatic products later changed to more calc-alkaline compositions and were emplaced as volcanic rocks in the fore-arc section of a primitive continental arc. Finally, following terminal arc–continent collision in the late Miocene–Pliocene, mantle derived magmas (including the Berangan Andesite) migrated up large strike-slip faults becoming crustally contaminated prior to their eruption during the Plio–Pleistocene. This study of the Cenozoic magmatic history of NW New Guinea provides new data and insights into the tectonic evolution of the northern margin of the Australian Plate.
Tectonophysics
As subduction zones and their related processes are often studied in 2D, or cylindrical 3D sectio... more As subduction zones and their related processes are often studied in 2D, or cylindrical 3D sections, the dynamic effects of trench curvature and its evolution through time remain under-explored. Whereas temporal variations in trench trend may be estimated through restoring upper plate deformation, we investigate the forearc deformation history of the strongly curved northern Lesser Antilles trench, connecting the near-orthogonal Lesser Antilles subduction zone with the Motagua-Cayman transform plate boundary. Our new paleomagnetic dataset consists of 310 cores from Eo-Oligocene magmatic rocks and limestones from St. Barthélemy Island. The limestones yielded a post-folding magnetization containing a similar magnetic direction to those stored in magmatic rocks that intrude the folded carbonates, both indicating a post-Oligocene~15°, and perhaps up to 25°c ounterclockwise rotation of the island. Our results highlight that the present-day trench curvature formed progressively during the Cenozoic, allowing us to discuss different tectonic scenarios explaining NE Caribbean plate deformation, and to identify key targets for future research on tectonic architecture and the potential present-day activity of intra-plate deformation that may pose seismic hazards.
This investigation of Upper Cretaceous and lower Paleogene sediments from the Tibetan Himalayas, ... more This investigation of Upper Cretaceous and lower Paleogene sediments from the Tibetan Himalayas, based on three stratigraphic sections from the southern margin of Asian Plate and nine sections from the northern Indian Plate margin, provides the first high resolution biostratigraphic description of the region. The sedimentary successions from these two plate margins evolved during the following depositional stages, which we here divide into eleven new biozones (TLK2-3 and TP1-9); (i) an outer neritic stage from the Coniacian to the Maastrichtian, dominated by keeled planktonic foraminifera (PF), such as Globotruncana (TLK2); (ii) a latest Maastrichtian forereef assemblage dominated by Lepidorbitoides, Omphalocyclus andOrbitoides (TLK3); (iii) an early Paleocene, intermittently occurring backreef/shallow reefal warm environment with benthic assemblages dominated by small miliolids and rotaliids, such as Daviesina and Lockhartia (TP1-2); (iv) a late Paleocene-early Eocene, shallow reef...
Nummulitoidea are larger benthic foraminifera, and were major reef-forming organisms from the Mid... more Nummulitoidea are larger benthic foraminifera, and were major reef-forming organisms from the Middle Paleogene to Early Neogene. Today, porous nummulitoid limestones, which occur globally from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific, form potentially valuable oil reservoirs. Until now the origin, evolution and palaeogeographic development of the nummulitoids have not been fully articulated, but new material allows here the first systematic, global biostratigraphic comparison and correlation of the nummulitoids to be made. It is suggested that the nummulitoids originated in the Americas during the Middle Paleocene (Selandian). These early nummulitoids are inferred to have migrated across the Atlantic in the Late Paleocene (Thanetian) following two paths: south towards SW Africa, and northeastward through the Tethyan corridor. The Tethyan forms evolved during the Eocene into many lineages, which in turn migrated, within a few million years of their first appearance, into the Indo-Pacific, wh...
GSA Bulletin
Constraining the growth of the Tibetan Plateau in time and space is critical for testing geodynam... more Constraining the growth of the Tibetan Plateau in time and space is critical for testing geodynamic models and climatic changes at the regional and global scale. The Lhasa block is a key region for unraveling the early history of the Tibetan Plateau. Distinct from the underlying shallow-marine limestones, the Jingzhushan and Daxiong formations consist of conglomerate and sandstone deposited in alluvial-fan and braided-river systems. Both units were deposited at ca. 92 Ma, as constrained by interbedded tuff layers, detrital zircons, and micropaleontological data. Provenance and paleocurrent analyses indicate that both units were derived from the same elevated source area located in the central-northern Lhasa block. These two parallel belts of coeval conglomerates record a major change in paleogeography of the source region from a shallow seaway to a continental highland, implying initial topographic growth of an area over 160,000 km 2 , named here the Northern Lhasaplano. The early Late Cretaceous topographic growth of the Northern Lhasaplano was associated with the demise of Tethyan seaways, thrustbelt development, and crustal thickening. The same paleogeographic and paleotectonic changes were recorded earlier in the Northern Lhasaplano than in the Southern Lhasaplano, indicating progressive topographic growth from north to south across the Bangong-Nujiang suture and Lhasa block during the Cretaceous. Similar to the Central Andean Plateau, the Northern Lhasaplano developed by plate convergence above the oceanic Neo-Tethyan subduction zone before the onset of the India-Asia collision.
Early Jurassic carbon-isotope perturbations in a shallow-water succession from the Tethys Himalaya, southern hemisphere
Newsletters on Stratigraphy
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Papers by Prof. Marcelle Boudagher-Fadel