Olga Savelieva

Cretaceous palaeoclimate Olga Savelieva

The book is devoted to the problem of the origin of rhythmicity and traces of anoxic events in paleoceanic sediments of Cretaceous age. The carbonate-siliceous Albian-Cenomanian deposits of the Kamchatka Cape Peninsula (East Kamchatka), formed on a submarine intra-oceanic volcanic upland, are described in detail. The rhythmicity of these sediments is determined by paleoclimate fluctuations associated with Milankovitch cycles. Detailed mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of organic carbon-rich interbeds are presented in the paper. The origin of these interlayers is related to oceanic anoxic events. A review of modern ideas about Cretaceous anoxic events is given. A model linking episodes of organic accumulation in eastern Kamchatka pelagic sediments with volcanic activity is considered. The similarity of lithological composition and nature of Cretaceous sedimentation between carbonate-siliceous sediments of East Kamchatka and submarine Pacific volcanic uplands is shown. The book may be of interest to specialists in the field of lithology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleogeography.