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Cretaceous separation of Africa and South America: the view from the
West African margin (ODP Leg 159)
T. Pletsch a,*, J. Erbacher b, A.E.L. Holbourn a, W. Kuhnt a, M. Moullade c, F.E. Oboh-Ikuenobede d,
E. Soding e, T. Wagner f
a
Institut fur Geowissenschaften, Universitat Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40-60, Kiel D-24118, Germany
Bundesanstalt fur Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Postfach 510153, Hannover D-30631, Germany
c
Laboratoire de Micropaleontologie et Geologie Marines, Universite de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Parc Valrose, Nice cx 2 F-06108, France
d
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, MO 65409-0410, USA
e
Geomar/Forschungszentrum fur Marine Geowissenschaften, Universitat Kiel, Wischhofstr. 1-3, Kiel D-24148, Germany
f
Fachbereich 5, Universitat Bremen, Klagenfurter Str. 5, Bremen D-28359, Germany
b
Abstract
The opening of the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway (EAG) during the Cretaceous was accompanied by the disruption of the sedimentary
basins that had developed on the conjugate margins of Africa and South America. Drilling along the Cote d'IvoireGhana Transform Margin
(ODP Leg 159) provided a transect across the northern rim of this gateway. The interplay of tectonic and oceanic processes along the gateway
created a complex continental margin that evolved in three stages interrupted by dramatic changes in sedimentary facies, waterdepths, and
subsidence rates. The earliest stage records the formation of small basins with restricted connection to the world ocean and rapid inll with
siliciclastic deposits in an Early Cretaceous intracratonic rift or wrench tectonic setting. This stage ended with an uplift event and the
formation of a regional unconformity. During the late Albian to middle Coniacian, the oceanward side of the margin subsided below the
calcite compensation depth (CCD) and a deepwater connection between Central and South Atlantic became established. Deepening of the
basement ridge and its landward slope, in contrast, were delayed and detrital limestones intercalated with carbonaceous shales accumulated
at shelf to slope depths. During the ensuing, latest Cretaceous to present stage, passive margin subsidence led to continuous deepening of the
basement ridge and on its landward slope. Condensation and gradually decreasing organic contents point to an intensied exposure to
deepwater circulation. The replacement of the zonal circulation system through the Mesozoic Tethys and Central Atlantic with a modern,
oxidizing meridional circulation system through the EAG appears to be intimately related to the changing depositional conditions over large
parts of the Cretaceous Atlantic. q 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Cretaceous; Plate tectonics; Palaeoceanography; Equatorial Atlantic; Gateway; Transform margin; Sedimentary basin; Stratigraphic correlation
1. Introduction
The disruption of Africa and South America led to the
connection of the formerly separated Central and South
Atlantic oceans to produce one of the major deep marine
passages of the late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic. The area
of nal disruption, grossly located between the Guinea and
Ascension Fracture Zones, is called the Equatorial Atlantic
Gateway (EAG). The palaeobiological effects attributed to
the opening of this gateway, including the differentiation of
faunas and oras on the African and South American conti* Corresponding author. Present address: Geol Inst. Abt Sedimentgeologie, Universitat Koeln, Zuelpicher Str. 49a, D-50674 Koeln, Germany. Tel.:
149-221-470-7316; fax: 149-221-470-5149.
E-mail address: thomas.pletsch@uni-koeln.de (T. Pletsch).
0895-9811/01/$ - see front matter q 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0895-981 1(01) 00020-7
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149
Fig. 2. Location, stratigraphy, and generalized lithology of drill sites of ODP Leg 159 along the CIGTM. Stratigraphic column of the PETROCI well DX-1X
modied after Saint-Marc and N'da (1997) and Morrison et al. (1999).
150
Fig. 3. Stratigraphic range and dominant lithofacies of sediments recovered during ODP Leg 159 according to the biostratigraphic synthesis of Moullade et al.
(1998). Time scale is by Gradstein et al. (1995). Fig. does not account for periods of non-deposition below the substage level.
Fig. 4. Summary of lithofacies, organofacies and biofacies of the Cretaceous section in Hole 959D. Lithologic Units after Janik et al. (1998). Sample positions
indicated by horizontal lines on left margins of respective columns. Width of the bars for clay minerals relates to estimated quantity. Averaged RockEval data
after Wagner and Pletsch (1999). SH: shelf, neritic; UB: upper bathyal; MB: middle bathyal; LB: lower bathyal; AB: abyssal.
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152
were recovered from three out of four holes, but the site had
to be abandoned after drilling through more than 250 m of
Lower Cretaceous turbidites (Fig. 7).
3. Materials and methods
Most samples for this study were taken by the authors on
board the JOIDES Resolution or at the Bremen Core Repository. Where this was not possible, we inspected the respective intervals to determine the sedimentological context and
studied smear slides or thin sections. Shipboard analytical
techniques, an ample photographic documentation of the
core material, and additional data are presented in the Initial
Reports volume of Leg 159 (Mascle et al., 1996). Procedures for X-ray diffraction analysis, RockEval pyrolysis,
and for micropalaeontological and palynofacies studies are
given in Erbacher (1998), Holbourn and Moullade (1998),
Holbourn and Kuhnt (1998), Kuhnt et al. (1998), ObohIkuenobe et al. (1997, 1998), Pletsch (1998), and Wagner
and Pletsch (1999). Because clay mineral data were
produced in four laboratories with different instrumental
settings, results are given as graphic representations of the
relative intensities. `Smectite' and `IS clay' are loosely
used to describe expandable illitesmectite mixed-layer
and at smaller spacings,
minerals with a peak around 17 A
respectively. Numerical ages are from Gradstein et al.
(1995).
3.1. Sedimentary facies and correlation of the drill sites
The development of the CIGTM was provisionally subdivided into four seismically dened stages separated by
tectonic breaks, that correspond to the plate tectonic development of the margin (Blarez and Mascle, 1988; Mascle and
Blarez, 1987): (1) earliest Cretaceous oblique rifting stage,
(2) Aptian to Albian intracontinental wrench stage, (3) midCretaceous continentocean transform margin stage, and
(4) Late Cretaceous passive margin stage. Stages 1 and 2
have since been merged into one, intracontinental transform
stage (Mascle et al., 1996, 1997; Basile et al., 1998). We
have generally retained this tripartite subdivision, because
it closely matches the major changes in sedimentary
facies detected in the core material. With the higher
biostratigraphic resolution reached by shorebased studies,
we found it useful to further subdivide the Cretaceous
evolution into six depositional phases (DPs) to allow for a
better correlation between the drill sites (Fig. 3). Boundaries
between DPs were placed where signicant changes in
lithofacies, organofacies, or biofacies occur, but were
drawn on the basis of biostratigraphic ages. Wherever possible, we used the calcareous nannofossil data of Watkins et
al. (1998) for age assignments. The stratigraphic uncertainties of the Leg 159 drill sites are summarized and discussed
153
by Moullade et al. (1998). Further details and a few modications to the correlation presented by Wagner and Pletsch
(1999) are given below.
Fig. 4. (continued)
154
Fig. 5. Summary of lithofacies, organofacies and biofacies of the Cretaceous section in Holes 960A and 960C. For explanations see Fig. 4. P: palygorskite.
155
Fig. 6. Summary of lithofacies, organofacies and biofacies of the Cretaceous section in Holes 961A and 961B. For explanations see Fig. 4.
156
Fig. 7. Summary of lithofacies, organofacies and biofacies of the Cretaceous section in Holes 962B and 962D. For explanations see Fig. 4. P: palygorskite;
mineral, possibly odinite/berthierine.
question mark denotes an undetermined 7 A
157
158
159
160
161
nant smectite with only small additions of illite and occasional kaolinite. No chlorite or ordered IS clays were
detected in DP5 sediments. As in the underlying section,
kaolinite appears to have grown in place, indicated by the
occurrence of vermicular kaolinite stacks in the laminated
intervals (Wagner and Pletsch, 1999).
At Site 960, a thin layer made up of phosphatic skeletal
grainstone with hardground crusts contains abundant phosphatic sh debris caps the detrital limestones of DP4. This
interval is characterized by very high uranium and potassium readings in downhole gamma-ray measurements.
Correlation with the highly radioactive phosphate-bearing
black shales at Site 959 is supported by middle to late
Coniacian calcareous nannofossils (Watkins et al., 1998).
Elevated potassium spectral intensities may originate from
the overlying glauconite clay.
4.2.2. Middle Campanianlower Paleocene (DP6)
Since the interval corresponding to DP6 contains
virtually no carbonate, it could not be dated with calcareous
microfossils. The base of DP6 was dened by the rst occurrence of middle Campanian agglutinated benthic foraminifer assemblages in Hole 959D (Kuhnt et al., 1998). It was
placed slightly below the palynologic early/middle Campanian boundary (Oboh-Ikuenobe et al., 1998) and about 10 m
below a signicant break in physical properties (Janik et al.,
1998). The exact position of the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T)boundary is problematic since calcareous microfossils are
completely absent and neither lithostratigraphic nor
chemostratigraphic markers were found (Ravizza, 1998).
Pervasive bioturbation has destroyed most bedding planes
in the respective interval. Palynological studies resulted in a
discrepancy of 35 m in the placement of the boundary. We
used the K/T-boundary position proposed by Kuhnt et al.
(1998) and Oboh-Ikuenobe et al. (1998) on the basis of
benthic foraminifers and palynological residues, respectively, which is between sections 959D-48R-5, 2831 cm
and 959D-48R-6, 2831 cm (Kuhnt et al., 1998; Moullade
et al., 1998). The upper boundary of DP6 was placed at the
early/late Paleocene boundary between Cores 959D-45R
and -44R as dened by benthic foraminifers (Kuhnt et al.,
1998). Marlstones from above Section 44R-3 have been
dated as late Paleocene with calcareous nannoplankton
(Shak et al., 1998).
At Site 959, the 150 m long section of DP6 is monotonous
at rst glance. It consists entirely of black, organic-rich, but
virtually carbonate-free claystones and siliciclastic
mudstones. However, besides some mineralized tectonic
fractures and veins, there are variations in the intensity of
bioturbation as well as compositional changes. Glauconite is
particularly abundant at the base and in the upper part of the
section where it is occasionally concentrated in pebble beds.
The discontinous trend of an upward decrease in organic
carbon content that started in the Santonian continues
throughout DP6. Organic carbon is 1.2% on average and
values never fall to below 0.6% with generally low
162
5. Tectono-sedimentary evolution
5.1. Basin formation in the equatorial area
Since none of the Leg 159 wells has penetrated the base
of the rifted sedimentary sequence, speculations about the
163
torial area (Blarez and Mascle, 1988). After this time, the
continentcontinent transform zones became replaced by
continentocean transform margins, thus potentially
providing for a deeper-water connection between Central
and South Atlantic. During the same, AptianAlbian period,
subsidence in the distal basins of the EAG became sufcient
to allow marine incursions (de Klasz and Jan du Chene,
1978; Koutsoukos, 1992; Moullade et al., 1993; Holbourn
and Moullade, 1998). The occurrence of lower to middle
Albian Tethyan fossils in the South Atlantic and the relatively minor endemism found in late Aptian to Albian deep
neritic to upper bathyal benthic foraminiferal assemblages
of Brazilian coastal basins have been interpreted to result
from a shallow-water connection before the middle Albian
(Forster, 1978; Wiedmann and Neugebauer, 1978; de Klasz
and Jan du Chene, 1978; Moullade and Guerin, 1982; DiasBrito, 1987; Koutsoukos, 1992; Holbourn and Moullade,
1998).
No agreement was reached, however, as to whether these
incursions were driven solely by tectonic subsidence and
whether they provided for continuous marine connections
between the adjacent ocean basins. Notably, others have
claimed that Early Cretaceous marine incursions were
related to sea-level rise and that shoals separating the deep
oceanic environments in the equatorial area were not permanently breached until much later in the Cretaceous
(Reyment and Tait, 1972; van Andel et al., 1977; Berggren
and Hollister, 1978; Scheibnerova, 1981; Mabesoone and
Alheiros, 1993). In fact, compressional deformation and
uplift along the cross-cutting transform faults may have
continued to create shallow barriers or even landbridges
that intermittently restricted or interrupted the communication between the Central and South Atlantic (Le Pichon and
Fox, 1971; Bonatti et al., 1994; Jones et al., 1995; Hay et al.,
1999). However, the remarkable decline in tectonic deformation after the Cenomanian, and in particular the absence
of direct evidence for strike-slip deformation in post-Albian
sediments (Pickett and Allerton, 1998) provide evidence
that transform deformation had become inactive on the
meridian of the drill sites by the late Albian. The end of
intra-continental shear tectonics on the CIGTM and the
onset of rapid, quasi-oceanic subsidence on the oceanward
slope of the CIGTM in the latest Albian imply that
South America had cleared the southwestern tip of the
margin before the Cenomanian. This may have given rise
to a permanent marine connection that was to become the
EAG.
All evidence considered, the Early Cretaceous EAG
probably consisted of several small rifted or strikeslip basins that were aligned along the major fault zone
like a string of pearls (Fig. 8). The occurrence of reworked
late Aptian to middle Albian benthic foraminiferal assemblages at Sites 959 and 962, of calcareous nannofossils in
sediments of a similar age at Site 961, and of marine sedimentary structures at Site 960, testify to the existence of
marine basins on the CIGTM during or before the middle
164
Fig. 8. Simplied model of the opening EAG and the possible relationship between plate tectonic evolution and the development of a deep-water connection.
Modied after Mascle and Blarez (1987).
Albian (Fig. 9). Subsidence was probably rapid, but intervening basement uplifts and the massive siliciclastic input
seem to have prevented the formation of a deep, interconnected gateway. There may have been intermittent shallowwater connections, especially during periods of sea-level
highstand, but the deeper parts of these basins remained
isolated.
165
Fig. 9. Summary of the Cretaceous evolution of the CIGTM on an idealized transect from the African continent over the DIB and MR to the EAG. CCD:
calcite compensation depth, OMZ: oxygen minimum zone. Modied from Wagner and Pletsch (1999).
(Mascle et al., 1996). Texturally immature, but compositionally mature siliciclastic deposits below the unconformity point
to a recycled sedimentary source, with only minor input from
fresh metamorphic or plutonic rocks (Strand, 1998). Tilting
and uplift of the MR was seen as the cause for this unconformity (Basile et al., 1998). The only observable unconformities
were found in Holes 960A and 961A where thermally altered
Aptianmiddle Albian sediments are overlain by Coniacian
and Paleocene deposits, respectively, which helps little in
dating of the unconformity and of the potentially triggering
tectonic event.
Better constraints for the timing of the erosional event are
166
167
productivity and of partial restriction favoured the widespread deposition and preservation of black shales with
labile marine organic matter (Arthur et al., 1987; de
Graciansky et al., 1987; Hay, 1995a,b; Erbacher et al.,
1996).
Although the CTBE black shales at Site 959 were
certainly not deposited in the deepest region of the conduit
between the South and Central Atlantic basins, the presence
of these black shales on the MR and in the DIB, in spite of
their restricted positions, suggests that they had open
midwater exchange with the world oceans (Fig. 9). Falling
sea level after the early Turonian highstand may have
limited the advection of nutrient-rich waters and led to a
reduction in thickness and/or intensity of the OMZ and to an
increase in detrital ux as is signalled by changing biofacies
and increasing quartz content (Holbourn and Kuhnt, 1998;
Holbourn et al., 1999b).
5.6. Deep-water connection between Central and South
Atlantic
CenomanianTuronian deposits at Site 962 on the southern, oceanward slope of the CIGTM lack the CTBE-black
shale facies, but are characterized by organic-lean, extremely condensed glauconitic sediments that were deposited
below the local CCD. The radiolarian maximum found in
this interval was attributed to the time shortly before the
onset of the CTBE, whereas sediments recording the event
itself were probably eroded by bottom currents (Erbacher,
1998). This situation is similar to many mid-Cretaceous
sections in the Atlantic where erosive hiatuses encompass
the CTBE interval (Event `E2', de Graciansky et al., 1987;
`ventilation event' of Zimmermann et al., 1987. Wagner and
Pletsch (1999) inferred that this current-related event results
from an opening to erosive deepwater currents that represents the deep connection between the Central and South
Atlantic during the Cenomanian (Fig. 9). As mentioned
before, the existence of such a deep, sub-CCD gateway in
the Equatorial Atlantic since the Cenomanian is supported
by several authors who suggested that deposition of CTBE
black shales in the Central and North Atlantic ocean resulted
from the establishment of a deepwater connection with the
South Atlantic (Tucholke and Vogt, 1979; Summerhayes,
1981, 1987). This contrasts markedly with the interpretation
of Handoh et al. (1999) who suggested that the effective
depth of the EAG was shallower than 300 m until the Turonian based on a comparison of the modelled palaeo-upwelling areas with occurrences of marine black shales.
However, their results suffer from stratigraphic inconsistencies and from model constraints which tend to ignore the
vast depth range from 300 to 4000 m (Handoh, pers.
comm.).
From the Leg 159 data it appears that deepwaters in the
EAG were strong enough to build up erosive currents and
that they possibly had free exchange between the Central
and South Atlantic by the early Turonian. In the marginal
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169
170
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to the shipboard and shorebased participants of ODP Leg 159, including the staff on board, at
TAMU, and at the Bremen Core Repository, for their help
in making samples and informations available. J.P. Masse, J.
Morrison, and O. Yepes provided unpublished stratigraphic
data. Technical help by P. Recourt, P. Vanderaveroet, D.
Malengros, N. Pernot, A. Kirch, D. Lein, U. Schmolke, A.
Frantz, and R. Petschick is gratefully acknowledged. The
paper and earlier drafts of the manuscript beneted from the
reviews by P.D. Clift, A. Fleet, W.W. Hay, C. Robert, and
D.K. Watkins. Funding was provided by the German
Research Council (DFG-grant Ku 649/2) to TP and WK,
by the Royal Society to AELH, and by the French CNRS
to MM. This is a contribution to IGCP Project 381: South
Atlantic Mesozoic Correlations.
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