Research Paper
Taphonomy and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of a new amber-bearing outcrop from the mid-Cretaceous of the Maestrazgo Basin (E Iberian Peninsula)
SERGIO ÁLVAREZ-PARRA
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Petroleum Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China; ; sergio@nigpas.ac.cn.
Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; sergio.alvarez-parra@ub.edu.
Corresponding author
CARLOS A. BUENO-CEBOLLADA
Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IGME, CSIC), Madrid, Spain; c.bueno@igme.es.
EDUARDO BARRÓN
Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IGME, CSIC), Madrid, Spain; e.barron@igme.es.
JORDI PÉREZ-CANO
Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; jordi_perez-cano@ub.edu.
Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ICTA-ICP Building, Campus de la UAB, E-08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain; jordi.perez@icp.cat.
Departament de Mineralogia, Petrologia i Geologia Aplicada, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona-UB, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
MARÍA VICTORIA PAREDES-ALIAGA
Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, 46980 Paterna, Spain; maria.v.paredes@uv.es.
CRISTÓBAL RUBIO
PALEOYMAS, Pol. Empresarium, 50720 La Cartuja Baja-Zaragoza, Spain; c.rubio@paleoymas.com.
ANA RODRIGO
Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IGME, CSIC), Madrid, Spain; a.rodrigo@igme.es.
NIEVES MELÉNDEZ
Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; nievesml@geo.ucm.es.
XAVIER DELCLÒS
Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; xdelclos@ub.edu.
ENRIQUE PEÑALVER
Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IGME, CSIC), Madrid, Spain; e.penalver@igme.es.
ABSTRACT
Cretaceous amber-bearing outcrops are numerous and mainly distributed along the Northern Hemisphere. They have been related to extensive resin mass production occurring from the Barremian to the Campanian presumably due to interrelated abiotic and biotic factors. Amber outcrops are also abundant in the Iberian Peninsula, and they are mostly dated as Albian. Here, we present a new amber-bearing outcrop from the Cretaceous of the Maestrazgo Basin called La Dehesa (Estercuel, Aragón, Spain). This locality is assigned to the Boundary Marls Unit and is known for its rich and diverse palaeobotanical record. The dating of the amber-bearing bed is late Albian–early Cenomanian, based on palynomorphs and ostracods. Amber characteristics are compatible with a medium to long-distance transport before resin deposition, i.e., allochthonous origin. Organism-resin interactions have been identified, such as hyphae of resinicolous fungus in the cortex of the amber, a pholadid boring determined as Teredolites clavatus, and an oyster shell that grew on the solidified resin surface. No bioinclusions have been found so far. The study of the microfossils, some of them containing pyrite aggregates or crystals, found in the amber-bearing bed (palynomorphs, plant remains, foraminifers, echinoid spines, ostracods, and vertebrate remains) points to a coastal to inner mixed platform environment.
Key words: Fossil resin, Allochthony, Microfossils, Mesozoic, Marine environment, Palaeoecology.
How to cite: Álvarez-Parra, S., Bueno-Cebollada, C. A., Barrón, E., Pérez-Cano, J., Paredes-Aliaga, M. V., Rubio, C., Rodrigo, A., Meléndez, N., Delclòs, X. & Peñalver, E. (2024). Taphonomy and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of a new amber-bearing outcrop from the mid-Cretaceous of the Maestrazgo Basin (E Iberian Peninsula). Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 39(1), 15-32.
Received 26 November 2023, Accepted 10 March 2024, Published online 15 March 2024
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.28426
