Abstract
There is good evidence that high sea-levels peaked simultaneously during the Late Albian to Turonian in the USA and northwest Europe. Therefore, it is to be expected that the principal peaks during the Campanian-Maastrichtian, now well dated in northwest Europe, should be detectable in the USA. Of the four main peaks in Europe, no. 3, low in the Zone ofBelemnitella langei, is the most prominent, and can be recognized with confidence in the Western Interior, New Jersey, Alabama-Mississippi and probably in Texas. The other peaks can be identified with various degrees of confidence, but the sea did not persist long enough in the Western Interior for the last peak, early in the Late Maastrichtian, to be developed there. The results change the generally assumed position of the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary on the foraminiferal scale: the base of the Maastrichtian on the belemnite scale is a considerable distance above the top of the Zone ofGlobotruncanita calcarata, possibly as high as the base of the Zone ofGansserina gansseriin north temperate regions. On the ammonite scale in the western interior of the USA the boundary is probably at the base of the Zone ofBaculites baculusat 70.7 Ma, but could be at the base of the Zone ofB. eliasi.
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