Ireneusz Piotr Walaszczyk

University of Warsaw | UW · Faculty of Geology

The Cretaceous System was first established by Jean Baptiste Julien d'Omalius d'Halloy based on his geological mapping of France and the adjacent areas of the Low Countries and Northern Italy. His map, which was published in 1822, has a legend with a rock unit identified as ‘ Terrain Crétacé ’ and that was the birth of the Cretaceous System that we...

The Cretaceous System was first established by Jean Baptiste Julien d'Omalius d'Halloy based on his geological mapping of France and the adjacent areas of the Low Countries and Northern Italy. His map, which was published in 1822, has a legend with a rock unit identified as ‘ Terrain Crétacé ’ and that was the birth of the Cretaceous System that we...

Thirteen echinoid taxa from Coniacian marl-limestone alternations in three sections south and east of Djebel Metlili, on the southwestern margin of the Aures Mountains in northeastern Algeria, are described: Rachiosoma rectilineatum , Phymosoma tamarinense , Phymosoma cf. mansour , Gomphechinus meslei , Coenholectypus serialis , Coenholectypus subc...

Introductory text to the Proceedings Volume of the Cretaceous Symposium Warsaw 2022

Kennedy, W.J. and Walaszczyk, I. 2023. The Upper Turonian-Lower Coniacian (Upper Cretaceous) ammonites from the condensed phosphate beds of the Mangyshlak, NW Kazakhstan. Acta Geologica Polonica, 73 (4), 635-660, Warszawa. Eleven ammonites species are described from the condensed phosphate beds of Mangyshlak (in northwest -ern Kazakhstan): Lewesice...

Fąfara, M., Dubicka, Z., Niechwedowicz, M., Ciurej, A. and Walaszczyk, I. 2023. Middle Campanian (Late Cretaceous) sea-level rise; microfossil record of bathymetric changes. Acta Geologica Polonica, 73 (4), 661-683. Warszawa. A Middle Campanian (Late Cretaceous) eustatic sea-level rise recorded in the Belgorod succession (Russia; eastern North Euro...

Following the unanimous vote of the Executive Committee of International Union of Geological Sciences in October 2022, the Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the Campanian Stage is confirmed as the magnetic polarity reversal from Chron 34n (top of the Long Cretaceous Normal Polarity–Chron) to Chron C33r at the 221.53 m lev...

The Cretaceous records some of the highest sea levels, atmospheric temperatures and extreme events in Earth history. These two ‘Cretaceous Project 200’ volumes cover all the major fields of Cretaceous research from dinosaurs and ammonites to volcanism and ocean-wide anoxia and provide a review of Cretaceous strata across the Earth.

The Cretaceous provides us with an excellent case history of ocean-climate-biota system perturbations. Such perturbations occurred several times during the Cretaceous, such as oceanic anoxic events and the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, which have been the subject of an abundant literature. Other perturbations, such as the mid-Maastrichtian Event...

Improvements in analytical procedures in parallel with intercalibration of ⁴⁰ Ar/ ³⁹ Ar and U-Pb methods and laboratories, spurred since 2003 by the EarthTime geochronology community initiative, have led to ± 2s uncertainties on the order of 50 to 100 ka, or better for Cretaceous ash beds. Assembled here are fifty-seven ⁴⁰ Ar/ ³⁹ Ar ages and sixtee...

The Cretaceous records some of the highest sea levels, atmospheric temperatures and extreme events in Earth history. These two ‘Cretaceous Project 200’ volumes cover all the major fields of Cretaceous research from dinosaurs and ammonites to volcanism and ocean-wide anoxia and provide a review of Cretaceous strata across the Earth.

Eight echinoid species are described from Upper Cretaceous marl-limestone alternations from a temporary outcrop in the neighbourhood of the village of Mompia (northern Cantabria, Spain): Temnocidaris (Stereocidaris) mengaudi, Pseudoholaster pachecoi, Roweaster cantaber, Micraster turonensis, Micraster mengaudi, Bolbaster micranthus and two newly de...

The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Maastrichtian Stage was formally defined in Tercis les Bains (a Tethyan section located in SW France) as an arithmetic mean of the twelve stratigraphic levels at which selected macro- (ammonites, inoceramid bivalves) and microfossil key taxa (benthic and planktonic foramini...

Представлены результаты микрофаунистических (бентосные фораминиферы) и магнитостратигра�фических (палеомагнитных и петромагнитных) исследований нижней части верхнемеловых отло�жений разреза Коммунар. По результатам изучения бентосных фораминифер показано присутствие в нем среднего и верхнего турона, коньяка, нижнего и верхнего сантона, базального г...

Previous studies of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks have used multi-proxy correlation methods to suggest eustatic change, modulated by the c. 400 kyr long eccentricity rhythm. Although numerous authors have inferred eustatic changes on shorter timescales, none have demonstrated synchronous sea-level changes in separate basins on different plates, thou...

A dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy for the upper Campanian–basal Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of the Middle Vistula River section, central Poland, is developed. Two zones, subdivided further into subzones, are proposed. The zonal boundary interval corresponds to a pronounced latest Campanian turnover within the dinoflagellate cyst assemblage...

The results of microfaunistic (benthic foraminifers) and magnetostratigraphic (paleomagnetic and petromagnetic) studies obtained in the lower part of the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the Kommunar section are presented. On the basis of the study of benthic foraminifers, the section consists of middle and upper Turonian, Coniacian, lower and upper Sa...

Following votes in the Coniacian Working Group, the Cretaceous Subcommission and the International Commission on Stratigraphy, on May 1st, 2021, the International Union of Geological Sciences voted unanimously to ratify the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) proposal for the base of the Coniacian Stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series and Cre...

The validity of the existing Boreal zonal standard for the West Siberian paleobiogeographic province is analyzed , including local zones for ammonites and inoceramids of the Upper Cretaceous of Western Siberia (with-out the Cenomanian). It is shown that the North American sequence of Upper Cretaceous ammonite and inoceramid zones is more suitable f...

По результатам комплексного изучения нижней части верхнемеловых отложений разреза Коммунар выделены интервалы банновской (средний – верхний турон) и вольской (коньяк) свит, нижнего и верхнего сантона, нижнего кампана. Впервые прослежен непрерывный переходный интервал пород верхнего коньяка – нижнего сантона. Здесь, не смотря на сокращенный по мощно...

The carbonate deposit's lower part in the «Kommunar» quarry (the Volsk structural zone) integrated studying was done. Its stratigraphic position has been discussed for a long time and has the different points. The benthic foraminifera (BF), inoceramid, belemnite, ammonite, echinoderm, sponge and brachiopod faunistic assemblages from the lithologica...

Palynological and palynofacies analyses were applied in order to characterise the palaeoenvironmental conditions that existed during the formation of the upper Campanian–lowermost Maastrichtian epicontinental succession of the Middle Vistula River section (central Poland). The abundant and diverse phytoplankton assemblages, dominated by dinoflagell...

New palynological and calcareous nannofossil records are presented for the Turonian–Coniacian boundary section at Salzgitter-Salder, Germany, the candidate Coniacian GSSP. The proposed base of the Coniacian Stage is the base of Bed 46, the first appearance datum level of Cremnoceramus deformis erectus, which is coincident with a δ¹³C minimum at the...

Since the publication of 40Ar/39Ar dates from Cretaceous bentonites in the Western Interior Basin by J.D. Obradovich in 1993 and in Japan by J.D. Obradovich and colleagues in 2002, improvements in the 40Ar/39Ar method have included a shift to astronomically calibrated ages for standard minerals and development of a new generation of multi-collector...

The upper Campanian–lowermost Maastrichtian succession of the Middle Vistula River composite section is exposed in a series of natural and artificial outcrops along the Vistula River valley near the town of Solec nad Wisłą, in central Poland. Despite the fact that the Middle Vistula River succession yields rich palaeontological material, previous p...

The Upper Turonian to Middle Coniacian (Upper Cretaceous) succession of the Babadag Basin (North Dobrogea, Romania) constitutes an apparently continuous fossiliferous succession.The presence of moderately rich inoceramid, ammonite and foraminiferal assemblages allows for the application of a precise biostratigraphic subdivision.The palaeoenvironmen...

The lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, ammonite and inoceramid faunas of the Upper Albian, Cenomanian, and Lower Turonian Karai Formation, the highest unit of the Uttatur Group in the Pondicherry Sub-Basin of the Cauvery Basin in Tamil Nadu, south India, are documented. Detailed logs and descriptions of sections between Kara...

The lower (but not lowermost) part of the Upper Cretaceous Anaipadi Formation of the Trichinopoly Group in the area between Kulatur, Saradamangalam and Anaipadi, in the south-western part of the Cauvery Basin in southeast India yielded rich inoceramid and ammonite faunas. The ammonites: Mesopuzosia gaudama (Forbes, 1846), Damesites sugata (Forbes,...

Reminiscences about late Professor Andrzej Radwański

All critical biostratigraphic groups studied in the Saratov Turonian – Coniacian - Santonian sections, i.e., belemnites, inoceramids and foraminifers, bring congruent results concerning the chronostratigraphic position of the Sponge Horizon in the region. All three groups indicate Santonian age of beds directly overlying the Sponge Horizon and the...

The upper lower Cenomanian through middle Santonian (Upper Cretaceous) of the Boquillas Formation in the Big Bend Region of Trans-Pecos Texas consists of a marine carbonate succession deposited at the southern end of the Western Interior Seaway. The Boquillas Formation, subdivided into the lower, c. 78 m thick limestone-shale Ernst Member, and the...

In north-central Alberta and adjacent British Columbia, clastic strata of the middle to late Albian Peace River and Shaftesbury formations were deposited in alluvial to shallow marine environments across the foredeep of the Western Canada Foreland Basin. A high-resolution, log and core-based allostratigraphic framework for the Paddy Member of the P...

Biostratigraphic, bioecological and microfacial analyses of the upper Turonian-middle Coniacian (Upper Cretaceous) succession of the Babadag Basin (Dobrogea, south-eastern Romania) were performed. The study is based on the material collected from the quarries near Visterna, Caugagia and Baia localities.

The Staffhorst shaft (Lower Saxony, Germany) ranks amongst the critical sections for documentation of the inoceramid record of the Euramerican Coniacian Stage (Upper Cretaceous). In spite of a number of disadvantages (i.e., interval sampling and stratigraphical gaps), this section does provide details of the inoceramid distribution across insuffici...

Lower to upper Coniacian rocks in the foredeep of the Western Canada Foreland Basin are dominated by mudstone and subordinate sandstone and were deposited on a very low-gradient, storm-dominated marine ramp. The rocks are organized into several scales of upward-coarsening, upward-shoaling succession, bounded by marine flooding surfaces. Abundant, p...

Inoceramid bivalves are the dominant invertebrate fauna of the Coniacian and basal Santonian of the Western Canada Foreland Basin in western Alberta. In the upper lower Coniacian through to basal Santonian, six successive faunas are recognized, which provide the basis for corresponding, formally defined inoceramid zones. From bottom upward these ar...

The Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian-Santonian) of the Western Canada Foreland Basin, contains a rich record of scaphitid ammonites (scaphites). We describe four species: Scaphites (Scaphites) preventricosus Cobban, 1952, Scaphites (S.) ventricosus Meek and Hayden, 1862, Scaphites (S.) depressus Reeside, 1927, and Clioscaphites saxitonianus (McLearn, 19...

The Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian-Santonian) of the Western Canada Foreland Basin, contains a rich record of scaphitid ammonites (scaphites). We describe four species: Scaphites (Scaphites) preventricosus Cobban, 1952, Scaphites (S.) ventricosus Meek and Hayden, 1862, Scaphites (S.) depressus Reeside, 1927, and Clioscaphites saxitonianus (McLearn, 19...

The biostratigraphic importance, current zonations, and potential for the recognition of the standard chronostratigraphic boundaries of five palaeontological groups (benthic foraminifers, ammonites, belemnites, inoceramidbivalves and echinoids), critical for the stratigraphy of the Santonian through Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of extra-Carpath...

Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2), a ∼ 600 kyr episode close to the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary (ca. 94 Ma), is characterized by relatively widespread marine anoxia and ranks amongst the warmest intervals of the Phanerozoic. The early stages of OAE2 are, however, marked by an episode of widespread transient cooling and bottom water oxygenation: the Pl...

The biostratigraphy of the uppermost Cenomanian – Lower Turonian succession in the lower part of the Blackstone Formation exposed in the Ram River (Alberta, Canada), is interpreted in terms of the standard inoceramid/ammonite zonation of the interval. Four successive inoceramid zones are recognized, those of Inoceramus pictus , Mytiloides puebloens...

In 1964, Scott and Cobban, in their study of the Peck Creek section, noted that the top of bed 29 was "very smooth," a description not applied by them to any other bed in the Fort Hays Limestone succession. The top of bed 29 was also singled out by Barlow and Kauffman (1985, p. 201) as a distinctive surface, termed PNF-4, that could be "...traced a...

Inoceramid bivalves of the upper Albian and lower Cenomanian of the United States Western Interior are revised, Eleven species-level taxa and three genera are described. Two new species, Gnesioceramus mowriensis, characterizing the Mowry Shale of the early, but not the earliest, Cenomanian, and Posidonioceramus merewetheri, of the lower Cenomanian,...

A river section at Słupia Nadbrzez˙na, central Poland, has been proposed as a candidate Turonian - Coniacian (Cretaceous) GSSP, in combination with the Salzgitter-Salder quarry section of Lower Saxony, Germany. Results of a high-resolution (25 cm) palynological study of the boundary interval in the Słupia Nadbrzez˙na section are presented. Terrestr...

Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2), a ~600 kyr episode close to the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary (ca. 94 Ma), is characterized by widespread marine anoxia and ranks amongst the warmest intervals of the Phanerozoic. The early stages of OAE2 are, however, marked by an episode of widespread transient cooling and bottom water oxygenation: the Plenus Cold Ev...

The magnetic polarities of the upper Upper Campanian-Lower Maastrichtian interval of the Middle Vistula River composite section (central Poland), were studied. Sixty-six hand-oriented samples for palaeomagnetic studies were taken from the sections of Raj, Raj North, Podole, Kłudzie and Dziurków. The inter-correlation between them is based primarily...

The Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary interval of the Middle Vistula River valley section (central Poland) represents a continuous, lithologically monotonous, fossiliferous succession, with a good stable isotope and palaeomagnetic signal. It yields all the biostratigraphically critical macro- and microfossil groups: ammonites, belemnites, inoceramid...

Key index fauna and lithostratigraphy were used to map the CE-T, T-CO, and CO-S stage boundaries in the eastern part of BBNP. The Boquillas Formation consists of marine limestone and carbonate mud/shale deposited in the southern part of the Western Interior Seaway from the late Early Cenomanian to Middle Santonian. The CE-T boundary (~93.5 Ma) is l...

The upper Campanian (Cretaceous) of the Hacimehmet area (south of the city of Trabzon; Eastern Pontides) is mainly composed of calciclastic turbidites. The basinal unit of the 119 m thick succession includes thin red pelagic limestone interlayers and conglomerates dominated by volcanic clasts. The overlying upper slope and lower slope units of the...

This study revises and improves the chronostratigraphic framework for late Turonian through early Campanian time based on work in the Western Interior U. S. and introduces new methods to better quantify uncertainties associated with the development of such time scales. Building on the unique attributes of the Western Interior Basin, which contains...

An integrated bio- and allostratigraphic study of uppermost Turonian and Lower Coniacian strata at Pueblo, Colorado, and coeval strata 1650 km to the NW at Horseshoe Dam, Alberta, has shown that physical disconformities, related to relative changes in sea level, can be recognized at each locality. Stratigraphic control provided by the succession of...

The stratigraphic distribution of ammonite and inoceramid faunas of the richly fossiliferous Cenomanian through basal Middle Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) succession of the Morondava Basin, western Madagascar, is provided, and biozonations, based on both groups, are established. The correlation with former schemes is discussed and the chronostratigr...

Lower and Middle Cenomanian ammonite assemblages have been collected on a bed-by-bed basis from localities at Vohipaly and Mahaboboka, Madagascar, as well as from outcrops around Berekata, all in the Morondava Basin, southwest Madagascar. These collections demonstrate the presence of the upper Lower Cenomanian Mantelliceras dixoni Zone and the lowe...

Walaszczyk, I., Kopaevich, L.F. and Beniamovski, V.N. 2013. Inoceramid and foraminiferal record and biozonation of the Turonian and Coniacian (Upper Cretaceous) of the Mangyshlak Mts., western Kazakhstan. Acta Geologica Polonica, 63 (4), 469-487. Warszawa. The Turonian and Coniacian (Upper Cretaceous) of the Mangyshlak Mts., western Kazakhstan, yie...

Marine mudstone of the Coniacian Muskiki Member was deposited by storms on a shallow-marine ramp across southern Alberta and northern Montana. The rocks range from the C. crassus crassus Zone of the upper lower Coniacian to the S. depressus Zone of the upper Coniacian; however, upper Coniacian strata are only a few metres thick at Kevin Montana and...

The Campanian–Maastrichtian boundary interval of the Middle Vistula River valley section (central Poland) represents a continuous, lithologically monotonous, fossiliferous succession, with a good stable isotope and palaeomagnetic signal. It yields all the biostratigraphically critical macro- and microfossil groups: ammonites, belemnites, inoceramid...

Keutgen, N., Remin, Z. and Walaszczyk, I. 2012. Early representatives of the belemnite genus Belemnella (Cephalopoda) from the uppermost Campanian-Lower Maastrichtian of the Middle Vistula River section, central Poland. Acta Geologica Polonica, 62 (4), 535-559. Warszawa. Representatives of the belemnite genus Belemnella from the uppermost Campanian...

Walaszczyk, I., Lees, J.A., Peryt, D., Cobban, W.A. and Wood, C.J. 2012. Testing the congruence of the microfossil versus microfossil record in the Turonian-Coniacian boundary succession of the Wagon Mound-Springer composite section (NE New Mexico, USA). Acta Geologica Polonica, 62 (4), 581-594. Warszawa. The Turonian-Coniacian boundary succession...

A high-resolution allostratigraphic study of the Muskiki Member in southern Alberta reveals subtle yet regional bevelling unconformities that allow the member to be divided into three main packages, each of which was deposited under a different tectonic regime. The lower and middle packages thicken to the NW and SW respectively and indicate flexura...

The youngest representatives of 'true' (= non-tegulated) inoceramid bivalves (Inoceramidae) are described from intervals 3-6 of the Vijlen Member (Gulpen Formation), of late early and early late Maastrichtian age, as exposed at quarries and temporary sections in northeast Belgium (CPL SA-Haccourt and CBR-Lixhe quarries) and the Aachen area (Germany...

An integrated account of a candidate composite Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the Coniacian Stage, comprising the Salzgitter-Salder Quarry section (Lower Saxony, Germany) and the Slupia Nadbrzezna river cliff section (central Poland), is provided. documented are all the main biostratigraphically significant macrofossil...

Thirty three species of Inoceramidae, of which two are new, are described from KwaZulu. They fall into four zonal assemblages that can be correlated with sequences recognized elsewhere: the Cataceramus flexus Zone and the 'Inoceramus' tenuilineatus Zone are referred to the lower Upper Campanian. The Trochoceramus radiosus Zone is referred to the up...

The Nowe Miasto-Zawichost Fault Zone is located within the Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone that separates the East European Craton from the Palaeozoic Platform and forms one of the most fundamental lithospheric boudaries in Europe. High-quality seismic reflection profiles, calibrated by several deep wells, were interpreted in an effort to assess the timin...