GSSP for Ypresian Stage (Eocene)

Definition:

The base of the Eocene Series and Ypresian Stage is defined in the DBH Subsection of the Dababiya Section, near Luxor, Egypt, at the base of a lithostratigraphic unit where the initiation of the so-called Carbon Isotope Excursion (CIE) is recorded.

Location:

The Ypresian GSSP is located at the Dababiya section, a composite of a series of adjacent overlapping sections (DBA, DBE, DBH, AND DBD), on the east bank of the Nile River, 25 km south of Luxor. The GSSP is located in the DBH subsection 1.57m above the base of the subsection. The GSSP location is approximately at a latitude of 25°30’N and a longitude of 32°31’52″E.

Sedimentology:

The Dababiya Quarry Beds are 3.68m thick in the DBH subsection. The GSSP lies at the base of Bed 1.

Bed 5: 1.00 m thick, marly calcarenitic limestone. Bed 4: 0.71 m thick, grey shale. Bed 3: 0.84 m thick, cream colored laminated phosphatic shale with sparse coprolites. Bed 2: 0.5 m thick, phosphatic brown shale with numerous coprolites. Bed 1: 0.63 cm thick, dark laminated non-calcareous clay with a few phosphatic coprolites at the base.

Primary Markers:

The GSSP is located at the base of a lithostratigraphic unit where the base of the so-called Carbon Isotope Excursion (CIE) is recorded.

Secondary Markers:

Foraminifera:
Acarinina sibaiyaensis and Acarinina africana appear for the first time 2.5m above the base of the outcrop.
Nannoplankton:
Discoaster anartios appears for the first time 2.3m above the base of the outcrop.

Correlation Events:

Carbon Isotope Excursion base, initiation of basal Eocene Thermal maximum (“PETM”)

Notes on Derivation of Age:

Astronomical cycles in sediments scaled from base-Paleocene

References:

Dupuis C., Aubry M., Steurbaut E., Berggren W.A., Ouda K., Magioncalda R., Cramer B. S., Kent D.V., Speijer R.P. & Heilmann-Clausen C. (2003). TheDababiya Quarry Section: Lithostratigraphy, clay mineralogy, geochemistry and paleontology. Micropaleontology 49, 41-59.

Aubry, M-P., Ouda, K., Dupuis, C., Berggren, W.A., Van Couvering, J.A., and the members of the Working Group on the Paleocene/Eocene Boundary, 2007. The Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Eocene Series in Dababiya section (Egypt). Episodes 30, 271-286.