Chapter 3B

PALEOGEOGRAPHY AND PALEOENVIRONMENT

OF THE TETHYAN REALM DURING
THE JURASSIC BREAKUP OF PANGEA
Eric Fourcade, Jacques Azema, Jeau-Paul Bassoullet, Fabrizio Cecca,
and Jean Dercourt
CNRS URA 1761, Departement de Geologie Sedimentaire
Universite Pierre et Marie Curie
Paris, France

Raymond Enay Rene Guiraud

URAM Faculte des Sciences
Universite Lyon 1 Universite d'Avignon
Villeurbanne, France Avignon, France

I. INTRODUCTION

To reconstitute the evolution of the paleogeography and paleoenvironments of

Tethys from 201 Ma until 135 Ma, five maps at a 1:20,000,000 scale were used,
four of which were incorporated into the Tethys Atlas of Dercourt et al. (1993).
They are (1) the Late Sinemurian map (unpublished), (2) the Mid-Toarcian (Bas-
soullet et al., 1993), (3) the Callovian (Enay et al., 1993), (4) the Early Kimme-
ridgian (Cecca et al., 1993), and (5) the Late Tithonian (Fourcade et al., 1991a,
1993). The first and last show periods of relatively low sea level, whereas the three
others correspond to periods of relatively high sea level.

The Ocean Basins and Margins, Volume 8: The Tethys Ocean, edited by A. E. M. Nairn et al. Plenum
Press, New York, 1995.

191
192 Eric Fourcade et al.

From the analysis of about 25 facies, 12 paleoenvironments were delineated on

the maps of Tethys and its bordering continents. The production of these maps
required the compilation of a huge bibliography (e.g., Jansa and Wade, 1975;
Bradshaw et al., 1988; Schlee et al., 1988; Winker and Buffier, 1988; BMR, 1990;
Rakus et at., 1990, etc.) and the use of data obtained by the authors in various
regions. All data were reexamined and incorporated in an environmental interpreta-
tion. It was not always possible to select facies for an interval of time as short as 3 or
4 Ma. The main dating and correlation tools were paleontological, especially am-
monites, calpionellids, foraminifers, nannofossils, dinoflagellates, pollens, etc.

II. MAIN CHARACTERISTICS

During the Jurassic, Tethys had a recumbent V shape. Lying in approximately

tropical latitudes, it was interposed between two huge, continental masses: Laurasia
to the north and Gondwana to the south. The western termination of Tethys was
closed from Hettangian to Callovian time and then opened at the beginning of the
Late Jurassic; eastward, the Tethyan ocean was wide open. During the Jurassic, an
active margin ran along the northern margin from Pontides to Malaysia; elsewhere,
Tethys was bordered by a passive margin. During this period, the breakup of Pangea
by rifting and seafloor spreading led to the splitting of the megacontinent.
During the Lias, the seaway "Mesozoic North Sea" between Greenland and
Scandinavia connected Tethys to the Arctic Sea. This seaway was a permanent
feature during the Jurassic, excluding the Bathonian and Late Tithonian. During the
Jurassic, the separation of Gondwana led to the opening of a sea, and thereafter, an
ocean interposed between Africa and the Madagascar-India-Australia continent
(East Gondwana). During the Tithonian, a marine connection existed between Cen-
tral Tethys and southwestern Panthalassa. Similarly, during the Kimmeridgian, the
separation of South America from North America and the opening of the Central
Atlantic (western Tethys) and the Gulf of Mexico in Oxfordian time allowed the
establishment of an equatorial, marine communication via Tethys between western
and eastern Panthalassa. The maps clearly show that exchanges of marine faunas
between the eastern Pacific and Mediterranean domains during the Liassic through
the western Tethys was not as easy as it has been suggested. Connections were best
established during the Callovian.
Numerous facies are recognized, but the most significant climatic markers of
continental facies are eolian deposits; argillaceous or sandy red beds; fluviatile
deposits; coals; and bauxites, although they are recognized during the Tithonian
only on the Mediterranean Seuil. The continental facies often contain rich, verte-
brate faunas dominated by dinosaurs. The best records in the area are from the
western interior of North America and from Africa. Marine and marginal littoral
deposits include evaporites; shallow-water limestones, often rich in hexacoralla