Glomospirella cantabrica n. sp., and other benthic foraminifera from Lower Cretaceous Urgonian-type carbonates of Cantabria, Spain: Biostratigraphic implications

Abstract

A new benthic foraminifer is described as Glomospirella cantabrica n. sp. from several sections of the upper Aptian Reocín Formation and one occurrence from the lowermost Albian Las Peñosas Formation of Cantabria (northern Spain). It represents a rather large-sized Glomospirella, with up to eight planispiral whorls, observed in lagoonal wackestones and packstones. The upper Aptian (upper Gargasian–Clansayesian) age is indicated by the co-occurrence with other benthic foraminifera, i.e. orbitolinids. Further biostratigraphic data of the Aptian-p.p. Albian shallow-water carbonates of the North Cantabrian Basin is provided. The rareness of dasycladalean green algae in these deposits is also highlighted. The resulting stratigraphic and biostratigraphic scheme is integrated in a framework of depositional sequences of the North Cantabrian Basin and compared with the sequential schemes of other areas of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin and the Iberian Chain. Similitudes suggest that these depositional sequences are related to global sea-level changes.