A new study based on calcareous nannofossil and benthic
and planktonic foraminifer biostratigraphy is presented for
the upper Campanian – Maastrichtian chalk of the Femern
Bælt (Denmark and Germany; Fig.1). The results are consistent
with recent studies of the Danish chalk for this interval,
allowing correlation across the Danish Basin and forming the
basis for correlation further afield within the Boreal Realm.
Numerous studies have been carried out recently on the upper
Campanian – Maastrichtian chalk of the Danish Basin,
covering aspects such as sedimentology, depositional environment,
macrofossil biostratigraphy, carbon isotope stratigraphy
as well as nannofossil and dinoflagellate biostratigraphy.
However, very few published studies on foraminifers
exist across this interval in this area. The 09.A.006, 09.A.007
and 09.A.008 boreholes (Fig. 2) were drilled in 2009 in preparation
for construction of a fixed link across the Femern
Bælt, which will connect Denmark to Germany (Rambøll
Arup JV 2011). The boreholes penetrated glacial till, Paleocene–
Eocene clay and chalk (Sheldon et al. 2012). Here, for
the first time, the Boreal foraminifer biostratigraphy of the
late Campanian – Maastrichtian interval is investigated and
presented alongside nannofossil biostratigraphy