Late Triassic-Early Jurassic Calcareous Nannofossils of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia

Abstract. Sediments of the Kunga and Maude groups (Early Norian-Aalenian) from the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, have yielded the first records of early Mesozoic calcareous nannofossils in North America. These occurrences are the only record of Triassic nannofossils away from the recent discoveries in the Tethyan area (Austria, Indonesia, and the northwestern Australian margin). The nannofossil assemblages from the Queen Charlotte Islands are generally poor to moderately preserved, with species diversities typical for this time interval (2–10 species). The assemblages are comparable to those from northwest Europe, for the Lower Jurassic, and to those from Austria, Indonesia, and the Australian margin, for the Upper Triassic. They show compatible stratigraphical ranges, allowing the application of existing biostratigraphical zonations. Palaeobiogeographical interpretations are inconclusive and fail to positively confirm a low latitude (Tethyan) position for the Queen Charlotte Islands, as indicated by macrofossil data. However, Triassic nannofossil assemblages have yet to be described from high palaeolatitude locations. In addition, certain features of the Lower Jurassic assemblages may indicate Tethyan affinities but also distinguish these assemblages from those which have been previously documented. These features include the absence of Schizosphaerella punctulata, which occurs abundantly in the circum-Mediterranean region and was previously thought to be “cosmopolitan” in distribution; and the absence of Mitrolithus jansae which characterizes “Tethyan” assemblages in the circum-Mediterranean area. The Queen Charlotte Islands results are compared with new nannofossil data from Argentina, Timor and North America.