Late Cretaceous radiolarians from a bentonitic-rich interval at the base of the Niobrara Formation, southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada: biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental implications

Abstract

A radiolarian assemblage containing 11 species of both nasellarians and spumellarians was recovered from the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. This assemblage represents the first report of Coniacian radiolarians in the entire Western Interior Basin and one of the few reports for the Upper Cretaceous in North America. The presence of radiolarians and the partial disappearance of foraminifera in the only bentonitic interval in this formation suggest that high silica concentrations supplied by volcanic events favored ecological conditions for radiolarians to thrive and or enhanced their preservation before and after deposition. Correlation of this assemblage with other Upper Cretaceous radiolarian assemblages in North America shows a close affinity with the microfauna recovered in the Sverdrup Basin (Canadian Arctic).