Anatomy of the stratigraphical boundary between the Arnager Greensand and Arnager Limestone (Upper Cretaceous) on Bornholm, Denmark

The complex boundary between the Arnager Greensand Formation and the Arnager Limestone Formation on the island of Bornholm (Denmark) has been studied for almost a century. Despite this effort, the hiatus represented by the boundary remains poorly constrained. Using a considerable number of processed samples and thin sections the uppermost Arnager Greensand Formation is confirmed as Thalmanninella reicheli Zone age (early Middle Cenomanian) and the overlying Arnager Limestone Formation is probably early Coniacian in age. No evidence of macrofossil and microfossil assemblages indicative of the late Cenomanian or the Turonian have been recorded and there is no palaeontological or sedimentological evidence of the global late Cenomanian (Bonarelli or OAE 2) anoxic event. The significant mid-Cenomanian to early Coniacian hiatus reflects a period of sediment starvation along the line of the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone in the vicinity of Bornholm.