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Following voting by the Kimmeridgian Working Group, the International Subcommission on Jurassic Stratigraphy and the International Commission on Stratigraphy, the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Kimmeridgian Stage (Jurassic System) was ratified by the executive of the International Union of Geological Sciences. The boundary is placed in the upper part of Bed 35 of the Staffin Shale Formation, 1.25±0.01 m below the base of Bed 36 in block F6 in the foreshore at Flodigarry, Staffin Bay, Isle of Skye, Scotland. The coordinates for the middle part of the two adjacent sections (sections F6N and F6S) are 57°39'39.5''N, 6°14'43.9''W and 57°39'40.5''N, 6°14'45''W; UK National Grid Scheme NG 4687 7139 and NG 4687 7142±5 m. This stratigraphic point coincides with the appearance over a short stratigraphic interval of several new ammonite taxa that delineate the base of the Subboreal ammonite Baylei Zone, the base of the Densicostata Subzone marked by the base of the flodigarriensis horizon, and, independently, the base of the Boreal ammonite Bauhini Zone. The main advantages of this locality are: the presence of a dual ammonite zonation marked by two extensively studied, well-preserved and very abundant groups of ammonites, and their preservation within a continuous section of ~120 m of open marine, fossiliferous, thermally immature mudrocks with no evidence of condensation or stratigraphic gaps. Dinoflagellate cysts, magnetostratigraphy and stable isotope data from the same section provide secondary markers. The stratigraphic point is located 0.17–0.65 m below the boundary interval between the dinoflagellate cyst zones DSJ 26 and DSJ 27 (equivalent to the boundary between subzones c and d of the Scriniodinium crystallinum (=Scr) Zone). The point is located 0.02–0.24 m above the base of reversed magnetozone F3r. This magnetozone probably correlates with marine magnetic anomaly M26r but may correlate to the younger anomaly M25r. The point coin cid

During the Phanerozoic, Earth has experienced a number of transient global warming events associated with major carbon cycle perturbations. Paradoxically, many of these extreme greenhouse episodes are preceded or followed by cold climate, perhaps even glacial conditions, as inferred from the occurrence of glendonites in high latitudes. Glendonites are pseudomorphs of ikaite (CaCO3·6H2O), a hydrated carbonate mineral increasingly stable at low temperatures. Here, we show that methane seepage and oxidation provide an overriding control on Mesozoic glendonite formation (i.e., ikaite fossilization). Geochemical and petrological analyses of 33 Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous glendonites from five sections in Siberia (Russia) reveal that most of their infilling carbonate phases are reminiscent of methane-derived authigenic carbonates. Bulk glendonites and surrounding sediments exhibit exceptionally high and low carbon isotope values (+20‰ to –45‰ VPDB [Vienna Peedee belemnite]), typical for carbon sources linked to methane generation and oxidation. Gas inclusion data confirm the presence of methane and longer-chain hydrocarbon gases, suggesting a thermogenic source for the methane. Glendonite-bearing layers can be traced for hundreds of kilometers, suggesting widespread trapping of methane in the sub-seafloor during the Jurassic. As such, glendonites constitute an unexplored archive for detecting past episodes of methane release and oxidation in polar settings.

New data are presented in relation to the worldwide definition of the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary, i.e. the base of the Kimmeridgian Stage. This data, mostly acquired in the past decade, supports the 2006 proposal to make the uniform boundary of the stages in the Flodigarry section at Staffin Bay on the Isle of Skye, northern Scotland. This boundary is based on the Subboreal-Boreal ammonite successions, and it is distinguished by the Pictonia flodigarriensis horizon at the base of the Subboreal Baylei Zone, and which corresponds precisely to the base of the Boreal Bauhini Zone. The boundary lies in the 0.16 m interval (1.24–1.08 m) below bed 36 in sections F6 at Flodigarry and it is thus proposed as the GSSP for the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary. This boundary is recognized also by other stratigraphical data – palaeontological, geochemical and palaeomagnetic (including its well documented position close to the boundary between magnetozones F3n, and F3r which is placed in the 0.20 m interval – 1.28 m to 1.48 m below bed 36 – the latter corresponding to marine magnetic anomaly M26r).The boundary is clearly recognizable also in other sections of the Subboreal and Boreal areas discussed in the study, including southern England, Pomerania and the Peri-Baltic Syneclise, Russian Platform, Northern Central Siberia, Franz-Josef Land, Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea. It can be recognized also in the Submediterranean-Mediterranean areas of Europe and Asia where it correlates with the boundary between the Hypselum and the Bimmamatum ammonite zones. The changes in ammonite faunas at the boundary of these ammonite zones – mostly of ammonites of the families Aspidoceratidae and Oppeliidae – also enables the recognition of the boundary in the Tethyan and Indo-Pacific areas – such as the central part of the Americas (Cuba, Mexico), southern America, and southern parts of Asia. The climatic and environmental changes near to the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary discussed in the stu