Abstract Two Cenomanian–Turonian boundary (CTBE) sections (KB3 and GM3) of the Karak–Silla intra-platform basin of the Eastern Levant carbonate platform, Jordan, are correlated based on high-resolution calcimetry. KB3 contains black shales with over 7 wt% total organic carbon (TOC). GM3 was deposited at shallower water depth and reveals four conspicuous gypsum beds used for sea-level reconstruction. Spectral analysis of carbonate content and TOC reveals forcing, mainly by the 100 ka cycle of Earth's orbit eccentricity. Whole rock stable carbon isotope data show a conspicuous positive δ 13 C excursion representing the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2). The carbon isotope records of KB3 and GM3 correspond well with the cycles in the δ 13 C record of the global stratotype (GSSP) at Pueblo (USA). The GSSP orbital timescale, thus, can be applied to the Jordan record. Furthermore, all stable isotope events defined in the English chalk reference record are recognized in Jordan. Our orbital model for the Jordan sequence-stratigraphical framework reveals approximately 1.2 (+0.2) Ma duration of a third-order sequence, proposed to represent one cycle of the long obliquity (1.2 Ma). This long-term period is superimposed on three fourth-order fluctuations of 400 ka length (long eccentricity; fourth-order sea-level fluctuations), each of which comprises four carbonate cycles (100 ka eccentricity; fifth-order sea-level fluctuations). Demise of the Levant platform occurred during the phase of decreasing δ 13 C values after OAE2 in the interval between the Cenomanian–Turonian (C–T) boundary and the end of the Early Turonian.

Abstract Study of a Cenomanian–Turonian sequence, including the oceanic anoxic event 2 (OAE2) in Central Jordan, yielded 22 ostracod species from the Middle–Late Cenomanian interval; no ostracods were found in the Early Turonian. The majority of the taxa have a wide geographical distribution along the southern shores of the Tethys; from Morocco in the west to the Arabian Gulf region in the east. Biogeographical homogeneity of the ostracod associations in North Africa and the Middle East reflects facilitated communication along the whole expanse of the southern Tethys margin during the Cenomanian, and suggests similar living conditions and absence of important geographical barriers that could hinder marine faunal exchange. Biostratigraphically, the investigated fauna revealed five informal ostracod biozones (I to V from older to younger). The recorded assemblages are characterized by ostracod faunas of typical marine shelf setting in biozone I, shelf lagoonal setting with fresh-water influence in biozone II, marine shelf setting with intervals of fresh-water supply in biozones III and IV, and reduced oxygen levels in the interval of biozone V. This sequence of biozones provides palaeontological evidence for the occurrence of an interval of enhanced fresh-water influence in Levant platform lagoons preceeding OAE2. A combined biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic time scale based on stable carbon isotopes reveals the first appearance of Reticulicosta kenaanensis , previously described as an Early Turonian indicator species already in the Late Cenomanian. Absence of ostracods throughout the Early Turonian indicates environmental conditions adverse to ostracods during most of OAE2 and its aftermath interpreted to reflect strong water column stratification.