Abstract The leading hypothesis for the Toarcian oceanic anoxic event (T-OAE; c. 183 Ma) and the associated negative C-isotope excursion is the massive release of 12 C favouring greenhouse conditions and continental weathering. The nutrient delivery to shallow basins supported productivity and, because of O 2 consumption by organic-matter respiration, anoxia development. However, several studies have shown that calcareous nannoplankton experienced a decrease during the T-OAE. Nannofossil fluxes measured in the Llanbedr (Mochras Farm) borehole, Wales, UK, were the highest prior to the negative C-isotope excursion, along with high amounts of taxa indicative of nutrient-rich environments (Biscutaceae). Such conditions attest to high productivity. Fluxes show the lowest values in the core of the event, along with a size decrease of Schizosphaerella and a peak in Calyculaceae. The recovery of nannofossil fluxes and Schizosphaerella size occurred concomitant with the return of C-isotopes to more positive values. Concomitantly, deep dwellers ( Crepidolithus crassus ) dominated, indicating a recovery of the photic-zone productivity. These observations demonstrate that the cascade of environmental responses to the initial perturbation was more complex than previously considered. In spite of elevated nutrient delivery to epicontinental basins in the early Toarcian, carbonate and primary productions of nannoplankton were depressed in the core the T-OAE, probably because of prolonged thermohaline seawater stratification.

Abstract Quantitative analysis performed on latest Pliensbachian–early Toarcian calcareous nannofossil assemblages from the Camino section (Basque Cantabrian Basin) allowed their response to the environmental changes recorded during this time interval to be deciphered, characterized by an extinction event. The results were introduced within a principal component analysis and compared with the stable isotope and total organic carbon curves. During the latest Pliensbachian, the Mirabile and the lowermost part of the Semicelatum Ammonite Subzones, Schizosphaerella , Bussonius prinsii , Biscutum finchii , Calcivascularis jansae and Similiscutum avitum , taxa that probably thrived in rather cold waters, dominated the calcareous nannofossil assemblages. Coinciding with warmer and wetter conditions, which probably led to an increase in surface water fertility, recorded slightly below the extinction boundary, the mesotrophic taxa B. novum , L. hauffii and Calyculus spp. were dominant. Nevertheless, T. patulus and C. jansae , which became extinct just below the extinction boundary, show preferences for oligotrophic conditions. Salinities similar to those of modern oceans have been inferred around the extinction boundary, considering the coupling between the abundances of Calyculus spp. and the species richness together with the absence of black shales. After the extinction boundary, nannofossil assemblages were dominated by the deep-dwelling C. crassus and the shallow-dwelling Lotharingius species, interpreted as opportunistic taxa. This work confirms that calcareous nannofossils are a really useful tool for palaeoceanographic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, especially in terms of climatic changes.