A revised inoceramid biozonation for the Upper Cretaceous based on high-resolution carbon isotope stratigraphy in northwestern Hokkaido, Japan

Biostratigraphic correlations of inoceramid bivalves between the North Pacific and Euramerican provinces have been difficult because the inoceramid biostratigraphy of the Japanese strata has been based on endemic species of the northwest Pacific. In this study, carbon stable isotope fluctuations of terrestrial organic matter are assembled for the Upper Cretaceous Yezo Group in the Haboro and Obira areas, Hokkaido, Japan, in order to revise the chronology of the inoceramid biozonation in Japan. The carbon isotope curves are correlated with those of marine carbonates in English and German sections with the aid of age-diagnostic taxa. According to the correlations of the carbon isotope curves, 11 isotope events are recognised in the sections studied. As a result of these correlations, the chronology of the inoceramid biozones of the Northwest Pacific has been considerably revised. The revised inoceramid biozones suggest that the timing of the origination and extinction of the inoceramids in the North Pacific biotic province is different from the stage/substage boundaries defined by inoceramids, as used in Europe and North America.