Correlation of the Kimmeridgian succession of the Normandy coast, northern France with that of the Dorset-type area, southern England

The Kimmeridgian Stage is represented in the cliffs of the Dorset-type area and those in Normandy by richly fossiliferous marine mudstones and limestones. Taken together, these coastal exposures provide the only complete composite outcrop through this part of the Jurassic in the Sub-boreal Faunal Province. Detailed correlations between the two successions are presented here: these enable the Normandy-coast sections to be more accurately placed than previously within in their regional chronostratigraphical context. The Normandy succession is more completely exposed than that in Dorset, and is situated midway between Dorset and the Sub-Tethyan succession of the Berry region. It therefore offers a better prospect than any English section for inter-province correlation at this stratigraphical level. To cite this article: R. Gallois, C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).