The Bottaccione section at Gubbio, central Italy: a classical Paleocene Tethyan setting revisited

The Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene succession cropping out at the Bottaccione section (Gubbio, central Italy) represents a classical Tethyan setting that served as a standard for the construction of the geo- magnetic polarity time scale. Available biomagnetostratigraphy suggests that the Danian interval of the Bot- taccione section is condensed relative to other outcrops in the area and/or might contain a non-identified stra- tigraphic gap. By contrast, a new high-resolution integrated stratigraphic record presented here, including bio-, magneto-, chemo-, and cyclostratigraphy, provides evidence that the Bottaccione record is complete and comparable to other successions outcropping in the Umbria-Marche. However, the paleomagnetic signal of this classical section is partially corrupted in the upper Danian. Recognition of orbitally-forced sedimentary cycles, corresponding to the long eccentricity (405 kyr), and litho- and biostratigraphic correlation with the nearby Contessa Highway which provides a robust magnetostratigraphic record, allows a cyclochronological comparison with ODP Sites 1209 and 1262 and the Zumaia land-based succession. Cycle counting suggests the presence of 10 long-eccentricity cycles between the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary and the top C27n event, which has implications for the age of the latter chronohorizon.