Magnetostratigraphic and cyclostratigraphic calibration of a prospective Palaeocene/Eocene stratotype at Zumaia (Basque Basin, northern Spain)

ABSTRACT Detailed magnetostratigraphic work at the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary interval in the Zumaia section has led to a precise delineation of the position of polarity Chron C25n from −35.0 m (or −35.7 m) to −25.2 m below the base of the Carbon Isotopic Excursion that marks the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary. This chronostratigraphic constraint suggests that the lithological carbonate–marl couplets making up most of the studied section are the expression of orbital precession cycles, and confirms the expanded and continuous nature of the section, with mean sediment accumulation rates of ∼ 2.5 cm kyr−1. The new data render Zumaia a unique land‐based marine section with available magnetostratigraphic data coupled to cyclostratigraphy. The revised chronostratigraphic framework presented supports previous cyclostratigraphic calibration of the latest Palaeocene geomagnetic timescale; it should facilitate better assessment of the different chemobiostratigraphic events that span this critical interval as a consequence of past climate and oceanographic change. Consequently, the Zumaia section is proposed as a candidate Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary.