Oil shales from the K-Pg boundary interval of Jordan – Climate controlled archives of surface and bottom water conditions in a shelf setting

We integrate previously published data from geochemistry, clay mineralogy, and benthic foraminifera with new findings from calcareous nannofossils and the sulfur content to reconstruct the variations of bottom and surface water conditions resulting from climate changes in the Jafr Sub-basin (Jordan). The fluctuation of the organic matter content recorded from Maastrichtian and Danian oil shales of a cored section, is seen as a response to nutrient fluxes, inducing changes in primary productivity. Bacterial workover and enrichment played a secondary role.