OCCURRENCE OF LIBYCOCERAS ISMAELI (ZITTEL) IN THE UPPER MAASTRICHTIANOF EASTERN TADEMAIT, ALGERIAN SAHARA

No ammonite has ever been reported in the Tademait plateau, Algerian S ahara, above the Turonian. A well-dated Upper Maastrichtian sequence h as the first yielded Libycoceras ismaeli (Zittel) in the eastern part of the area. This stratigraphical position is correlative to the occur ence of this species in the Tinrhert Hamada (Algeria) and Libya to the east and to the Tanezrouft (Algeria), Niger and eastern Mall (Sphenod iscus Zone) to the south. This find provides a new paleogeographical m ilestone between the Tinrhert Hamada and the Tanezrouft, along which t he trans-Saharan marine channel passed on to the Iullemmeden basin in the Upper Maastrichtian. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd