Origin of the Penalver Formation in northwestern Cuba and its relation to K/T boundary impact event

The uppermost Maastrichtian Penalver Formation and its equivalents in north western Cuba are characterized by thick, normal-graded calcarenite with dis tinct basal conglomerate, and have been suspected as deposits related to th e Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (K/T) impact. However, its depositional mech anism is not well understood and clear evidence for its association with th e impact has never been presented. In this study, detailed field survey and petrographic observations were carried out on the Penalver Formation in or der to clarify its sedimentary processes and to test its relation to the K/ T impact. The Penalver Formation at the type locality near Havana is approx imately 180 m thick and is subdivided into the Basal, Lower, Middle, Upper and Uppermost Members based on its lithology. The Basal Member consists of massive, poorly sorted, calcirudite with grain-supported fabric, which cont ains abundant macrofossils of shallow-marine origin and occasional large in traclasts of the underlying strata, suggesting that it was formed by a grai n flow from a carbonate platform on the Cretaceous Cuban Are. The Lower to Uppermost Members consist of massive calcarenite and calcilutite that show upward fining. Composition of the calcarenite is distinctly different from that of the Basal Member. The homogeneous appearance, coarse-tail normal gr ading, abundant water escape structures, and abundant reworked fossils in t hese members are consistent with those of the Mediterranean "homogenite", a deep sea tsunami-induced deposit that was formed by settling from a high d ensity suspension. Repetition of thin conglomerate beds in the Lower Member that contain well-sorted, well-rounded mud clasts and shallow marine fossi ls is considered to reflect intermittent lateral dow possibly induced by a series of tsunami waves during an early stage of settling of grains from a high density suspension. Altered vesicular glass of probable impact origin and shocked quartz are discovered in the Basal and the Lower to Upper Membe rs, respectively. Together with the biostratigraphically constrained age of the Penalver Formation, this evidence suggests that the Penalver Formation has a genetic relation to the K/T impact. Distribution of altered vesicula r glass and shocked quartz grains can explain the sequence of the initial g rain flow and the following tsunami waves. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier S cience B.V.