Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España 30 (1)1)/RSGE_30(1)_art5.pdf · In this paper, supported by several important scientific arguments from the different do- ... el Evento

Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España 30 (1)

THE JURASSIC OF THE PENICHE PENINSULA (PORTUGAL):SCIENTIFIC, EDUCATIONAL AND SCIENCE POPULARIZATION

RELEVANCE

El Jurásico de la Península de Peniche (Portugal): relevancia científica,educativa y divulgativa

Luís Vítor Duarte1, Ricardo Louro Silva2, Francisco Félix3, María José Comas-Rengifo4, Rogério Bordalo da Rocha5,Emanuela Mattioli6, Ricardo Paredes4, João Graciano Mendonça Filho7 and Maria Cristina Cabral8

1 MARE — Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal. [email protected] Basin and Reservoir Lab, Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. [email protected]

3 Escola Secundária of Peniche, Peniche, Portugal. [email protected] Department of Paleontology, Faculty of Geological Sciences, University Complutense de Madrid, Spain. [email protected];

[email protected] 5 Department of Earth Sciences and GeoBioTec, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal.

[email protected] Univ. Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Ens de Lyon, CNRS, UMR 5276 LGL-TPE, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France.

[email protected] 7 Department of Geology, Geosciences Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [email protected]

8 Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, Departamento de Geologia and Instituto Dom Luiz (IDL), Portugal. [email protected]

ISSN (versión impresa): 0214-2708ISSN (Internet): 2255-1379

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Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España, 30(1), 2017

Abstract: The Peniche Peninsula shows the most continuous carbonate sedimentary succession of the Ju-rassic in Portugal. In this paper, supported by several important scientific arguments from the different do-mains of Sedimentary Geology, we highlight this locality as a focal point to understand the Early Jurassictime interval. Among several other themes we emphasize the definition of the Toarcian GSSP, the discussionaround the Early Toarcian oceanic anoxic event and the organic-rich deposition occurred in the Sinemu-rian–Pliensbachian of the Peniche Peninsula section. These key geological themes have been the focus ofsignificant educational/scientific outreach, involving Geology promotion activities directed towards diffe-rent audiences, on a local and international scale.

Key-words: Lower Jurassic, global reference geosite, scientific relevance, educational activities, Peni-che, Portugal.

Resumen: La Península de Peniche, situada en la Cuenca Lusitánica, muestra la sucesión carbonática se-dimentaria más continua del Jurásico Inferior de Portugal. En ella ha quedado registrada la evolución ylos principales cambios paleoambientales ocurridos en el Margen Occidental ibérico durante este intervalo.Investigaciones recientes sobre varias peculiaridades científicas relacionadas con diferentes aspectos de laGeología Sedimentaria han convertido esta localidad en un punto clave para entender este intervalo detiempo del Jurásico Inferior. Esto se debe principalmente a: i) la definición de la Ponta do Trovão como elGSSP (Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point) de la base del Piso Toarciense; ii) la discusión sobreel Evento Anóxico Oceánico del Toarciense y su correlación con una extinción en masa de 2º orden y, iii)la sedimentación rica en materia orgánica que tuvo lugar durante la parte superior del Sinemuriense y elPliensbachiense. Además, se hace hincapié en las características sedimentarias únicas de gran parte de losdepósitos del Toarciense relacionadas con un episodio notable y singular de la sedimentación dentro delcontexto de la Cuenca Lusitánica. Estos temas geológicos claves han atraído a numerosos equipos de in-vestigadores de diferentes partes del mundo. La sección de Peniche ha sido el objeto de importantes y sig-nificativas actividades de divulgación científica y educativa por su interés científico global, el excelenteconocimiento estratigráfico de dicha sección, así como por su accesibilidad y extraordinario valor paisa-jístico. También ha sido el foco de atención para realizar acciones de promoción de la Geología dirigidasa diferentes públicos a escala local e internacional. Dichas actividades han consistido en clases de campo

Significant parts of the Earth’s history are told from ex-ceptional geological sites across the planet. Inevitably, atthe top of the list are those locations that record the mainepisodes of global change that occurred on the surface ofthe Earth, with a more or less pronounced impact in thebiosphere (e.g., Raup and Sepkoski, 1982; Wignall, 2001;White and Saunders, 2005). The Fransfontein section innorth-west Namibia, where the latest Neoproterozoic suc-cession supports the Snowball Earth theory (e.g., Hoffmanand Schrag, 2002) or Gubbio in Italy, including the classiciridium record that was used as the first argument for theend of Cretaceous meteorite impact theory (e.g., Alvarez etal., 1980), are, among others, examples of exceptional sitesthat contribute to our understanding about Earth’s history.

The Jurassic series of the Lusitanian Basin stand out asa highlight of the Portuguese sedimentary geology (e.g.,Brilha et al., 2005; Henriques et al., 2005), particularly theLower Jurassic succession cropping out on the Peniche Pe-ninsula (Duarte, 2004, 2005; Rilo et al., 2010; Fig. 1). Lo-cated in the western Iberian margin, this locality presents acontinuous record of marine carbonate sediments, from

inner ramp to hemipelagic settings, dated from the Sine-murian (Early Jurassic) to the possible beginning of MiddleJurassic (Fig. 2) (e.g., Mouterde, 1955; Wright and Wilson,1984; Duarte and Soares, 2002; Duarte et al., 2004). Due tothe excellent outcrop conditions, high-resolution stratigra-phic control, and singular sedimentological and geochemi-cal features, Peniche is regarded as a reference to the studyof the Portuguese Lower Jurassic (e.g., Duarte, 2004, 2005;Suan et al., 2010; Silva and Duarte, 2015) and the evolutionof the Proto-Atlantic Ocean. Recent research developed atPeniche, especially that to the Toarcian Global BoundaryStratotype Section and Point (GSSP) (e.g., Rocha et al.,2013, 2016) and the Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event(T-OAE; e.g., Hesselbo et al., 2007; Suan et al., 2008a,2008b, 2010), make this location a global geosite in termsof the Jurassic System.

In this review, we aim to summarise and put into con-text the stratigraphical, sedimentological and palaeoenvi-ronmental importance of the geological record of thePeniche section for the study of the Jurassic interval, fromlocal basinal evolution to a global scale point of view, tes-

56 JURASSIC OF THE PENICHE PENINSULA (PORTUGAL)


para estudiantes de nivel primario, secundario y universitario, programas de capacitación de diferentes ca-rreras profesionales (principalmente maestros de escuelas secundarias y geólogos del petróleo), reunionesde campo internacionales e iniciativas dirigidas a la comprensión pública de la Ciencia, como por ejem-plo, excursiones de campo, conferencias, talleres, mesas redondas y exposiciones de fotografía. Todo ellopone de manifiesto la necesidad y el beneficio que tiene el transmitir a la sociedad los avances científicosen Geología.

Palabras clave: Jurásico Inferior, geositio de referencia global, relevancia científica, actividades edu-cativas, Peniche, Portugal.

Duarte, L.V., Silva, R.L., Félix, F., Comas-Rengifo, M.J., da Rocha, R.B., Mattioli, E., Paredes, R., MendonçaFilho, J.G. and Cabral, M.C. (2017): The Jurassic of the Peniche Peninsula (Portugal): scientific, educationaland science popularization relevance. Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España, 30(1): 55-70.

Fig. 1.- The Peniche Peninsula: a) Location in the context of the Lower Jurassic deposits cropping out in the onshore of the Lusitan-ian Basin (based on Duarte et al., 2010b); b) Aerial view with the main observation geological sites (see text).

tified by the high number of publications in internationalgeosciences journals. At the same time, and while explo-ring other themes, we document the diversity of trainingactivities developed with several educational communities,from primary school to undergraduate/postgraduate uni-versity students, secondary school teachers, and petroleumgeologists. Lastly, we present an overview of several acti-vities (developed over the last 15 years) aimed a public en-gagement. All actions are advantaged by the excellentgeological knowledge, exposure conditions and scenicvalue of this site.

The Jurassic of the Peniche Penin-sula: a stratigraphic review

There is profuse literature on thegeology and stratigraphy of the Jurassicrecord at Peniche, mostly starting fromthe late nineteenth century (e.g., Chof-fat, 1880; Mouterde, 1955; França etal., 1960). Overall, the sedimentary se-ries is more than 450 m-thick and isdated from the Early (?) Sinemurian tothe extreme base of Middle Jurassic(Aalenian?) (Mouterde, 1955; Duarteand Soares, 2002; Duarte et al., 2004,2017).

On the Peniche Peninsula, theLower Jurassic is divided into five for-mations, corresponding to the Coimbra,Água de Madeiros, Vale das Fontes, Le-mede, and Cabo Carvoeiro formations(see Duarte and Soares, 2002; Duarte etal., 2004) (Fig. 2). The later three havetheir type-sections defined in the Peni-che Peninsula (Duarte and Soares,2002). Despite the abundance and di-versity of ammonites, particularly bet-ween the topmost Sinemurian(Raricostatum Zone) to the MiddleToarcian (base of the Gradata Zone)(Mouterde, 1955; Phelps, 1985; Dom-mergues, 1987; Mouterde et al., 2007;Paredes et al., 2013a, 2013b; Silva etal., 2015), they are almost absent at thebase (Coimbra Formation) and at thetop of the succession (last member ofthe Cabo Carvoeiro Formation) due toits shallow-water depositional setting(see Wright and Wilson, 1984; Duarte,1997; Duarte and Soares, 2002). Ho-wever, recent high-resolution ammonitebiostratigraphic studies developed inseveral parts of the series, and their in-tegration with the overall ammonite re-cord of the Lusitanian Basin, allowedthe refinement of the Sinemurian–Pliensbachian (Raricostatum–Jame-soni) and Margaritatus–Emaciatum (=

Spinatum) ammonite zone boundaries (e.g., Silva et al.,2011, 2015; Paredes et al., 2013a, 2013b; Duarte et al.,2014). Supported by these works, chronostratigraphic li-mits have been redefined, slightly altering the age limits ofthe Água de Madeiros–Vale das Fontes and Vale das Fon-tes–Lemede formations (Fig. 2). These inferences are con-firmed by several calcareous nannofossils biostratigraphicstudies, focusing on the Pliensbachian–Toarcian interval ofPeniche (e.g., Perilli and Duarte, 2006; Oliveira et al.,2007; Mattioli et al., 2013).

57Luís Vítor Duarte, Ricardo Louro Silva, Francisco Félix, María José Comas-Rengifo, Rogério Bordalo da Rocha,

Emanuela Mattioli, Ricardo Paredes, João Graciano Mendonça Filho and Maria Cristina Cabral


Fig. 2.- Stratigraphical log of the Upper Sinemurian–Aalenian (?) succession at Peniche:lithostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy (2nd-order Transgressive (T)–Regressive (R) cy-cles) and main sedimentary features (adapted and modified from Duarte et al., 2004;Duarte, 2007a). PMb – Polvoeira Member; PPLMb – Praia da Pedra Lisa Member; MLUPMb - Marls and limestones with Uptonia and Pentacrinus member; LML Mb - Lumpymarlstones and limestones member; MLOF Mb – Marly limestones with organic faciesmember; CC1 to CC5 Mb – Cabo Carvoeiro members 1 to 5.

According to Duarte and Soares (2002), and corrobo-rated by previous works (e.g., Wright and Wilson, 1984;Elmi et al., 1988; Dommergues, 1987; Duarte, 1997; Fer-nández-López et al., 2000) and recent works (e.g., Duarte,2007a; Duarte et al., 2004, 2010b; Silva et al., 2011, 2015),each formation displays singular sedimentological and pa-laeontological (essentially invertebrate fossils and ichno-fossils) features that allow the identification of the formalPolvoeira and Praia da Pedra Lisa members, and the threeand five informal members of Vale das Fontes Formation(Marls and limestones with Uptonia and Pentacrinus,Lumpy marls and limestones, Marly limestones with orga-nic facies) and Cabo Carvoeiro (CC1 to CC5 members)Formation, respectively (Fig. 2). Micropalaeontological re-sults from ostracod studies revealed the occurrence of se-veral species (Pinto et al., 2007b; Loureiro et al., 2013),some of them new with relevance for Jurassic ostracods di-versity (Cabral et al., 2014).

Scientific relevance of the Peniche Peninsula

The Lower Jurassic of Peniche is currently an interna-tional reference for the study of several subjects with highscientific impact. Examples are the definition of the Toar-cian GSSP and the discussion revolving around the T-OAErecord, supported by the extraordinary number of papers ininternational reference journals (Table I). In addition tothese two subjects, several other relevant themes have beendeveloped in the Jurassic of Peniche, such as the occurrenceof the organic-rich deposits of latest Sinemurian–Pliensba-chian age and the several unique sedimentary features, wi-thin the evolutionary context of the Lusitanian Basin,recorded in the Cabo Carvoeiro Formation. These fourmain geological themes of discussion, here synthesised interms of scientific relevance, have attracted numerousteams of researchers from different parts of the world andthe development of several projects.

The Toarcian GSSP

The Toarcian is the fourth stage of the Jurassic System, andits name is derived from the city of Thouars (Western France)that was firstly introduced by Alcide d’Orbigny (1842-1851).The Thouars section (Vrines quarry; Fig. 3a) is now consideredthe “historic” stratotype section for the Toarcian. After a longdeliberation, initiated by Dr. Serge Elmi and collaborators in1996, the Ponta do Trovão site (Figs. 1 and 3b) is, since De-cember 2014, the formal worldwide reference to the Pliensba-

chian–Toarcian boundary (Toarcian GSSP, ~182.7 Ma; Grads-tein et al., 2012). This resolution, supported by the Internatio-nal Commission on Stratigraphy and ratified by theInternational Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), arises froma report authored by 20 researchers (Rocha et al., 2013) and de-veloped after the meeting “The Peniche section (Portugal);Contributions to the definition of the Toarcian Global StratotypeSection and Point”, organised in June 2005 at Peniche, under theauspicious of the International Subcommission on Jurassic Stra-tigraphy (Elmi et al., 2005; Rocha, 2007). This stratigraphicboundary (Fig. 4) is defined by the ammonoid record but sus-tained by a wide range of biotic and abiotic stratigraphic mar-kers, including calcareous nannofossils, ostracods, brachiopods,carbon and oxygen stable isotopes and cyclostratigraphy (e.g.,Mouterde, 1955; Elmi, 2006; Rocha et al., 2013, 2016).

The Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event and massextinction

The Early Toarcian corresponds to one of the Earth’s his-toric intervals where great changes in the lithosphere-ocean-biosphere-atmosphere are recorded, in this case including theemplacement of the Karoo-Ferrar Large Igneous Province (e.g.,Jourdan et al., 2007; Sell et al., 2014), a 2nd-order mass ex-tinction (e.g., Little and Benton, 1995; Palfy and Smith, 2000),and the T-OAE (e.g., Jenkyns, 1988). This last event is welltestified by the worldwide negative carbon isotope excursionrecorded in sediments (e.g., Hesselbo et al., 2000, 2007; Caru-thers et al., 2011; Suan et al., 2011; Kemp and Izumi, 2014).

Regarding the geological record of the T-OAE, the portioncorresponding to the Abalo beach (Fig. 3c) of the Peniche sec-tion is acknowledged internationally, mainly due to the pionee-ring work of Hesselbo et al. (2007). Based on a high-resolutioncarbon isotope record measured in bulk carbonate and fossilwood, Hesselbo et al. (2007) presented evidence of a major per-turbation in the carbon cycle affecting the oceanic and atmos-pheric reservoirs (Fig. 4). The relevance of this paper in thescientific community is evident by its high number of citations(Table I). Since then, many others of similar scientific impacthave been published, focusing, for example, on cyclostrati-graphy, palaeoceanography, palynology and calcareous nanno-fossil evolution across the uppermost Pliensbachian–LowerToarcian (e.g., Suan et al., 2008a, 2008b, 2010; Mattioli et al.,2008, 2009; Barrón et al., 2013; Huang and Hesselbo, 2014;Pittet et al., 2014). At the same time, several research projects re-lating the response of benthic fauna to palaeoenvironmentalchanges that occurred through the Early Toarcian have been de-veloped, tracing the mass extinction associated with the Poly-



Scientific Themes Main Publications Number of CitationsWoS/Scopus

Toarcian GSSP Hesselbo et al. (2007) 191/210and T-OAE Suan et al. (2008b) 98/108

Suan et al. (2010) 81/89Sinemurian-Pliensbachian Duarte et al. (2010b) 31/55organic-rich deposits Silva et al. (2011) 22/31

Reggiani et al. (2010b) 14/18Sedimentary aspects of the Toarcian Wright and Wilson (1984) 43/53

Pittet et al. (2014) 15/19

Table I.- Main cited ISI papersby each relevant scientific themeabout the Jurassic of Penichepresented and discussed in thetext (data based on Journal Cita-tion Report and Scopus, both ac-cessed in 14th November 2016).WoS: Web of Science.

morphum -Levisoni ammonite Zone boundary. The Peniche sec-tion includes an exceptionally complete record of this extinc-tion event, well observed in ostracods (Pinto et al., 2007a) andbrachiopods (Comas-Rengifo et al., 2015). Well documented inother sections of the Lusitanian Basin, the Early Toarcian massextinction is characterized by the disappearance of the ostracodMetacopina Suborder (see also Cabral et al., 2013) and the bra-chiopod Spiriferida Order (see also Comas-Rengifo et al., 2013).In addition, Rita et al. (2016) demonstrate that the foraminifera

population was also negatively affected at the base of LevisoniZone, although without evidence of extinction.

Organic deposition in the uppermost Sinemurian–Pliensbachian

Considering its lithological characteristics and organic mat-ter richness, the uppermost Sinemurian and Pliensbachian(Água de Madeiros and Vale das Fontes formations) have been




Fig. 3.- a) The historical Toarcian Stratotype according to d’Orbigny (1842-1851) at Thouars, Western France (July 2012); b) The ToarcianGSSP at Ponta do Trovão, Peniche (dashed line: Pliensbachian–Toarcian boundary); c) The Abalo beach that records the base of the LevisoniZone (beginning of the T-OAE; see text), dashed line: Polymorphum–Levisoni Zone boundary; d) The organic-rich facies of the MLOF mem-ber cropping out at Portinho da Areia do Norte beach; e) Shallow-water carbonates of the Upper Toarcian (CC5 Mb) cropping out at Nau dosCorvos; f) The Pentacrinus penichensis (Loriol) recorded in the Peniche Peninsula between Remédios and Cabo Carvoeiro (see Figure 1).



Fig. 5.- Field sedimentary and stratigraphical details of the Pliensbachian organic-rich deposits and lower Toarcian turbidites croppingout at Peniche: a) Base of the MLOF member of the Vale das Fontes Formation (Portinho da Areia do Norte); b) Subarkosic conglom-erate level (C) at the base of CC2 member (base of Levisoni Zone; Abalo beach). LML – Lumpy marls and limestones member.

Fig. 4.- Main global events well recognised across the Pliensbachian–Lower Toarcian succession cropping out in the Peniche Penin-sula (see text).

identified as a potential hydrocarbon source rock interval in theLusitanian Basin (e.g., Oliveira et al., 2006; Duarte et al., 2010b,2011, 2012). The Vale das Fontes Formation, formally definedin the Peniche section at Portinho da Areia do Norte (Figs. 1, 3dand 5a; Duarte and Soares, 2002; Duarte et al., 2010b), hasbeing extensively studied over the past years, not only from anorganic geochemistry and petroleum potential stand point, butalso investigating palaeoenvironments and palaeoclimates. Con-cerning the later topics, are highlighted here the contributionsof Reggiani et al. (2010a, b), focusing in ocean dynamics of cal-careous nannofossils, and of Silva et al. (2011, 2012, 2015) andSilva and Duarte (2015), dealing with high-resolution strati-graphy and geochemical signatures linked with major environ-mental perturbations (stable isotopes and elementalgeochemistry) contemporaneous with the deposition of the or-ganic-rich facies [Marly limestones with organic facies (MLOF)member] of the Vale das Fontes Formation (Figs. 2 and 3d).

The Cabo Carvoeiro Formation: contrasting depositionduring the Early Jurassic

The calcarenitic deposits of Cabo Carvoeiro Formation(Toarcian) cropping out at Cabo Carvoeiro are one of the mainthemes of study regarding the Lusitanian Basin sedimentaryevolution, contrasting with the general domain of marly-li-mestone deposits observed elsewhere (see Duarte, 1997;Duarte and Soares, 2002; Pittet et al., 2014). This aspect of theJurassic depositional record has been the subject of several se-dimentological studies, standing out particularly the submarinefan model proposed by Wright and Wilson (1984). This epi-sode of sedimentation starts with siliciclastic turbidites (withquartz and feldspar) (Figs. 2 and 5b), contemporary with theT-OAE (see Hesselbo et al., 2007; Suan et al., 2008b) and in-terbedded in a marly succession poor in benthic macrofauna,and ends with the deposition of oolitic limestones/grainstones,more or less enriched in quartz and a shallow water platformmacrofauna (bivalves, gastropods, crinoids and ahermatipic co-rals) (Figs. 2 and 3e). Of particular interest is the occurrence ofPentacrinus penichensis (Loriol, 1890), an iconic invertebratefossil of the Portuguese record, especially expressive aroundthe Remédios and Cabo Carvoeiro localities (Fig. 3f).

The Cabo Carvoeiro Formation is exclusive to Penicheand represents a 2nd-order regressive phase, also observed inother parts of the Lusitanian Basin (Duarte, 2007a). The cau-ses of the particular siliciclastic deposition in the Early Toar-cian, with sediments akin to the nearby Berlengas islandsigneous mineralogy (e.g., Wright and Wilson, 1984; Duarte,1997), seems to be linked to a tectonic event dated from thebase of Levisoni Zone (e.g., Duarte, 1997). This event, withregional expression in the basin (see Kullberg et al., 2001),overlaps the marine flooding event generally observed inother European basins (e.g., Hallam, 1988; Hardenbol et al.,1998) and the major climate change occurred in this period ofEarth planet (e.g., Suan et al., 2010; Dera et al., 2011).

Geological Heritage of the Peniche Jurassic

It is extensive the theoretical literature about GeologicalHeritage and its assessment applied to several case studies (e.g.,

Gray, 2004; Pena dos Reis and Henriques, 2009; Lima et al.,2010; Fassoula et al., 2012; Brilha, 2016). The Jurassic of thePeniche Peninsula is recognized as an important part of the Por-tuguese geoheritage, mostly due to its scientific and educatio-nal relevance, exceptional exposure conditions, and scenicvalue, attributes presented and discussed in Duarte (2004, 2005)and Rilo et al. (2010). In conjunction with other geosites (e.g.,Henriques et al., 2005), the Jurassic record in the LusitanianBasin was considered by ProGEO-Portugal as one of the four-teen frameworks of international relevance in Portuguese geo-logy (see Brilha et al., 2005). This particularity is due to thewell exposed and studied stratigraphic sections, from the Het-tangian to the Tithonian, and from different depositional con-texts (continental to marine deposits) (Henriques et al., 2005).Moreover, special attention is paid to the Lower Jurassic car-bonate series cropping out in Peniche, S. Pedro de Moel andRabaçal (e.g., Duarte, 2004). Considering each of these affir-mations of relevance, several works of geological heritage in-ventory and assessment have been performed for the PenichePeninsula (e.g., Duarte, 2004; Rilo et al., 2010). Although thePeniche sections have not been included in any national geo-logical protection system, the Peniche Municipality declaredin 2007 the Ponta do Trovão as a “Site of Municipality Interest”(see Rocha et al., 2013). In addition to the ratification of Toar-cian GSSP (Rocha et al., 2016), the aforementioned argumentsshould compel decision makers to adopt more objective poli-cies for geoconservation (e.g., Gray, 2011; Proser et al., 2013).The comprehensive geoheritage inventory and assessmentstudy performed by Rilo et al. (2010) for the Peniche Peninsula,together with some of the new contributes presented in thispaper, are an important support for future geoconservation ef-forts by local or national authorities. The improvements andrequalification efforts made at Ponta do Trovão, resulting ofthe recent ceremony of placing the Golden Spike (Fig. 6), area good example of geological valorization promoted by theMunicipality of Peniche.

Educational and training activities

Due to its scientific, stratigraphic, and overall geolo-gical value and great exposure conditions, the Peniche Pe-ninsula also has the potential to support immersive andfocussed educational and training activities (e.g., Duarte,2004, 2005; Rilo et al., 2010; and references therein). Se-veral practical actions have been performed over the lastyears at Peniche aimed at primary (elementary), secon-dary, and university student activities, and high-school te-acher educational programmes (e.g., Duarte, 2006).Considering the relevance of the organic-rich depositionof Pliensbachian age, among other interesting sedimento-logical aspects observed in the whole succession, also in-cluded here are activities linked with the training ofpetroleum geologists.

Practical and field work activities of university students

The Peniche Peninsula has been a preferential place fordifferent practical activities related with Sedimentary Geo-logy, especially on the domains of Sedimentology (as argued




by Duarte, 2004, 2006), Stratigraphy, and Palaeontology ofundergraduate level classes of several Portuguese and foreignuniversities. The large diversity of carbonate facies (e.g.,hemipelagites, organic-rich deposits, turbidites, and sha-llow-water carbonates), the abundance of invertebratemacrofossils (e.g., ammonites, belemnites, bivalves, bra-chiopods, gastropods, crinoids, echinoids, ahermatypiccorals) and ichnofossils (Arenicolites, Chondrites, Di-plocraterion, Phymatoderma, Rhizocorallium, Skolithos,Thalassinoides, Zoophycos) (Fig. 2), observed in thewhole succession or the integrated stratigraphic analysisrelated to the definition of the Toarcian GSSP are solidarguments to successfully underpin practical activitieslinked with these subjects.

At a graduate level, and in addition to the obvious rele-vance to the teaching of Sedimentary Basin Analysis orother courses of master’s programmes several extra-curri-cular actions and workshops have been organized at Peni-che, including summer courses that involved lectures, fieldand laboratory work (Figs. 7a,b). However, amongst thesepotential initiatives, perhaps the most interesting and trea-ding topic is the discussion revolving around the carboncycle perturbation (evidenced by a carbon isotope curve;see Hesselbo et al., 2007) and mass extinction (Pinto et al.,2007a; Comas-Rengifo et al., 2015) related with the T-OAEand the previous Pliensbachian record (see Silva andDuarte, 2015; Fig. 4). In fact, these themes have been de-veloped in practical activities related with Global Changesand/or Global Changes and Climatology courses (see cu-rricular organization of Geosciences and EnvironmentalEngineering Masters courses of Coimbra University, Por-tugal; see Duarte, 2010).

Primary and secondary activities

The Peniche Peninsula has a huge didactic potential forhigh-school practical activities, mostly supported by fieldtrips aimed at students (Dias, 2004) and teachers. Severallocations around the Peniche Peninsula, such as Papôa, Luz

Fortress, Portinho da Areia do Norte, Ponta do Trovão-Abalo beach, Remédios, or Cabo Carvoeiro (Fig. 1), havebeen used as a teaching support for students of different le-vels of education. These sites constitute a solid backgroundto promote the understanding of diverse geological con-cepts and problems, especially in the domain of Sedimen-tary Geology. Several educational activities have beendeveloped within the subject of Natural Sciences of diffe-rent levels of Primary teaching and Biology and Geology(10th and 11th Portuguese grades), and Geology (pre-Uni-versity level) of Secondary teaching (Table II). The greatestsuccess has been obtained in field classes relating to sub-jects of Secondary teaching (Félix, 2007, 2010), testifiedby the number and recurrence of sessions, that include local(Peniche Municipality) and regional schools, as well as ins-titutions of other parts of the country, which lay in diffe-rent geological contexts (Table II; Fig. 7c). Félix (2007,2010) synthesize the themes that can be developed in thePeniche Peninsula according to the syllabus of Biology andGeology, and Geology subjects of Secondary level. Eachof these activities have been evaluated and monitored overthe past ten years.

These themes also provide a good training to teachersfrom the Secondary level. In fact, based on the high-reso-lution stratigraphical, palaeontological and sedimentolo-gical level of knowledge (references above cited), severaltraining activities have been performed in the Peniche Pe-ninsula involving, for example, the Portuguese Associa-tion of Biology and Geology Teachers (2006-2007 and2009), or other associations of Natural Sciences teachers(Fig. 7d).

Petroleum geologists sessions and training activities

In addition to the diverse array of singular aspects of thestratigraphic succession cropping out in the Peniche Penin-sula as the Lower Jurassic reference section of the Lusita-nian Basin, with a clear impact in the development of BasinAnalysis and Petroleum Geology, several works pointed out



Fig. 6.- a) The Toarcian Golden Spike at Ponta do Trovão (Peniche Peninsula); b) Interpretative panel of Toarcian GSSP produced byMunicipality of Peniche and unveiled during the ceremony of placing the Golden Spike at Ponta do Trovão (25th July 2016).




the importance of the Vale das Fontes Formation organic-rich unit as a hydrocarbons source-rock (e.g., Oliveira et al.,2006; Ferreira et al., 2010; Duarte et al., 2010b, 2011; Co-rreia et al., 2012). The good exposure conditions, accessi-bility and knowledge (including the high-resolution organicgeochemistry studies developed by authors; see referencesabove) of the series, as well as the continuous explorationfor hydrocarbon over the last years in the Lusitanian and Pe-niche basins, turned the Portinho da Areia do Norte outcrop(Fig. 3d) into an obligatory site, for both the training of pe-troleum geologists (e.g., Duarte, 2007b; Azerêdo andDuarte, 2012) and industry partners during field seminarsfor energy companies (see also, Duarte et al., 2011). Seve-ral groups are developing their training activities in the Pe-niche Peninsula (e.g., Pena dos Reis and Pimentel, 2015).Besides the source-rock thematic associated to the Vale dasFontes Formation, as pointed out in Pena dos Reis and Pi-mentel (2015) when addressing hypothetic petroleumsystems of the Lusitanian Basin, the Peniche sedimentarysuccession presents several other characteristics relevant tothe study of carbonate reservoirs. For example, the calci-clastic carbonate facies of the uppermost Cabo CarvoeiroFormation (mainly the Cabo Carvoeiro 5 member; Fig. 2) isregarded as a potential hydrocarbon reservoir (e.g., Wrightand Wilson, 1984; Azerêdo and Duarte, 2012).

Science to geoscientists and society

Parallel to the educational and training activities, seve-ral other actions of scientific dissemination have been per-formed in the Peniche Peninsula, many coordinated by theauthors of this paper. Here we emphasize two differentkinds of activities: field trips for geoscientists and scienti-fic sessions to general public.

National and international scientific association field trips

Since 2004, the authors have been involved in the coor-dination of several field trips devoted to the Jurassic of Pe-

niche, often as part of the scientific programme of interna-tional scientific meetings and covering different domains ofSedimentology, Stratigraphy, Geochemistry, Palaeontologyand Geological Heritage. One of these events was a field tripincluded in the 23rd International Association of Sedimento-logists (IAS) meeting, held in Coimbra during September2004. This field trip, entitled “Early Jurassic carbonate evo-lution in the Lusitanian Basin: facies, sequence stratigraphyand cyclicity” (Duarte et al., 2004), was centred in Peniche.Together with the Rabaçal and S. Pedro de Moel sections(Fig. 1), these constitute the three main outcrops concerningof the Lower Jurassic of Lusitanian Basin (see also Duarte,2004). Two different field trips have been performed in Pe-niche during 2005, under the auspices of the InternationalSubcommission on Jurassic Stratigraphy and ProGEO. Thefirst meeting, mentioned in a previous section (Elmi et al.,2005; Rocha, 2007), brought together members of the Toar-cian Working Group and promoted a fruitful discussion aboutthe proposal of the Ponta do Trovão as the Toarcian GSSP(see Rocha, 2007; Rocha et al., 2013, 2016). The secondevent corresponded to the field trip “Jurassic heritage andgeoconservation in Portugal: selected sites” (Henriques etal., 2005), included in the IV International Symposium Pro-GEO on the Conservation of the Geological Heritage, held inBraga. One stop of this event was dedicated to the Jurassicof Peniche Peninsula (Duarte, 2005).

In addition to several field trips pertaining to “regionalmeetings”, such as the VII Meeting of Young Researchers inPalaeontology, held in Torres Vedras (Duarte, 2009), or theX Geochemical Meeting of Portuguese Language Countries(Duarte et al., 2010a), that combined involved more than 120participants, highlighted here two important initiatives spon-sored by the International Committee for Coal and OrganicPetrology and International Commission on Stratigraphy. In2011, the Peniche Peninsula was the focus of the only fieldtrip associated with the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Interna-tional Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology, held inPorto, and dedicated to dispersed organic matter (see Duarteet al., 2011; Fig. 7e). Among the several field trips proposed

Level of Education Title of Activity Periodicity

“A trip with feet and hands on (our) Earth", 2008Workshop of Geology

“A trip to the world of ammonites”, Theater 2008

Primary School Storytelling and educational games about the fossil 2008record of Ponta do Trovão, Library/Resource Centre of the High-School of Peniche

"The magic ship", pedestrian tour across the Jurassic Each year between 2012-2015outcrops of Peniche

Field classes about the Lower Jurassic of the Peniche Each year (several times)Peninsula with local Secondary Schools between 2002-2016

Secondary School Field classes about the Lower Jurassic of the Peniche 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, Peninsula, with several schools from other regions of 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014Portugal (e.g., Gouveia, Matosinhos, Porto, Tábua and Viseu)

Week “So much Sea"; field-trip across the Peniche Peninsula Each year between 2012-2016

Table II.-Typology of some educational activities with primary and secondary schools developed in the Peniche Peninsula in the last 15 years.



within the 1st International Congress on Stratigraphy(STRATI2013), held in Lisbon, one of them was dedicatedto the recent advances in Stratigraphy of the Jurassic of Pe-niche (see Duarte et al., 2017). In 2014 a field trip to the Pe-niche region was included in the series of “behind the scenes”

tours of the Geologists’ Association, to show the different ge-ological aspects of the Peniche Peninsula to a group of geo-logists from a large range of specialities.

The international scope of these different field trips,also demonstrates the scientific impact of the Peniche Pe-

Fig. 7.- Examples of educational and scientific popularization of science activities developed in the Peniche Peninsula: a) Laboratorysession at Peniche Museum included in the First Summer Geological Course carried out in September 2005 with Portuguese and Span-ish master’s students supported by Earth Sciences Department of University of Coimbra and Municipality of Peniche; b) Field-trip stopto observe the Pliensbachian organic-rich facies, included in session “Organic and carbonate sedimentation: from Palaeozoic to Recent”,a workshop organized by the Project PTDC/CTE GIX/098968/2008 “High-resolution stratigraphy of the Lower Jurassic organic-richmarine series in the Lusitanian Basin”, supported by the FCT-MCTES and COMPETE FEDER (Portugal) (September 2010); c) "Geo-logy, geologists and their methods", practical activity with Biology and Geology course students from the Peniche Secondary School(Portinho da Areia do Norte beach, September 2008); d) Practical training with Secondary teacher’s of Natural Sciences (Papôa, June2016); e) Organic-rich facies and generating hydrocarbon potential of the Vale das Fontes Formation (Pliensbachian) cropping out inthe Portinho da Areia do Norte beach (63rd Annual Meeting of the International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology field-trip:“The Lower Jurassic of west coast of Portugal: stratigraphy and organic matter in carbonate sedimentation”, September 2011; Duarteet al., 2011); f) Science popularization session “Geology by the sea: Geological histories of Peniche” included in the national programcalled “Geology in the Summer” (Portinho da Areia do Norte, August 2007).

ninsula in the diverse aspects of the Lower Jurassic strati-graphy. Furthermore, these events brought participantsfrom around the world.

Scientific dissemination to general public

Several dozen activities of scientific dissemination tar-geting the general public have been performed in the Peni-che Peninsula. These activities usually take form as fieldtrips, but sometimes include lectures, workshops, round-ta-bles, and photography exhibitions (Table III). These aremostly organized by universities, high-schools, environ-mental and heritage societies, and the Cultural Departmentof the Peniche Municipality. From this wide range of acti-vities, we emphasize the session “Geology by the sea: Ge-ological histories of Peniche”, included in the nationalprogram “Geology in the Summer”. This session was or-ganized by the Earth Sciences Department of University ofCoimbra and sponsored by the Portuguese Ministry ofScience and Technology. It included participants from allover the country and of varying ages (7 to 75 years old),

generally without a formal geological background (Fig. 7f).This session took place on the Peniche Peninsula duringsummer one to two times a year between 2001 and 2012(see also Duarte, 2004). Although it is impossible to enu-merate all formal sessions carried out over recent years,some of them organised by regional and local groups andassociations (Table III); also of significance is the “SeniorUniversity of Peniche”, which included the program “Yes-terday School, Today School", aimed at people over 60years old (Table III).

In all these sessions, the Jurassic leitmotif has been arti-culated with countless interesting subjects of Geology, ex-traordinarily preserved on the Peniche Peninsula. They arethe cases of the Cretaceous volcanic breccia of Papôa (Ro-mariz, 1963-64; Andrade, 1979), the coastal karst that domi-nates the landscape of the uppermost Toarcian carbonatedeposits of Remédios–Cabo Carvoeiro area, and the coastaldynamics recorded since the Pleistocene and evidenced bygeomorphological and geological criteria observed aroundthe Peniche Peninsula (e.g., Henriques, 1996; Romão, 2009).

All these activities aimed to a broader audience are evi-




Title Type of Initiative Periodicity

“Geology by the sea: geological histories of Peniche” included National Each year: 2001-2003, in the Program “Geology in the Summer” 2004-2012

Field trips with different audiences Local Several years

Field trips with “Senior University of Peniche” Local 2010, 2014, 2015

Lectures and field sessions included in Local and Regional Meetings: Regional 2005“Geological Heritage of Peniche: Elements to its characterization”, 1st Journeys of Archaeology and Heritage of Peniche

“Histories of seas and shellfishes counted by the Cabo Carvoeiro rocks”, Regional 20068th Cultural Week of the University of Coimbra

“From the rocks to the palaeogeographic reconstitutions. Examples from National 2006the Peniche region”, 20th National Meeting of Geography Teachers

“Geological Heritage of Peniche. A place in the World”, Coastwatch National 2007National Seminar "Becoming from coast"

Workshop “Geological Heritage of the Peniche Peninsula”, Regional 2008Coastwatch Activity

Field-trip “Natural and Cultural Heritage in the Peniche Peninsula”, Regional 2011European Heritage Days

“Echo Beach: International Youth Exchange", Peniche International 2013

“The Toarcian GSSP at Ponta do Trovão (Peniche)”, Municipal National 2015Museum of Peniche

Other activities: Regional 2004/2006Diverse launch flyers (Arméria, Environmental Movement)

Book release “Fossils: The narrators of the Earth history”, Municipal Regional 2008Museum of Peniche

Book release “Trip to the ammonite’s world”, Peniche Fortress Regional 2009

Photography exhibitions:“Surfaces, textures and floors of the Peniche shoreline”, Municipal Regional 2014/2015Museum of Peniche, High-School of Bombarral

“Fragments of the Peniche Geology: Aesthetic perspective”, Regional 2015High-School of Peniche

Table III.- Typology of main promotion science activities developed in the Peniche Peninsula in the last 15 years.

dence of the societal impact of the geological research pro-jects developed over the last years in the Peniche Penin-sula. The diversity of subjects, adapted to differentaudiences, underline the great success of the Lower Jurassicof Portugal for science dissemination, an obligation and asocial responsibility of scientists (e.g., Greenwood andRiordan, 2001; Weigold, 2001; Stewart and Nield, 2013).

Final remarks

In this paper, we highlight the importance of the sedi-mentary record preserved in the Peniche Peninsula as a sin-gular site for scientific research concerning the JurassicStage, sustained by a large diversity of scientific, educa-tional, and general public activities.

The Toarcian GSSP located at Ponta do Trovão, re-cently approved (2014) by IUGS, and the scientific re-search developed in the Abalo beach focusing on therecord of the T-OAE and associated 2nd-order mass-ex-tinction highlights Peniche as an internationally relevantsite to understand planetary-scale palaeoenvironmentaldynamics. Moreover, all knowledge of the stratigraphy andpalaeoenvironmental evolution of the Jurassic carbonatesuccession recorded in the cliffs of the Peniche Peninsula,including hemipelagites, organic-rich deposits (potentialsource rocks), siliciclastic turbidites and shallow-water car-bonates, diverse invertebrate fossils and ichnofossils,allows for the continuous improvement of the models cons-training Proto-Atlantic evolution.

Favoured by optimal conditions of accessibility to theoutcrops, and such as demonstrated in this paper, each ofthese characteristics have been outlined in a variety ofscientific, educational and outreach activities, embracingall educational levels (Primary to University), students andteachers, petroleum geologists, international scientific so-cieties, regional and local environmental and heritage as-sociations, and the general public. The number and varietyof sessions performed over the last 15 years, as well as theconstant positive feedback given by the participants, con-firm the high educational value and impact in the growingpopularization of this geologic locality.

Acknowledgements

This work had the support of the Fundação para a Ciên-cia e Tecnologia (FCT), through the strategic projectUID/MAR/04292/2013 granted to MARE and it is a con-tribution in the context of the IGCP 655 Toarcian OceanicAnoxic Event: Impact on marine carbon cycle and ecosys-tems. Authors thank the Municipality of Peniche the avai-lability of the photography of Figure 1. We would like toacknowledge Luis Carcavilla Urqui and Marcos Aurell Car-dona for their remarks and Kallen Rutledge for her assis-tance in English revision.

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