<b>Preliminary geochemical analyses indicate the potential for chemostratigraphic correlations within the Crato Formation Konservat-Lagerstätte (Cretaceous), Araripe Basin, Brazil</b>

The Araripe Basin is widely known for its rich and diversified paleontological record. Among the most important deposits is the Crato Formation, considered a Fossil Konservat-Lagerstätte whose geochemical characterization, despite decades of study, remains debated. Fossil illegal commercialization has been a significant threat to this paleontological heritage. Besides improving reconstructions of this exceptional Cretaceous ecosystem, chemostratigraphic characterization has the potential to characterize the exact layer or locality where the fossil material comes from and may help to recover lost fossil-provenance information, what could become a tool to relocate illegally collected specimens into their original stratigraphic context. Here we present a preliminary geochemical analysis (major and trace elements) of 25 samples collected from five (five per quarry) major quarries in the municipalities of Nova Olinda and Santana do Cariri, from where fossils have been commercialized for decades. Elemental concentrations and enrichment factor calculations (EFFe and EFAl) indicate differences in geochemical behavior across the laminated limestones of the Crato Formation, both within individual “talhados” (vertically) and among the different sampled outcrops (laterally) from the same unit. Two preliminary chemostratigraphic markers can be proposed: elevated Zn contents for tracking the upper C5 layers and low Cu contents for tracking the lowermost layers. Moreover, the NW–SE to WNW–ESE-oriented fault may potentially influence the geochemical signatures of the talhados and on the proposed chemostratigraphic markers. The signatures established here show the potential of this approach for potentially serving as a tool to reconstruct provenance of fossil specimens.