Correlation of Cretaceous rocks is usually accomplished using fossils. Ammonites are the most widely employed fossils because of their frequency of occurrence and geographic extent, but no single fossil group is capable of worldwide correlation of all sedimentary rocks. Most ammonites, for example, did not occur in all latitudes, because some preferred the warmer waters of the Tethys seaway while others resided in cooler boreal waters. Furthermore, ammonites are rarely found in sediments deposited in nonmarine and brackish environments, and they are seldom retrieved from boreholes sufficiently intact for confident identification.

Many ammonites are very good index fossils, but they are not perfect. For instance, when Cretaceous stage boundaries were proposed in 1983, the problems of correlating the boundary between the Campanian Stage and the underlying Santonian were examined. Other ammonite species were considered for selection as the boundary’s index fossil, including belemnites (extinct cephalopods known for their internal shells), crinoids (cup-shaped echinoderms), coccolithophores (tiny plankton known for having two flagella), and foraminiferans. It was generally agreed that a boundary level close to the currently used appearance of the belemnite species Gonioteuthis granulataquadrata from the boreal realm—i.e., the temperate paleobiogeographic region—would be desirable because this boundary could be correlated with a number of other events. It is desirable to have a reference section for the boundaries of all Cretaceous stages, and the Campanian example serves to illustrate the variety of fossil groups used to define boundaries and the complexity of the definition problem. The boundaries of the other stages have similar problems of restricted distribution for fossils in the classic type areas. Other fossil types useful for defining Cretaceous stage boundaries are inoceramid bivalves, echinoids (a type of echinoderm), larger foraminiferans, and calpionellids (an extinct group of single-celled organisms with transparent shells made of calcium carbonate).

On a more local scale, correlation can be achieved using a variety of fossil groups. Rudist, inoceramid, and exogyrid bivalves have been used in many areas to subdivide (zone) the Cretaceous Period for the purpose of correlation. Rudist bivalves, for example, have been employed in conjunction with larger foraminiferans to zone sediments of the Tethyan regions in parts of Europe. Echinoids and belemnites have been used together to zone the Late Cretaceous of eastern England. Angiosperm pollen provides for recognition of zones for the Late Cretaceous of the North American Atlantic Coastal Plain.

Some fossil groups are useful for correlation between several regions because of their nektonic (free-swimming) or planktonic (drifting) life habit. Principal among these are ammonites, belemnites, planktonic foraminiferans, calcareous nannofossils, and radiolarians. In North America, for instance, Late Cretaceous strata in Texas, Arkansas, Mexico, and the Caribbean have been correlated using planktonic foraminiferans. Occasionally ostracods (small bivalved crustaceans) are useful; e.g., they have been used to correlate Early Cretaceous strata of northwestern Europe with those of the Russian Platform.

The epicontinental sea of the North American western interior has been particularly well studied, primarily because it can be zoned to great precision. Sixty ammonite zones, to cite a case in point, are recognized in rocks deposited between the late Albian and the late Maastrichtian. In addition, frequent bentonite beds resulting from the volcanic ash of the Sevier orogenic events provide radiometric dates with which to verify independently the synchronicity of the ammonite zones. This detailed resolution of about a half-million years per zone is unusual for the Cretaceous Period. Interestingly, the youngest Cretaceous biozone of the North American western interior is recognized regionally by the occurrence of the dinosaur genus Triceratops, because the last approximately one million years in that area are characterized by nonmarine sediments.

For some of the geologic record, more-detailed subdivisions within zones can be developed on the basis of magnetic reversals. The Cretaceous Period, however, has a dearth of magnetic reversals. Specifically, only 16 reversals are noted for latest Jurassic to Aptian time, none for Aptian to late Santonian time, and just nine from the late Santonian to the Cenozoic boundary. Magnetic reversals occur far more frequently in Cenozoic rocks (see also polar wandering).