Quaternary through early Eocene benthic foraminifera off Peru

Stratigraphic assemblages of Quaternary through early Eocene benthic foraminifers were recovered among 10 Peru margin drill sites. Various hiatuses and intervals barren in foraminifers characterize the sections, but numerous samples contain abundant, well-preserved benthic foraminifers. Bathymetry of the extant species and California-based estimates of the paleobathymetry of the extinct species permit recognition of Quaternary sea-level fluctuations between shelf and upper bathyal depths that produced vertical migrations of oxygenated and low-oxygen habitats at the six shallow sites. Assemblages from lower-slope sites at about 9° and 11°S indicate a general subsidence of the continental margin from shelf or upper bathyal depths in Eocene time to the present lower bathyal depths. Data from 11°S suggest a major part of this subsidence occurred in late Oligocene to early Miocene time. Downslope-transported shelf specimens, particularly the small biserial species, Bolivina costata and B. vaughani, are major contributors to these lower bathyal assemblages from the middle Miocene through Quaternary time.