Maestrichtian through Neogene benthic foraminifers of Maud Rise

Upper abyssal to lower bathyal benthic foraminifers from ODP Sites 689 (present water depth 2080 m) and 690 (present water depth 2941 m) on Maud Rise (eastern Weddell Sea, Antarctica) are reliable indicators of Maestrichtian through Neogene changes in the deep-water characteristics at high southern latitudes. Benthic foraminiferal faunas were divided into eight assemblages, with periods of faunal change at the early/late Maestrichtian boundary (69 Ma), at the early/late Paleocene boundary (62 Ma), in the latest Paleocene (57.5 Ma), in the middle early Eocene to late early Eocene (55-52 Ma), in the middle middle Eocene (46 Ma), in the late Eocene (38.5 Ma), and in the middle-late Miocene (14.9-11.5 Ma). These periods of faunal change may have occurred worldwide at the same time, although specific first and last appearances of deep-sea benthic foraminifers are commonly diachronous. There were minor faunal changes at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary (less than 14?7o of the species had last appearances at Site 689, less than 9% at Site 690). The most abrupt benthic foraminiferal faunal event occurred in the latest Paleocene, when the diversity dropped by 50% (more than 35% of species had last appearances) over a period of less than 25,000 years; after the extinction the diversity remained low for about 350,000 years. The highest diversities of the post-Paleocene occurred during the middle Eocene; from that time on the diversity decreased steadily at both sites. Data on faunal composition (percentage of infaunal versus epifaunal species) suggest that the waters bathing Maud Rise were well ventilated during the Maestrichtian through early Paleocene as well as during the latest Eocene through Recent. The waters appeared to be less well ventilated during the late Paleocene as well as the late middle through early late Eocene, with the least degree of ventilation during the latest Paleocene through early Eocene. The globally recognized extinction of deep-sea benthic foraminifers in the latest Paleocene may have been caused by a change in formational processes of the deep to intermediate waters of the oceans: from formation of deep waters by sinking at high latitudes to formation of deep to intermediate water of the oceans by evaporation at low latitudes. Benthic foraminiferal data (supported by carbon and oxygen isotopic data) suggest that there was a short period of intense formation of warm, salty deep water at the end of the Paleocene (with a duration of about 0.35 m.y.), and that less intense, even shorter episodes might have occurred during the late Paleocene and early Eocene. The faunal record from the Maud Rise sites agrees with published faunal and isotopic records, suggesting cooling of deep to intermediate waters in the middle through late Eocene.

Neogene planktonic foraminifera of DSDP Leg 41 holes

During Leg 41 Neogene sediments were recovered from five sites off northwest Africa. On the Sierra Leone Rise (Site 366), Neogene sediments consist of nanno oozes, nanno chalk, and calcareous clays 230 meters thick, resting conformably on the late Oligocene sediments. The common succession of zones occurs with two hiatuses. The lower gap corresponds to an interval around the lower/middle Miocene boundary (the Praeorbulina glomerosa and Orbulina suturalis-Globorotalia peri-pheroronda zones are absent) and the upper gap coincides with an interval around the middle/upper Miocene boundary (the Sphaeroidinellopsis sub-dehiscens-GIobigerina druryi, Globigerina nepenthes-Globorotalia siakensis and Globorotalia conlinuosa zones are missing). In the Cape Verde Basin (Site 367) deep-water Neogene turbidites (about 200-250 m thick) contain poor fauna of redeposited and sorted Cretaceous, Eocene, Oligocene, and Neogene species. On the Cape Verde Rise (Site 368) the Neogene section starts with slightly calcareous and non-calcareous clays with poor planktonic foraminifers of the lower Miocene. Later on this area was uplifted and clayey sediments have been replaced upsection in order by more shallow-water clayey nanno and nanno-foraminifer oozes and marls and pure calcareous oozes. In the middle Miocene, planktonic foraminifers are still not diverse, but since the level of the Globigerina nepenthes-Globorotalia siakensis Zone, almost all Neogene zones have been traced. The minimum thickness of the Neogene sediments is about 230 meters. On the continental slope off Spanish Sahara (Site 369) monotonous calcareous pelagic sediments of Neogene age (164 m thick) overlie the late Oligocene comformably, or with a small time gap. A set of zones beginning from the Globigerinoides primordis-Globorotaiia kugleri Zone up to the Globorotalia fohsi fohsi Zone has been revealed with a gap corresponding to the Globigerinita stainforthi and the Globigerinatella insueta-Globigerinoides irilobus zones. Above that follow sediments with heterogeneous microfauna which result from redeposition or mixing of sediments during drilling. The section ends with sediments of the late Miocene and lower Pliocene with abundant planktonic foraminifers. The latter are unconformably overlain by the Quaternary ooze. In the Morocco basin (Site 370) deep-water marls and calcareous clays of the lower Miocene contain poor assemblages of planktonic foraminifers. The middle and upper Miocene are represented by turbidites (alternation of nanno oozes, clays, siltstones, and sands) with heterogeneous microfauna. Total thickness of Neogene is up to 200 meters. In general the Neogene foraminifer microfauna of the area studied includes the majority of species which developed within the tropical-subtropical belt. The entire succession of the Miocene and Pliocene foraminifer zones occurs. The only exclusion is the Sphaeroidinellopsis subdehiscens-Globigerina druryi Zone of the middle Miocene. The distribution of species is shown on three tables. Comments are given for 47 species and subspecies of foraminifers (stratigraphic ranges, peculiarities of morphology, and ultrastructure of the shell wall).