Planktonic foraminifer abundance and estimated sea surface temperatures and salinities of DSDP Leg 74 holes

Two hydraulic piston cores containing the total Quaternary suite were analyzed quantitatively in their planktonic foraminiferal contents. For the Early Pleistocene, the Caribbean standard zonation (BOLLI & PREMOLI-SILVA) can be adopted and refined by the introduction of an additional subzone at its base (the Globorotalia triangula subzone). Local substages are proposed for the Late Pleistocene because index fossils are missing. The use of the transfer-function technique resulted in paleotemperature and paleosalinity curves with a time resolution of cycles of about 4-68,000 years duration. The Early Pleistocene paleoenvironment is characterized by low oscillations of the surface water temperatures, followed by a distinct cooling trend during the Globorotalia viola subzone, a period of smoothed cycles during the Globorotalia hessi subzone and distinctly developed cycles during the late Pleistocene since the oxygen isotope termination III. Grainsize distribution and several dissolution indices gave evidence for current activities on the top of the Walvis Ridge, where the amount of fine grained components in the sediment is reduced in comparison with that of the flanks.

(Table 2) Biostratigraphy of marine benthic and planktonic taxa in sediment core GIK14350 near Dagebüll, northern Germany

Together with foraminifers and ostracods, echinoderm remains are very frequent in Eemian sediments of the Dagebuell Well DA-1. The appearance of holothurian sclerites is particularly noteworthy. In the present study, remains of Holothuroidea from the European Pleistocene are described. These remains could be assigned to the Recent genus Psolus OKEN 1815. Furthermore, a short synopsis of disarticulate holothurian fossils in Holocene and Pleistocene sediments is given.

Grain size analysis on core plugs of sediment core CRP-1 (Table 1, 2)

Twenty four core samples from CRP-1, seven from Quaternary strata (20-43.55 meters below sea floor or mbsf) and seventeen from early Miocene strata (43.55 to 147.69 mbsf), have been analysed for their grain-size distribution using standard sieve and Sedigraph techniques. The results are in good agreement with estimates of texture made as part of the visual core description for the 1 :20 core logs for CRP-1 (Cape Roberts Science Team, 1998). Interpretation of the analyses presented here takes into account the likely setting of the site in Quaternary times as it is today, with CRP-1 high on the landward flank of a well-defined submarine ridge rising several hundred metres above basins on either side. In contrast, seismic geometries for strata deposited in early Miocene times indicate a generally planar sea floor dipping gently seaward. Fossils from these strata indicate shallow water depths (< 100 m), indicating the possibility that waves and tidal currents may have influenced sea floor sediments. The sediments analysed here are considered in terms of 3 textural facies: diamict, mud (silt and clay) and sand. Most of the Quaternary section but only 30% of the early Miocene section is diamict, a poorly sorted mixture of sand and mud with scattered clasts, indicating little wave or current influence on its texture. Although not definitive, diamict textures and other features suggest that the sediment originated as basal glacial debris but has been subsequently modified by minor winnowing, consistent with the field interpretation of this facies as ice-proximal and distal glaciomarine sediment. Sediments deposited directly from glacier ice appear to be lacking. Mud facies sediments, which comprise only 10% of the Quaternary section but a third of the early Miocene section, were deposited below wave base and largely from suspension, and show features (described elsewhere in this volume) indicative of the influence of both glacial and sediment gravity flow processes. Sand facies sediments have a considerable proportion of mud, normally more than 20%, but a well-sorted fine-very fine sand fraction. In the context of the early Miocene coastal setting we interpret these sediments as shoreface sands close to wave base.

Biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy of ODP Leg 124 sites

During ODP Leg 124, late middle Eocene to Quaternary sediment sequences were recovered from 13 holes drilled at five sites in the Celebes and Sulu basins. Paleomagnetic measurements and biostratigraphic studies using calcareous nannofossils, planktonic and benthic foraminifers, radiolarians, and diatoms were completed and summarized here. Two Neogene sediment sections recovered in the Sulu Basin yielded excellent core recoveries and magnetic reversal records, allowing direct magnetobiostratigraphic correlations for the Pliocene and Quaternary at Site 768 and for the middle Miocene to Quaternary at Site 769. The interpolated ages of biohorizons are not consistent between sites and only a few of them are in good agreement with previous calibrations. The differences may be the results of redeposition by turbidity currents and selective dissolution of key fossils.

(Table 1) Distribution of Lower Cretaceous calcareous nannofossils at DSDP Hole 93-603B

Upper Berriasian to lower Aptian calcareous nannofossil assemblages have been studied from a siliciclastic deep-sea fan complex and a subjacent limestone sequence drilled beneath the lower continental rise in the western North American Basin, 270 miles (435 km) off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (USA). Sharp lithologic facies changes and reworking by turbidites complicate the biostratigraphic interpretation, but provide an excellent opportunity to better distinguish "nearshore" from open-ocean nannofossil species, and to investigate the introduction of neritic taxa into the deep-see environment, a phenomenon that appears to have been widespread within the circum-North Atlantic during Neocomian times. Well-preserved assemblages in dark, carbonaceous claystones were probably displaced from the oxygen minimum zone along the upper slope or outer shelf. Neritic, continental margin species prevalent in this facies include the holococcolith Zebrashapka vanhintei n. gen., n. sp., Lithraphidites alatus magnus n. spp., Pickelhaube furtiva n. gen., and a host of nannoconids and micrantholiths. A qualitative evaluation of widely used guide fossils suggests that the triad of proposed markers for the base of Roth's Zone NC3 make their first appearances in the following (ascending) order: Diadorhombus rectus, TUbodiscus verenae, Calcicalathina oblongata. Of these, we chose the nominative species for the zone, T. verenae, to mark its base and to approximate the Berriasian/Valangian boundary. Cyclagelosphaera deflandrei is strongly affected by diagenesis and is therefore not a reliable index species for the base of Zone NC4 near the Valanginian/Hauterivian boundary (the last occurrence of T. verenae is also not suitable there). In addition, Lithraphidites bollii, a form apparently confined to the low latitudes of the Tethyan region, was absent at the more temperate Site 603 and not available as a subzonal marker for the upper Hautervian-lower Barremian (mid-NC4 and mid-NC5, respectively). Cruciellipsis cuvillieri, however, provides a reliable datum just below the Hauterivian/Barremian boundary (base of NC5), despite the potential for reworking in this section. Nannoconids tend to be reworked in this section, and do not provide trustworthy forms to mark the Barremian/Aptian boundary (base of NC6). Hayesites irregularis n. comb, probably does provide a useful first appearance datum within the lower Aptian, if it is not confused with a more birefringent and globular form, Rucinolithus terebrodentarius n. sp. Rhagodiscus angustus is mimicked by a similar form (Zeughrabdotusl pseudoangustus n. sp.), which apparently ranges down to the Hauterivian, thus Lithastrinus floralis provides a more useful first appearance datum for the base of the middle-upper Aptian Rhagodiscus angustus Zone (NC7). Aside from the new taxa mentioned above, the following are also described: Cretarhabdusl delicatus n. sp. and Cyclagelosphaera jiangii n. sp.

Diversity of benthic foraminiferal faunas in Tertiary and Quaternary sediments of DSDP Hole 33-317_Site from the Manihiki Plateau, Pacific Ocean (Table 1)

A study is made of the benthic foraminifers (size fraction > 63 µm) recovered from 59 upper Eocene through Quaternary sediment samples at DSDP Site 317 (Leg 33), located at a depth of 2598 m in the central part of the Manihiki Plateau (South Pacific). The sediments cored are disturbed in only two samples. The stratigraphic assignements used are based on previous studies of planktic foraminifers and other microfossils. In total, 216 taxa are identified. A cluster analysis based on the 77 species which comprised 5% or more of the entire foraminiferal assemblage in at least one sample suggests the presence of 3 major biostratigraphic zones corresponding approximately to the following ages, zone A: middle Miocene-Quaternary; zones B-C: early Miocene-Oligocene; and zone D: Eocene. The most important faunal turnover occurred between the Eocene and the Oligocene; a less pronounced break took place between the early and the middle Miocene, and an additional minor turnover between the Oligocene and the early Miocene. Eighteen taxa are long-ranging, being recorded from the middle Eocene through the Pliocene-Quaternary. It is concluded that, in general, benthic foraminifers of the bathyal zone are poor worldwide stratigraphic guide fossils; the following taxa are conditionally considered as the most suitable in the Eocene-Quaternary sequence: Aragonia aragonensis, Quadrimorphina profunda, Nuttallides truempyi, Abyssamina poagi, Buliminella grata, Bulimina jarvisi, B. macilenta, Turrilina alsatica, Cibicides notocenicus, C. wuellerstorfi, Pyrgo murrhina. However, most of these species are relatively rare.

Mineralogy and chemistry of bentonitic clays from the Wombat and Exmouth Plateaus

Bentonites (i.e., smectite-dominated, altered volcanic ash layers) were recovered in Berriasian to Valanginian hemipelagic sediments of the Wombat Plateau (Site 761) and southern Exmouth Plateau (Site 763). They are compared to coeval bentonites in eupelagic sediments of the adjacent Argo Abyssal Plain (Sites 261 and 765) and Gascoyne Abyssal Plain (Site 766). A volcaniclastic origin with dacitic to rhyolitic ash as parent material is suggested by the abundance of well-ordered montmorillonite, fresh to altered silicic glass shards, volcanogenic minerals (euhedral sanidine, apatite, and long-prismatic zircon), and volcanic rock fragments, and by a vitroclastic ultrafabric (smectitized glass shards). We distinguish (1) pure smectite bentonites with a white, pink, or light gray color, a waxy appearance, and a very homogeneous, cryptocrystalline smectite matrix (water-free composition at Site 761: 68.5% SiO2, 0.27% TiO2, 19.1% Al2O3, 3.3% Fe2O3, 0.4%-1.1% Na2O, and 0.6% K2O) and (2) impure bentonitic claystones containing mixtures of volcanogenic smectite and pyroclastic grains with terrigenous and pelagic components. The ash layers were progressively altered during diagenesis. Silicic glass was first hydrated, then slightly altered (etched with incipient smectite authigenesis), then moderately smectitized (with shard shape still intact), and finally completely homogenized to a pure smectite matrix without obvious relict structures. Euhedral clinoptilolite is the latest pore-filling or glass-replacing mineral, postdating smectite authigenesis. Volcanic activity was associated with continental breakup and rapid subsidence during the "juvenile ocean phase." Potential source areas for a Neocomian post-breakup volcanism include the Wombat Plateau, Joey and Roo rises, Scott Plateau, and Wallaby Plateau/Cape Range Fracture Zone. Westward-directed trade winds transported silicic ash from these volcanic source areas to the Exmouth Plateau into the adjacent abyssal plains. The Wombat Plateau bentonites are interpreted as proximal ash turbidites.

Carbon isotope record of 3 profiles from Campanian-Maastrichtian

Carbon-isotope stratigraphy has proven to be a powerful tool in the global correlation of Cretaceous successions. Here we present new, high-resolution carbon-isotope records for the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Maastrichtian stage at Tercis les Bains (France), the Bottaccione and Contessa sections at Gubbio (Italy), and the coastal sections at Norfolk (UK) to provide a global d13C correlation between shelf-sea and oceanic sites. The new d13C records are correlated with d13C-stratigraphies of the boreal chalk sea (Trunch borehole, Norfolk, UK, Lägerdorf-Kronsmoor-Hemmoor section, northern Germany, Stevns-1 core, Denmark), the tropical Pacific (ODP-Hole 1210B, Shatsky Rise) and the South Atlantic and Southern Ocean (DSDP Hole 525A, ODP Hole 690C) by using an assembled Gubbio d13C record as a reference curve. The global correlation allows the identification of significant high-frequency d13C variations that occur superimposed on prominent Campanian-Maastrichtian events, namely the Late Campanian Event (LCE), the Campanian-Maastrichtian Boundary Event (CMBE), the mid-Maastrichtian Event (MME), and the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition (KPgE). The carbon-isotope events are correlated with the geomagnetic polarity scale recalculated using the astronomical 40Ar/39Ar calibration of the Fish Canyon sanidine. This technique allows the evaluation of the relative timing of base occurrences of stratigraphic index fossils such as ammonites, planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils. Furthermore, the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary, as defined in the stratotype at Tercis, can be precisely positioned relative to carbon-isotope stratigraphy and the geomagnetic polarity timescale. The average value for the age of the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary is 72.1 ± 0.1 Ma, estimated by three independent approaches that utilize the Fish Canyon sanidine calibration and Option 2 of the Maastrichtian astronomical timescale. The CMBE covers a time span of 2.5 Myr and reflects changes in the global carbon cycle probably related to tectonic processes than to glacioeustasy. The duration of the high-frequency d13C variations instead coincides with the frequency band of long eccentricity, indicative of orbital forcing of changes in climate and the global carbon cycle.