Upper Cretaceous Benthonic Agglutinated Foraminifera, Leg 27 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project

Abstract

Upper Cretaceous brown, zeolitic clays were penetrated in the northeast Indian Ocean at Site 260 in the Gascoyne Abyssal Plain and at Site 261 in the Argo Abyssal Plain. The sediments which are assumed to have been deposited below the lysocline, contain an assumedly autochthonous fauna of characteristic agglutinated foraminifera. The 21 genera distinguished are: Haplophragmoides,

Data Report: Studies into the Paleontology of the Cretaceous of the Indian Ocean Basin

“…Nodosariids are of minor importance, and the faunas have strong links with coeval Australian and Indian faunas. Veevers, Heirtzler, et al (1974) and Krasheninnikov (1974b) recorded fragments of globotruncanids as high as Core 27-260-5, and this is the basis for the Cretaceous age assignment that high in the hole. Krasheninnikov regarded them as reworked and representing faunas of three ages, the youngest of which is Turonian/Coniacian.…”

“…Planktonic foraminifers (Krasheninnikov, 1974b) occur in Samples 27-260-9-1 to -11-CC. The faunas consist completely of Hedbergella and Globigerinelloides, with elements suggesting a late Albian age.…”

“…Planktonic foraminifers (Krasheninnikov, 1974b) were recovered from Sites 259 and 260 and are Aptian and Albian, dominated by Hedbergella spp. in the planktonic foraminifers.…”

“…She suggested that deposition occurred at upper continental slope depths (200-600 m), well above the CCD, and that the faunas belong to the Austral Biogeoprovince as defined by Scheibnerova (1971). Planktonic foraminifers (Krasheninnikov, 1974b) occur in significant numbers in Cores 27-259-14 to -17. The fauna is dominated by six species of Hedbergella; Krasheninnikov recorded no other forms, and he regarded this as evidence that Site 259 faunas represent cooler waters than those from Site 260.…”

“…Leg 27 produced a considerable body of Cretaceous paleontological results, including those on benthic faunas from Sites 260 and 261 (Upper Cretaceous: Krasheninnikov, 1974a;Lower Cretaceous: Kuznetsova, 1974); Sites 259 and 261 (Lower Cretaceous: Bartenstein, 1974);and Sites 259, 260, and 263 (Aptian-Albian: Scheibnerova, 1974). Planktonic foraminifers (Krasheninnikov, 1974b) were recovered from Sites 259 and 260 and are Aptian and Albian, dominated by Hedbergella spp.…”