Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and paleoclimatic indices for the Late Quaternary, Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 96, Gulf of Mexico.

Abstract

Sediments from holes drilled at 11 sites in the N Gulf of Mexico during Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 96 were analyzed for calcareous nannofossil content. All sediments recovered are within the Emiliania huxleyi Zone. The lowest stratigraphic occurrence of dominant E. huxleyi can be dated at approx 84 000yr ago at Site 619. Reworked Cretaceous nannofossils dominate the floral assemblages of the late Wisconsin glacial sediments. Indigenous late Quaternary species are rare or few in abundance. Slight increases in the contemporaneous Quaternary component of the floral assemblages can be documented by the use of a calculated in situ/reworked ratio. This ratio, based on the relative abundances of the indigenous Quaternary taxa and reworked taxa, shows potential both for local correlations between drill sites and for correlation with glacio-eustatic fluctuations during the late Pleistocene. -from Authors