Mesozoic foraminifers and deep-sea benthic environments from Deep Sea Drilling Project sites 415 and 416, eastern North Atlantic.

Abstract

At Site 415, sediments range in age from late Albian to M. Cenomanian, as inferred from 19 species of planktonic foraminifers and selected benthic foraminifers. Deposition took place beneath the CCD in a quiet, abyssal environment, at water depths of 3000 to 4000m. This environment received a regular influx of shallow-water material that decreased with time and was finally replaced by hemipelagic sediments. Foraminifer assemblages of Site 416 range in age from late Jurassic to early Cenomanian. During the Neocomian, shallow-water material was emplaced into a quiet, lower bathyal environment beneath the CCD, and water depths of 2000m or more. Before and after the Neocomian, the rate of sedimentation was lower. -from Authors