Planktonic foraminifer biostratigraphy of Campanian-Maestrichtian sediments from Sites 698 and 700, southern South Atlantic

Abstract

Campanian-Maestrichtian planktonic foraminifers were examined from Sites 698 and 700 on the northeast Georgia Rise. The Northeast Georgia Rise planktonic foraminifers are typical of Late Cretaceous Austral Province faunas described from other southern high-latitude sites. Formation of a cool temperate water mass in the circum-Antarctic region, resulting from the final breakup of the Gondwana continents, may have led to increased provincialism of the Austral Province planktonic foraminifers during Campanian-Maestrichtian time. Magnetobiostratigraphic correlation of eight planktonic foraminifer datum events at Hole 700B with ages determined for datums at ODP Leg 13 Holes 689B and 690C (Maud Rise, 65°S) demonstrates regional synchroneity of first and last occurrences within the Austral Province. -from Author