Foraminíferos bentônicos como indicadores bioestratigráficos no quaternário superior da bacia de campos

Abstract

Benthic foraminifera as biostratigraphic indicators on upper quaternary of campos basin. Benthic foraminifera are very useful as environmental indicators but provide less resolution concerning the biostratigraphy due to their usual long ranges. Nevertheless, there is a general consensus that the ecological sensibility of particular bathyal assemblages is an important framework to the time constraint. This study aims the proposition of a biostratigraphic zonation to the Upper Quaternary of Campos Basin, using the distribution and frequency patterns of benthic foraminifera as indicators of the major paleoclimatic events related to the glacial and interglacial stages of the last Quaternary glacial cycle. For this purpose, 64 samples from two piston cores drilled on the continental slope of Campos Basin, southwestern Brazil were analyzed. Three benthic biozones were recognized: Cibicidoides pachyderma, Nonionella auris and Gyroidinoides nitidula, which show a good correlation between studied cores and with the international ecozones X, Y and Z. © 2010 by the Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia.