Paleocene and Eocene deep-water benthic foraminifera at IODP Site U1511, Tasman Sea: Part 2

Abstract

Deep-water benthic foraminifera are investigated from Paleocene to Eocene sediments recovered from IODP Hole U1511B in the northeastern Tasman Sea. The recovered foraminifera display exceptional three-dimensional preservation: they are relatively unaltered by sediment diagenesis and compaction. We examined 33 samples from Cores U1511B-33R to -42R, and recovered 79 species of deep-water agglutinated foraminifera (DWAF) and 13 species of calcareous benthic foraminifera. The assemblage consists entirely of “cosmopolitan” forms originally described from the Carpathians, Caucasus, Trinidad, and the western Tethys, and other DSDP/ODP sites, implying that there is little or no endemism among deep-water benthic faunas in the semi-isolated Tasman Sea. The Paleocene–Eocene interval is characterized by successive acmes of Spiroplectammina, Trochammina, ammodiscids, and Karrerulina, and therefore bears striking similarity to previously studied sections in the western Tethys and Boreal North Atlantic. The taxonomic turnover among the DWAF is minor across the P/E contact, with only three apparent extinctions and three originations from the uppermost cores of the Paleocene and the lowermost cores of the Eocene. Calcareous benthic foraminifera were not observed in the Eocene samples, possibly a result of the shoaling of the CCD.