Neogene foraminifera from the Eastern Rabat area (Morocco): stratigraphy, palaeobathymetry and palaeoecology

Abstract

A study of planktonic and benthic foraminifera from 17 marl samples of the upper Late Miocene to the Early Pliocene from the Eastern Rabat area (Morocco) was carried out. The benthic fauna is analyzed quantitatively and sorted by a cluster analysis. The resulting faunal assemblages, together with the Planktonic/Benthic-ratio and the species richness, are attached to three different environments: an Ammonia beccarii-assemblage of the inner shelf (inner neritic); a Hanzawaia boueanum-assemblage of the middle shelf (middle neritic); and a Planulina ariminensis-assemblage of the upper slope (upper bathyal). In their temporal succession they represent a transgression-regression sequence.