Palaeogeographical implications of CretaceousBenthic Foraminifera recovered by the Deep Sea Drilling project in the Western South Atlantic ocean

Albian/Cenomanian benthic foraminiferal faunas recovered by the DSDP in the western South Atlantic Ocean (Leg 36) are described and analyzed from the palaeogeographic and palaeo-environmental points of view. In doing this the author compares Leg 36 assemblages in the western South Atlantic Ocean with coeval benthic foraminiferal faunas recovered in the eastern South Atlantic Ocean (Leg 40) and in the eastern Indian Ocean (Legs 26 and 27). The specific composition of these assemblages, except for Leg 27, is virtually the same. Consequently, they are considered to indicate the same depositional water depth at all relevant sites studied, whether located in the Angola Basin, the northern flank of the Walvis Ridge, the eastern margin of the Falkland Plateau or on the Naturaliste Plateau. All the assemblages indicate shallow environments around 100 m and not exceeding 300–400 m in the deepest parts, corresponding to the inner shelf and the inner part of the outer shelf. By contrast the foraminiferal associations of Leg 27 (especially Site 259) indicate a greater depth, of the order of 200–600 m (but not exceeding 1000 m) corresponding to upper slope of Sliter & Baker (1972) and Sliter (1972). These bathymetrical conclusions are in remarkable accord with those of Sliter (1976), based on planktic Foramini fera of Leg 36.Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) material with benthic Foraminifera was limited to two positive samples; however, these faunas indicate much the same palaeo-environment as do the planktic ones analyzed by Sliter (1976).