The over-all aim of the book is to collect and add to the information published already on the larger benthic foraminifera and in cases their associated algae. Many decades of research in the Far ...East, to some extent in the Middle East and Americas has lead to numerous articles with confused systematics. Therefore, with the aid of new and precise age dates, from calcareous nannofossils and Sr isotopes, the current schemes of the larger foraminifera in a relatively precise chronostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic framework are revised. This is achieved by: 1) establishing the systematic and occurrences of larger foraminifera from carbonate rocks in successions covering the Carboniferous to Miocene, with careful taxonomic comparison with the known records in the different bioprovinces; 2) illustration fossils of different families and groups at generic levels. 3) illustrations of important species and comparing distributions of different taxa.The inventory of larger benthic foraminifera focuses on the main important groups and the illustration of their genera. Reviews of the global state of the art of each group are complemented with the new data, and the direct palaeobiogeographic relevance of the new data is analyzed.
* A unique, comprehensive reference work on the larger foraminifera.* A documentation of the biostratigraphic ranges and palaeoecological significance of larger foraminifera which is essential for understanding many major oil-bearing sedimentary basins.*The palaeogeographic interpretations of the shallow marine late Palaeozoic to Cenozoic world.
Evolution and Geological Significance of Larger Benthic Foraminifera is a unique, comprehensive reference work on the larger benthic foraminifera. This second edition is substantially revised, ...including extensive re-analysis of the most recent work on Cenozoic forms. It provides documentation of the biostratigraphic ranges and paleoecological significance of the larger foraminifera, which is essential for understanding many major oil-bearing sedimentary basins. In addition, it offers a palaeogeographic interpretation of the shallow marine late Paleozoic to Cenozoic world. Marcelle K. BouDagher-Fadel collects and significantly adds to the information already published on the larger benthic foraminifera. New research in the Far East, the Middle East, South Africa, Tibet and the Americas has provided fresh insights into the evolution and palaeographic significance of these vital reef-forming forms. With the aid of new and precise biostratigraphic dating, she presents revised phylogenies and ranges of the larger foraminifera. The book is illustrated throughout, with examples of different families and groups at the generic levels. Key species are discussed and their biostratigraphic ranges are depicted in comparative charts, which can be found at
Although long-term evolutions of isolated shallow-water carbonate platforms and demise episodes leading to guyot formation have been the subject of numerous studies during the last decades, their ...driving processes are still the subject of active debates. The Mozambique Channel (SW Indian Ocean) is characterized by several flat-topped seamounts ranging from 11°S to 21°S in latitudes. Based on a comprehensive geomorphologic study and on dredged samples analysis, we show that these features correspond to tropical isolated shallow-water carbonate platforms. Coupling strontium isotopy and foraminifera biostratigraphy, well-constrained chronostratigraphy results indicate that shallow-water carbonate production started in the Mozambique Channel during distinct Cenozoic periods ranging from Paleocene to Early Miocene. Our data also demonstrate that these carbonate platforms were subsequently characterized by different evolutions locally marked by tectonic and rejuvenated volcanism. While some of them kept developed until present days, forming modern carbonate systems, some others were drowned during Late Neogene and subsided to form guyots. Although different factors can be discussed, tectonic and volcanism appear as good potential triggers for demise episodes during Late Miocene-Early Pliocene times. Chronology and location of this geodynamical activity tend to emphasize influence of East African rift system until southern Mozambique Channel.
•The flat-top seamounts of the Mozambique Channel correspond to drowned isolated shallow-water carbonate platforms.•Chrono-stratigraphy indicate that these carbonate systems colonized their substratum during distinct Cenozoic periods.•Major backstepping and drowning episodes were most likely triggered by geodynamical activity (tectonic and volcanism).•Mozambique Channel isolated carbonate platforms recorded southern and diffuse propagation of the East African rift system.
The role of fossil planktonic foraminifera as markers for biostratigraphical zonation and correlation underpins most drilling of marine sedimentary sequences and is key to hydrocarbon exploration. ...The first - and only - book to synthesize the whole biostratigraphic and geological usefulness of planktonic foraminifera, Biostratigraphic and Geological Significance of Planktonic Foraminifera unifies existing biostratigraphic schemes and provides an improved correlation reflecting regional biogeographies. Renowned micropaleontologist Marcelle K. Boudagher-Fadel presents a comprehensive analysis of existing data on fossil planktonic foraminifera genera and their phylogenetic evolution in time and space. This important text, now in its Second Edition, is in considerable demand and is now being republished by UCL Press.
Understanding the impact of tectonic activity and volcanism on long-term (i.e. millions years) evolution of shallow-water carbonate platforms represents a major issue for both industrial and academic ...perspectives. The southern central Mozambique Channel is characterized by a 100km-long volcanic ridge hosting two guyots (the Hall and Jaguar banks) and a modern atoll (Bassas da India) fringed by a large terrace. Dredge sampling, geophysical acquisitions and submarines videos carried out during recent oceanographic cruises revealed that submarine flat-top seamounts correspond to karstified and drowned shallow-water carbonate platforms largely covered by volcanic material and structured by a dense network of normal faults. Microfacies and well-constrained stratigraphic data indicate that these carbonate platforms developed in shallow-water tropical environments during Miocene times and were characterized by biological assemblages dominated by corals, larger benthic foraminifera, red and green algae. The drowning of these isolated carbonate platforms is revealed by the deposition of outer shelf sediments during the Early Pliocene and seems closely linked to (1) volcanic activity typified by the establishment of wide lava flow complexes, and (2) to extensional tectonic deformation associated with high-offset normal faults dividing the flat-top seamounts into distinctive structural blocks. Explosive volcanic activity also affected platform carbonates and was responsible for the formation of crater(s) and the deposition of tuff layers including carbonate fragments. Shallow-water carbonate sedimentation resumed during Late Neogene time with the colonization of topographic highs inherited from tectonic deformation and volcanic accretion. Latest carbonate developments ultimately led to the formation of the Bassas da India modern atoll. The geological history of isolated carbonate platforms from the southern Mozambique Channel represents a new case illustrating the major impact of tectonic and volcanic activity on the long-term evolution of shallow-water carbonate platforms.
Little is known about the geological history of the Glorieuses seamount including basic information about its age and origin related to the regional evolution of the southern tip of the Somali Basin. ...This study focused on describing and reconstructing the long-term stratigraphic evolution of the Glorieuses seamount (SW Indian Ocean) to identify the mechanisms that have occurred through time to finally shape the emerged modern islands. Distinct terrace levels, currently submerged along the flanks of the seamount and surrounding seamounts, have already been interpreted as resulting from successive carbonate development and back-stepping episodes over the last 62 Myr. New isotopic and biostratigraphic dating on the flanks of the seamount, coupled with sequence stratigraphic interpretation of seismic profiles acquired in the adjacent basin, provide new constraints for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic vertical evolution of the seamount topped by carbonate platforms and sedimentation in the surrounding deep basin. Even if starved steep slopes prevent a straightforward source-to-sink continuity between the platform and the basin domains, our findings propose a consistent chronostratigraphic framework for the identified seismic markers and sequences in the deep basin, and discuss a long-term geological model that includes the main driving factors behind deposition (volcanic events, subsidence vs uplift phases, climate and hydro-dynamism changes) and their quantitative impact on the evolution of the isolated carbonate sedimentary system. Our results show that: (i) the Glorieuses volcanic seamount emerged from two successive Late Cretaceous magmatic pulses, firstly during the Turonian, then during the Maastrichtian (ii) at least two potential uplift phases are recognized during the Tertiary (Paleogene and/or the Eocene and Tortonian); (iii) basinal sedimentation recorded an abrupt change probably related to major regional hydro-dynamical changes in Late Eocene times in the Western Indian Ocean; (iv) the export of sediments from the platform towards the basin (numerous gravity flow processes) is strongly enhanced after the Mid Miocene, and is probably linked to the onset of the Asian monsoon winds and bipolar circulation. Finally, the Glorieuses seamount, although located in the vicinity of the Comoros islands, appears to have a much longer history and is geologically more comparable to the nearby Seychelles. This long-term study has enabled us to associate the Glorieuses seamount with the SSE-NNW Madagascar-Seychelles alignment rather than with the Comoro hot spot evolution.
•The Glorieuses volcanic seamount emerged from two successive Late Cretaceous magmatic pulse(s).•At least two potential uplift phases are recognized during the Tertiary.•Basinal sedimentation recorded an abrupt change in Late Eocene times.•Sediment export from platform to deep basin is strongly enhanced after Mid-Miocene•History of Glorieuses seamount linked to the SSE-NNW Madagascar-Seychelles alignment.
We present new biostratigraphic analyses of approximately 200 outcrop samples and review biostratigraphic data from 136 public domain exploration wells across western New Guinea. Biostratigraphic ...ages and palaeodepositional environments were interpreted from occurrences of planktonic and larger benthic foraminifera, together with other fossils and environmental indicators where possible. These data were compared with existing geological maps and exploration well data to reconstruct the palaeogeography of western New Guinea from the Carboniferous to present day. In addition, we used the known bathyal preferences of fossils to generate a regional sea-level curve and compared this with global records of sea-level change over the same period. Our analyses of the biostratigraphic data identified two major transgressive-regressive cycles in regional relative sea-level, with the highest sea levels recorded during the Late Cretaceous and Late Miocene and terrestrial deposition prevalent across much of western New Guinea during the Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic. An increase in the abundance of carinate planktonic foraminifera indicates a subsequent phase of relative sea-level rise during a regional transgressive event between the Late Jurassic and Late Cretaceous. However, sea-levels dropped once more during a regressive event between the Late Cretaceous and the Paleogene. This resulted in widespread shallow water carbonate platform development in the Middle to Late Eocene. A minor transgressive event occurred during the Oligocene, but this ceased in the Early Miocene, likely due to the collision of the Australian continent with intra-Pacific island arcs. This Miocene collision event resulted in widespread uplift that is marked by a regional unconformity. Carbonate deposition continued in platforms that developed in shallow marine settings until these were drowned during another transgressive event in the Middle Miocene. This transgression reached its peak in the Late Miocene and was followed by a further regression culminating in the present day topographic expression of western New Guinea.
•New analyses of outcrop samples and review of data from public domain exploration wells across western New Guinea.•Palaeogeographic reconstructions of western New Guinea from the Carboniferous to present day.•Regional relative sea-level curve for western New Guinea based on environmental and bathymetric preferences of organisms.•Highest relative sea-level recorded during the Late Cretaceous and Late Miocene.
Neogene and Quaternary shallow-water carbonate records surrounding New Caledonia main island, Grande Terre, provide a good example for understanding the stratigraphic architecture of tropical mixed ...carbonate-siliciclastic systems. Due to a southeastern tilt of the eastern margin, the eastern shelf of Grande Terre has been better preserved from erosion than the western part, favouring the development and preservation of shallow-water carbonates. Based on the integration of bathymetric and seismic data, along with paleoenvironmental and biostratigraphic constraints derived from dredged carbonate rocks, a comprehensive geomorphological and architectural characterization of the offshore eastern margin of Grande Terre has been made. During the Mio-Pliocene, a wide, up to 750 m-thick carbonate build-up developed and extended over at least 350 km from north to south. This Mio-Pliocene build-up, currently lying at 300 to 600 m water depths, is overlain by a Pleistocene-Holocene barrier reef-lagoon complex and associated slope deposits. The switch from aggrading Neogene carbonate banks to backstepping Quaternary platforms likely reflects an increase in accommodation due to a high subsidence rate or to relative sea-level rise, and/or results from a switch in carbonate producers associated with global environmental changes. The internal architecture of the Quaternary barrier reef-lagoon complex is highlighted, especially the development of lowstand siliciclastic prisms alternating with transgressive shallow-water carbonate sequences. This pattern agrees with the reciprocal sedimentation model typically invoked for mixed sedimentary systems. This stratigraphic pattern is well developed in front of the Cap Bayes inlet in the north of our study area, yet it is not observed southward along the eastern margin. This difference suggests that other factors than relative sea-level variations directed the architecture of the margin, such as low terrigenous inputs, lagoon paleo-drainage networks or sediment by-pass towards deep basins.
•An extensive Mio-Pliocene shallow-water carbonate bank lies at 300-600 m water depths around New Caledonia’s main island.•This bank evolved into Quaternary rimmed platforms due to regional subsidence and/or change in carbonate producers.•Coeval terrigenous inputs with carbonate production are evidenced as early as the Serravalian.•The architectures of mixed carbonate-siliciclastic systems vary widely alongshore, from north to south.•Terrigenous inputs, paleo-drainage network or by-pass transport influenced the mixed system architectures.
Uppermost Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sediments from the Vardar suture zone in northern Greece record a cycle of Neotethyan oceanic basin opening and closure and their analysis places tight constraints ...on the geotectonic evolution of the area. The oldest post-Carboniferous sedimentary unit in the study area is the Examili Formation, which comprises mainly metaarkoses and metaquartzites, and was deposited in an intracontinental rift-related sedimentary basin in proximity to the Vertiskos Terrane during the Permian–Triassic. The Melissochori Formation (former Svoula flysch) comprises predominantly metasandstones with significant carbonate content and was deposited in front of a Carboniferous–Permian basement unit of volcanic-arc origin with minor input from older basement rocks, probably at the slope of a carbonate platform in the Early–Middle Jurassic. By contrast, the petrography and whole-rock geochemistry of sedimentary rocks of the Prinochori Formation point to a source area dominated by mafic–ultramafic but also intermediate rocks, presumably ophiolites and granodiorites or equivalents. This is reinforced by the presence of detrital chrome spinel, which is the first find of this mineral in sedimentary successions from the eastern Vardar Zone of northern Greece. Microprobe analyses suggest that most of the detrital chrome spinels were derived from MOR-type peridotites and supra-subduction zone (SSZ) peridotites, whereas only a small fraction comes from volcanic rocks, presumably mid-ocean ridge and island-arc basalts. The Prinochori Formation was probably deposited in front of a nappe complex in the Early Cretaceous, comprising ophiolitic rocks and basement slivers from the Vertiskos Terrane or equivalent rocks. Furthermore, a microfauna assemblage of
Ovalveolina sp.,
Pseudonummuloculina sp. and dasycladacea algae of genus
Thaumatoporella sp. was found in a calcareous clastic succession cropping out in the Oreokastro area, which was so far thought to be of Late Triassic–Middle Jurassic age. These data clearly indicate an Albian–Cenomanian age of deposition for this sedimentary succession. In conclusion, the rocks of the eastern Vardar suture zone record Mesozoic rifting, related to the opening of a Neotethyan Ocean, Middle Jurassic intraoceanic subduction, attendant volcanic-arc magmatism, ophiolite emplacement, and finally oceanic basin closure. Polyphase tectonics and metamorphism complicate palinspastic reconstructions.
PDF
