9. LATE PALEOCENE AND EARLY EOCENE CALCAREOUS NANNOFOSSILS FROM THREE BOREHOLES IN AN ONSHORE-OFFSHORE TRANSECT FROM NEW JERSEY TO THE ATLANTIC CONTINENTAL RISE¹

Laurel M. Bybell² and Jean M. Self-Trail²

ABSTRACT

Closely spaced, upper Paleocene and lower Eocene samples from three boreholes near Clayton, NJ, at Island Beach, NJ, and at Site 605 on the Atlantic Ocean continental rise were examined for their calcareous nannofossil content. This study documents calcareous nannofossil occurrences in Zones NP9 and NP10 and identifies biostratigraphically useful species, presents unexpected upbasin-downbasin distributional patterns of calcareous nannofossils, discusses the gradual evolutionary transition between two calcareous nannofossil species, and clarifies the relationship between the genera Rhomboaster and Tribrachiatus. One new species, Rhomboaster weii, is described, and two new combinations, Blackites herculesii and Rhomboaster digitalis, are established.

¹Miller, K.G., and Snyder, S.W. (Eds.), 1997. Proc. ODP, Sci. Results, 150X: College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program).
²U.S. Geological Survey, 926 National Center, Reston, VA 20192, U.S.A.
lbybell@usgs.gov