The Paleogene sequences from three sites in the Caribbean were examined for radiolarians. In general, samples are highly lithified, requiring lengthy and repetitive cleaning procedures, and the assemblages are usually fragmented and/or partially dissolved. Both abundances and preservation of the assemblages vary considerably from site to site and within a single site; even within a single sample more than one degree of preservation was observed. It was possible, however, to construct at least partial stratigraphies for each of the three sites. Because the abundance of radiolarians is high even in extremely poorly preserved assemblages, we conclude that the differences in biogenic silica preservation are the result of postdepositional processes and not productivity.
In both Sites 999 and 1001, near the Paleocene/Eocene boundary (Bekoma bidartensis Zone [RP7]), there is a short interval in which the abundance and preservation state of the radiolarians improves relative to overlying and underlying assemblages. In each case the intervals corresponds to the level, identified by calcareous microfossils, as representing changes in paleoceanographic conditions associated with the late Paleocene thermal maximum.
1Leckie, R.M., Sigurdsson, H., Acton, G.D., and Draper, G. (Eds.), 2000. Proc. ODP, Sci. Results, 165 [Online]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/165_SR/165TOC.HTM>. [Cited YYYY-MM-DD]
2161 Morris, Canmore, AB T1W 2W7, Canada. nigrini@idt.net
3Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0220, U.S.A.
Date of initial
receipt: 8 June 1998
Date of acceptance: 25 January 1999
Ms 165SR-026