Basal Pliocene and late Miocene sediments from nearshore ODP Hole 1095B contain highly variable amounts of biosiliceous debris, including diatoms, radiolarians, sponge spicules, and silicoflagellates. Radiolarians of typical Antarctic affinities are variably preserved but locally common and abundant in some samples. All previously defined standard zones for this interval (~4-10 Ma) can be identified in the hole between 180 and 460 mbsf, including the basal Tau, A. challengerae, A. labrata, S. vesuvius, and upper A. australis Zones of Lazarus (1992). Faunas in this relatively nearshore location are, however, unusually deficient in some of the more common taxonomic groups seen in time-equivalent open-ocean pelagic Southern Ocean sections, and the relative ranges of individual species are also somewhat different. Thus, although all standard zonal marker events can be identified in the order expected, a degree of diachrony is suspected for at least some of the identified events. The extent to which this affects the accuracy of the age calls cannot be determined except by recourse to independent evidence.
Radiolarian faunas from Hole 1095B provide useful constraints on the age of sediments in the lower part of the hole, but the hole does not appear to be well suited for calibration of radiolarian events, at least for those intended for use in more pelagic sections as well. Additional work on these faunas may yield a more accurately calibrated local zonation scheme, as well as several additional useful biostratigraphic markers from the many as-yet undescribed species in these faunas.