Present Botryococcus generally live in freshwater (swamps, ponds, and lakes) (Gray, 1960; Emberger, 1968; Tappan, 1980, Guy-Ohlson, 1992) even though forms tolerating brackish settings are known (Wake and Hillen, 1980; DeDeckker, 1988). Based on the analogy to present living forms, it is commonly accepted that fossil colonies of Botryococcus also indicate depositional settings affected by freshwater (Batten and Grenfell, 1996). Colonies of Botryococcus referable to B. cf. braunii Kützing are present in some sandy and sandy-silty sediments in Hole 1115C, which had previously been interpreted by Taylor, B., Huchon, P., Klaus, A., et al. (1999) as continental deposits.