Core catchers from Holes 1202A, 1202B, and 1202D were examined for calcareous nannofossils. Well to moderately preserved nannofossils are present throughout the succession except for a sandy sample from Section 195-1202D-28X-CC (253.24 mbsf) (Table T2). The age-diagnostic marker for nannofossil Zone NN21, Emiliania huxleyi, occurs persistently throughout the succession, suggesting that the recovered interval is younger than 0.26 Ma (latest Quaternary).
To detect the last extinction of pink Globigerinoides ruber at 127 ka (Thompson et al., 1979; Cang et al., 1988; Lee et al., 1999), core catchers and 19 additional samples from Hole 1202D were examined for foraminifers. Nevertheless, pink-pigmented G. ruber was not found. The persistent appearance of orange-colored tiny Zeaglobigerina rubescens, on the other hand, indicates that the sediments are young and fresh (Parker and Berger, 1971) despite their burial as deep as 410 mbsf.
Both nannofossils and planktonic foraminifers suggest that the cored succession is younger than 127 ka. The average sedimentation rate at Site 1202 is at least 320 cm/k.y.
Remains of copepods/crustaceans(?) and plants were occasionally found in samples, indicative of quick burial and high sedimentation rates.
Besides the commonly found planktonic and benthic foraminifers, sponge spicules and plates and spines of echinoderms are the major subordinate constituents. Fragments of pteropod shells and molluscs, valves of diatoms and ostracodes, and radiolarians are also found, especially in turbidite layers. In general, the washed residues of samples taken from muddy intervals yielded only a small quantity of planktonic and benthic foraminifers (<1% by volume) because of dilution by terrestrial clay and silts.