METHODS

A total of 100 samples in Hole 1209C and 81 in Hole 1211C were investigated. In both holes, 1 m across the visible boundary was sampled every centimeter using the U-channel sampling device. Sampling was extended below and above this interval where samples were taken every 5 to 10 cm. A few samples taken randomly and studied on board the ship around this interval were reexamined. Unfortunately, the U-channel sampling method was not totally suitable for collecting clean samples for a very high resolution study, as several samples were contaminated from either older or younger layers.

All samples were washed through 38-µm mesh sieves to retain the very minute specimens of the earliest Paleocene fauna. The distributions of planktonic foraminifers from both holes are shown in Tables T1 and T2. These tables also include the abundance estimate of single planktonic foraminiferal species, and total benthic foraminifers, as well as other organic/inorganic components of the washed residues, which are annotated as follows:

AA = very abundant (>50%).

A = abundant (30%–50%).

C = common (10%–30%).

F = few (5%–10%).

R = rare (1%–5%).

VR = very rare (1–5 specimens).

P = present.

The state of preservation is annotated as follows:

VG = very good (no evidence of breakage or dissolution).

G = good (>90% of specimens unbroken).

M = moderate (30%–90% of the specimens unbroken).

P = poor (strongly recrystallized or dominated by fragments and broken or corroded specimens).

VP = very poor (>90% of specimens broken).

Mineral and other components are abbreviated as follows:

ox = iron oxides.

sph = spherules.

py = pyrite.

Quantitative analysis was performed on planktonic foraminiferal assemblages from the U-channel samples in both holes. The quantitative data will be published elsewhere.