Drill cores taken from ODP Leg 113, Sites 689 and 690 on the Maud Rise (65 degrees S), Weddell Sea, Antarctica contain the first upper Maestrichtian-lower Paleocene sequence recovered by deep sea drilling in the high latitudes of the southern oceans. The calcareous nannofossil and foraminifera chalks and oozes of this interval recovered at Sites 689 and 690 provide an unprecedented opportunity for the testing of proposed biostratigraphic zonation schemes at extreme high southern latitudes. The presence of warm water index fossils such as the discoasters permits a fairly accurate application of commonly used low latitude coccolith biostratigraphic zonation schemes for the Paleocene and lower Eocene intervals. Most zones can be recognized due to the presence of forms such as Discoaster multiradiatus, D. lodoensis and D. sublodoensis. The Paleocene-lower Eocene section (Zones CPl - CP10) at Site 690 is fairly complete with a possible hiatus encompassing Zone CP3. This is the most complete austral high latitude lower Paleocene to lower Eocene section recovered by deep sea drilling. At Site 689, hiatuses were recorded at the K/T boundary and between sediments of Zones CP3 and CP7 of the Paleocene and between the upper Paleocene Zone CP8 and the middle Eocene Zone CP12. The assemblages of the uppermost Paleocene and lower Eocene are characteristic of high latitudes due to the presence of abundant Chiasmolithus, Prinsius, and Toweius. However, the appearance of common discoasters in these sections suggests warmer climates in the southern oceans at this time. The disappearance of the discoasters in middle Eocene sediments reflects well documented global climate changes for this time interval. A new modification of a previously proposed Maestrichtian coccolith biozonation is presented in this report, and three zones and two subzones are proposed. The upper Maestrichtian is represented by the Nephrolithus frequens Zone, which is subdivided into the uppermost Maestrichtian Cribrosphaerella daniae Subzone and the N. corystus Subzone. The middle and lower Maestrichtian is represented by the Biscutum magnum Zone and the underlying B. coronum Zone. All three zones and both subzones can be identified in sediments of Sites 689 and 690. #PAMaestrichtian nannofossil assemblages of ....

West: -60.0000 East: 3.0600 North: -63.0000 South: -78.0000

West: NaN East: NaN North: NaN South: NaN

Expedition: 113

Site: 113-689

Site: 113-690

Provider: SEDIS Publication Catalogue

Data set link: http://sedis.iodp.org/pub-catalogue/index.php?id=1990-059768 (c.f. for more detailed metadata)

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