Author:

Keywords:

late cretaceous, maastrichtian, benthic foraminifera, paleoecology, paleoenvironment, paleobathymetry, paleolatitude, paleocirculation, food fluxes, trophic level, oxygenation, northern adriatic sea, tertiary boundary, planktonic foraminifers, dinoflagellate cysts, northwest atlantic, organic-matter, el-kef, israel, patterns, site-605, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Paleontology, late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian, NORTHERN ADRIATIC SEA, TERTIARY BOUNDARY, PLANKTONIC FORAMINIFERS, DINOFLAGELLATE CYSTS, NORTHWEST ATLANTIC, ORGANIC-MATTER, EL-KEF, ISRAEL, PATTERNS, SITE-605, 0403 Geology, 0602 Ecology, 0603 Evolutionary Biology, 3103 Ecology, 3705 Geology, 3708 Oceanography

Abstract:

Benthic foraminiferal distribution patterns throughout the late Maastrichtian Tethyan deep sea are analyzed. Many species are ubiquitously distributed throughout this region and therefore it is hard to assess their ecological preferences. However, five species show distribution patterns, which suggest that they may have distinctive paleoenvironmental preferences. These preferences are interpreted from hypothesized surface circulation and upwelling patterns. Additional information comes from Recent benthic foraminiferal ecology and from responses to the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary event. This enables us to assess the ecological preferences of these late Maastrichtian taxa, and establish them as ecological-marker (ecomarker) species for paleoenvironmental interpretation of the late Maastrichtian bathyal-abyssal Tethyan realm.