Neogene planktonic foraminifera from the southern Kerguelen Plateau, supplement to: Berggren, William A (1992): Neogene planktonic foraminifer magnetostratigraphy of the southern Kerguelen Plateau (Sites 747, 748, 751). In: Wise, SW; Schlich, R; et al. (eds.), Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program), 120, 631-647

• Main Author: Berggren, William A
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 1992
• Subjects: Drilling/drill rig; Leg120; Joides Resolution; Ocean Drilling Program ODP; Kerguelen; Lone; Neogloboquadrina pachyderma; Planktonic foraminifera
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.728761; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.728761

With the exception of a brief (2 m.y.) late Miocene-early Pliocene hiatus, an essentially complete Neogene record was recovered on the Kerguelen Plateau in a calcareous biofacies. The stratigraphic distribution of about 30 taxa of Neogene planktonic foraminifers recovered at Sites 747, 748,and 751 (Central and Southern Kerguelen plateaus; approximately 54°-58°S) is recorded. Faunas are characterized by low diversity and high dominance and exhibit a gradual decline in species numbers (reflecting a concomitant increase in biosiliceous forms, particularly diatoms) from about 10 in the early Miocene to 5-8 in the middle Miocene, 3-4 in the late Miocene, to essentially a lone (Neogloboquadrina pachyderma) form in the Pliocene-Pleistocene. A provisional sevenfold biostratigraphic zonation has been formulated that, together with the recovery of a representative Neogene magnetostratigraphic record, may ultimately lead to a correlation with low-latitude magnetobiostratigraphies. The initial appearance of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma is associated with magnetic polarity Chron (MPC) 4 (~7 Ma) and MPC 4A (>8 Ma) at Sites 747 and 751, respectively.