Foraminíferos planctônicos e bentônicos do intervalo aptianoalbiano do DSDP Site 364 (bacia de Kwanza): taxonomia, bioestratigrafia, paleoecologia e implicações paleoceanográficas

Abstract

This work presents a taxonomic, biostratigraphic and paleoecologic study on the planktic and benthic foraminiferal faunas recovered from the late Aptian-late Albian carbonatedominated succession of Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 364, located in the Kwanza Basin (offshore Angola). Thirty planktic and 42 benthic foraminiferal species were identified herein. Based on planktic foraminiferal assemblages, the studied section was subdivided in a series of biozones, late Aptian to late Albian in age, from the Hedbergella trocoidea Zone to the Pseudothalmanninella ticinensis Zone. A remarkable unconformity was identified in core 31, spanning the latest early to earliest late Albian. The specific composition of the recovered planktic foraminiferal assemblages characterizes them as open marine epipelagic dwellers, and permits the suggestion of predominant mesotrophic to eutrophic environmental conditions throughout the studied stratigraphic succession. Aptian planktic foraminiferal assemblages present a significant Tethyan paleobiogeographic affinity, supporting a Tethyan surface-water influx into this restricted southeastern sector of the northern South Atlantic Ocean (north to the Walvis Ridge-Rio Grande Rise) back in the late Aptian. 13C trends, which have to be carefully interpreted due to possible diagenetic overprint, suggest a late Aptian age (Globigerinelloides algerianus Zone) for the stratigraphic interval from core 42 to about core 37, where Tethyan age-diagnostic foraminiferal species are missing, as well as that the black shale levels in cores 42-39 could be correlated to the “late Aptian anoxic event”. Among planktic foraminifera, a conspicuous faunal turnover occurs at the Aptian/Albian transition, characterized by high rates of extinctions followed by increasing rates of species originations and changes in tests’ architecture. Three benthic foraminiferal associations were identified, which seem to be mainly controlled by changes in paleobathymetry. Also, the studied benthic foraminiferal fauna could be classified as a Marssonella Association, probably related to neritic and upper bathyal paleodepths, also exhibiting a Tethyan paleobiogeographic affinity.