Palaeoecology of the Middle Miocene foraminifera of the Nowy Sącz Basin (Polish Outer Carpathians)

Abstract

Foraminifera from newly exposed outcrop sections located in a Middle Miocene piggyback basin of the Outer Carpathians Nowy Sącz Basin indicate an environment of normal saline waters on the inner shelf and a temperature not lower than 18oC. The area was ideal for the proliferation of: Miliolina spp., Elphidium crispum, Ammonia beccarii and Pararotalia. The habitat below the sediment surface was not colonised by foraminifera. Planktonic foraminifera are absent. The age of the population studied is referred based on the climate-related data, to the Orbulina suturalis Zone of the Miocene Climate Optimum.