Radiolarian and agglutinated foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Paleogene deep-water deposits on the northern margin of the Carpathian Tethys (Skole Unit)

Abstract

Radiolarian and agglutinated foraminiferal fauna within upper deposits of the Skole Unit of the Polish Flysch Outer Carpathians occur in the Variegated Shale and Hieroglyphic formations of Paleocene and Eocene age. About 70 radiolarian and 50 foraminiferal species have been identified and their stratigraphic distribution determined using both regional and local biozonations. Five radiolarian zones: the Bekoma bidartensis Interval Zone, the Buryella clinata Interval Zone, the Phormocyrtis striata striata Interval Zone, the Theocotyle cryptocephala Interval Zone and the Dictyoprora mongolfieri Interval Zone in the lower Eocene and in the lower part of the middle Eocene have been distinguished. In the upper part of the middle Eocene and in the uper Eocene the abundance of radiolarians decreases and their age assignment has not been possible. Five foraminiferal zones have been distinguished and correlated with radiolarian zones based on co-occurrence of both Protista groups in the deposits investigated. These are: the Rzehakina fissistomata Zone, the Saccamminoides carpathicus Zone, the Reticulophragmium amplectens Zone, the Ammodiscus latus Zone and the Cyclammina rotundidorsata Zone covering the time span from upper Paleocene to upper Eocene.