Occurence of macrofossils in the carbonate-rich unit of sediment core CRP-1 (Table 1, 2, 3)

Macrofossils are a significant component of biogenic carbonate sediments in the Quaternary section of the CRP-1 drillhole, Cape Roberts, Victoria Land Basin. The middle Pleistocene macrofossil assemblages contain more than 60 taxa (probably up to 80) belonging to molluscs (>40), bryozoans (>14), polychaetes (3), octocorals (1), echinoids (1), brachiopods (1), and scalpellid cirripeds (1). Taxa determined at the species level are all known from the present day Ross Sea and permit reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment in some detail. At the time of deposition of the carbonate-rich unit. Roberts Ridge was a bank 100 m deep or more, with a particulate bottom under the influence of weak bottom currents. The CRP-1 assemblages represent the richest and most diverse fossil macrofauna hitherto recorded from the Pleistocene of Antarctica.