Eocene-Oligocene benthic foraminifera of the Celebes Sea

Deep-water agglutinated foraminifers were examined from reddish brown claystones comprising lithologic Unit 4 of Ocean Drilling Program Holes 767B and 767C. The biostratigraphy of deep-water agglutinated foraminifers in this unit indicates an Eocene to Oligocene age. The assemblages are cosmopolitan, not endemic, and several species that are useful biostratigraphic indicators in the Atlantic and western Mediterranean region (e.g., Reticulophragmium amplectens, Reophax elongatus, Ammodiscus latus, Rzehakina epigona minima, Hormosina ovulum ovulum, and Paratrochamminoides spp.) are present in the Celebes Sea. Based on biostratigraphic correlations with the North Atlantic and Alpine-Carpathian regions, the base of the sedimentary section in Hole 767C is determined to be of early Eocene, not middle Eocene age as determined by shipboard biostratigraphic analyses. The Eocene/Oligocene boundary is represented by a hiatus or extremely condensed interval.