Vertical distribution of nannofossils in the section of DSDP Site 72-516

Calcareous nannoplankton from 44 samples of a thick (169.5 m) Neogene section of DSDP Site 516 in the South Atlantic was studied. More than 60 species were determined. Distribution of these species along the section allowed to establish availability of eight biostratigraphic subdivisions according to schemes of E. Martini (NN) and D. Bukry (CN): NN2 (CN 1c)-NN18 (CN12a). In the middle of Middle Miocene and in the end of Late Cretaceous - beginning of Pliocene two periods of stratigraphic hiatus were noted in the section. They have local nature and are only partly determined in adjacent DSDP sites at the Rio Grande Rise.