(Table T1) Distribution of selected calcareous nannofossils at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary, ODP Hole 208-1266C

Ocean Drilling Program Leg 208 Hole 1266C (28°32.55'S, 2°20.61'E) is located along the northwestern flank of Walvis Ridge (South Atlantic Ocean). The location of Site 1266, at 3.798 km water depth, corresponds to a mid-depth site of the Leg 208 transect. A stratigraphically continuous and expanded sequence of upper Paleocene and lower Eocene pelagic nannofossil ooze was recovered. Three holes were cored at Site 1266, and from Hole 1266C, an expanded and continuous Paleocene/Eocene (P/E) transition was recovered using the advanced piston corer system. The successful recovery and well-preserved nannofossil assemblages make Hole 1266C a reference section for improving the knowledge of the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum. The P/E transition is one of the most remarkable and intensively investigated time intervals. Significant and dramatic changes in climate and oceanography occurred at this transition. The P/E boundary is linked with an important turnover in benthic foraminifers and planktonic marine communities (Thomas and Shackleton, 1996, doi:10.1144/GSL.SP.1996.101.01.20; Kelly et al., 1998, doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(98)00017-0; Monechi et al., 2000, doi:10.2113/171.4.477; Bralower, 2002, doi:10.1029/2001PA000662). This report documents the calcareous nannofossil assemblage fluctuations at the P/E boundary in Hole 1266C based on semiquantitative and quantitative investigations.