Foraminiferal biostratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Paleocene–Eocene transition at the Kharrouba section, Tunisia (southern tethys margin)

Tetis bölgesinin güney kenarında yeralan Kharrouba’da (Tunus şehri yakınları, Kuzey Tunus) Paleosen–Eosen (P–E) geçişini temsil eden döneme ait çökeller devamlı ve tamamdır. Yüksek çözünürlü analizler ile Kharrouba kesitindeki planktonik ve bentik foraminiferlerin sayısal verilerine göre bu geçiş dönemi standard planktonik foraminifera biyozonlarını gösterir indeks türlerinide (örneğin: en geç Paleosen P5 Zonu için Morozovella velascoensis, en erken Eosen E1 zonu için Acarinina sibaiyaensis, E2 zonu için Pseudohastigerina wilcoxensis, Morozovella E3 zonu için marginodentata ve E4 zonu içi Morozovella formosa) içeren genişletilmiş çökeller ile temsil edilir. Bu tamamlanmış kesit kalkerli ve aglutine kozmopolit derin deniz türlerini de içeren bentik foraminifer (DDBF) topluluklarını içerir. Kalkerli derin deniz bentik foraminiferleri arasında Aragonia velascoensis Anomalinoides rubiginosus, Oridorsalis umbonatus, Nuttallides truempyi, Pullenia coryelli ve Tappanina selmensis göreceli olarak en yaygın türlerdir. Bu türler batiyal-abisal ortama işaret eden Valesco faunasının ana temsilcileridir. Bundan başka, kesitteki Glomospira charoides, Karrerulina horrida, Rzehakina epigona, Ammodiscus spp. ve Gaudryina pyramidata gibi derin deniz paleoortamlara ait olduğu varsayılan aglutine türler bentik foraminfer topluluğunun önemli bir bölümünü temsil ederler. Bu yüzden, Paleosen–Eosen geçiş döneminde, Kharrouba bölgesi Zumaya örneği ile bir çok DSDP bölgesinde olduğu gibi kozmopolit derin deniz foraminifer türlerini barındırmıştır. Bu kalkerli ve aglutine olmuş derin deniz taksonunun tolera ettiği derinlik Kharrouba bölgesinin P/E sınırına yakın bir dönemde güney Tetis’e ait batiyal ortamda olduğuna işaret etmektedir.

Kharrouba kesitinde (Tunus, Güney Tetis kenarı) paleosen−eosen geçişinin foraminifer biyostratigrafisi ve paleoortamsal rekonstrüksiyonu

At Kharrouba (near Tunis City in northern Tunisia), on the southern margin of the Tethyan realm, the Paleocene–Eocene (P–E) transition interval deposition is continuous and complete. Based on high-resolution analysis and quantitative data of planktonic and benthic foraminifera at the Kharrouba section, this transition interval records expanded deposition of the relevant standard planktonic foraminiferal biozones with indicative index species i.e.: Morozovella velascoensis for the latest Paleocene P5 zone, and Acarinina sibaiyaensis for the earliest Eocene E1 zone, Pseudohastigerina wilcoxensis for the E2 zone, Morozovella marginodentata for the E3 zone and Morozovella formosa for the E4 zone. This complete section contains benthic foraminiferal assemblages which include calcareous and agglutinated cosmopolitan deep-water species (DWBF). Among the calcareous deep benthic foraminifera Aragonia velascoensis Anomalinoides rubiginosus, Oridorsalis umbonatus, Nuttallides truempyi, Pullenia coryelli and Tappanina selmensis, are relatively abundant. These species are the main representatives of the Velasco fauna indicative of a bathyal-abyssal environment. Moreover, within this section, the agglutinated species e.g., Glomospira charoides, Karrerulina horrida, Rzehakina epigona, Ammodiscus spp. and Gaudryina pyramidata, assumed to be restricted to deep-sea palaeoenvironments, constitute an important proportion of the benthic foraminiferal assemblages. Therefore, during the Paleocene–Eocene transitional period, the Kharrouba area hosted many cosmopolitan deep-sea benthic foraminiferal species as was the case at Zumaya and several DSDP sites. The depth range tolerances of these deep-marine taxa, both with calcareous and agglutinated test, indicate that close to the P/E boundary, the Kharrouba area was located in the lower bathyal environment in the southern Tethys margin.

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