Fossil Holocene seaweed and attached calcareous polychaetes in an anoxic basin, Gulf of Mexico

DURING examination of the planktonic foraminiferal assemblages in a piston-core of black, anoxic sediments (Gyre, 77-G-13, Leg 1, 5-K) of probable early Holocene age from the Orca Basin, northern Gulf of Mexico, we discovered preserved, brown seaweed and calcareous polychaetes from a core depth of 985–1,000 cm. We know of no previous documented case of preserved seaweed in deep-sea sediments, especially with attached organisms, and we describe this material here.