Flysch-type agglutinated foraminifera and the maestrichtian to paleogene history of the labrador and north seas

Virtually identical agglutinated (arenaceous) benthonic foraminiferal assemblages ( similar to 30 genera, 45-50 taxa), characteristic of the Alpine-Carpathian flysch basins, occur in the Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene fine-grained clastic (?turbidite) sequences of the East Newfoundland Basin, Labrador Sea and North Sea. The assemblages terminate in both areas in the Late Eocene or Oligocene, although in the central (deepest) part of the North Sea elements of this flysch-type fauna have been observed extending into Lower or Middle Miocene levels. Independent geological evidence and deep-sea drilling data indicate that these assemblages have an extensive (paleo) bathymetric distribution ( similar to 200 m to over 4 km). Therefore, depth alone is not considered a significant factor in their occurrence. A number of interrelated physico-chemical factors at or near the sediment-water interface are believed to account for the observed distribution pattern of these assemblages. These factors include relatively rapid deposition of fine-grained, organic-rich, carbonate-poor clastics under somewhat restricted bottom water circulation in compartmented basins. A dozen forms appear to be of stratigraphic utility when calibrated against sparse planktonic foraminiferal data and known ranges in flysch basins elsewhere.