Silicoflagellate zonation of upper Cretaceous to lower Miocene deep-sea sediment

A stratigraphic zonation based on silicoflagellates is proposed for the division of Upper Cretaceous to lower Miocene deep-sea sediments into eight independent zones. The occurrence of silicoflagellate siliceous microfossils from Mesozoic and lower Cenozoic sediment has been poorly known in all but the middle Eocene. The most diagnostic occurrences in deep-sea sediment are here used to define a sequence of zones, which are correlated with the more widely recognizable zonation of coccoliths. The silicoflagellate zones defined include the Lyramula furcula Zone of Late Cretaceous age, the Corbisema hastata Zone of Paleocene age, the Naviculopsis constricta Zone and Dictyocha hexacantha Zone of Eocene age, the Dictyocha deflandrei Zone and Rocella gemma Zone of Oligocene age, and the Naviculopsis quadrata Zone and Distephanus octacanthus Zone of early Miocene age.