Trends in late Maastrichtian calcareous nannofossil distribution patterns, Western North Atlantic margin

First and last occurrences of several Maastrichtian calcareous nannofossil species are shown to be diachronous across paleodepth and paleoenvironment using the graphic correlation method. Calcareous nannofossil assemblages examined from eleven cores from a deep- to shallow-water transect along the eastern United States Atlantic margin document that the first occurrence of Micula murus (Martini 1961) Bukry 1973 is diachronous, appearing 2.0 million years earlier in open ocean sites than in shallow marine sites. The first occurrence (FO) of Lithraphidites kennethii Perch-Nielsen 1984 is also nonsynchronous, appearing in the deep ocean before its FO in neritic waters. The last occurrence (LO) of L. praequadratus Roth 1978 is diachronous across paleodepth, going locally extinct first in deeper water. The LO of Watznaueria bybelliae Self-Trail 1999 is also diachronous, going locally extinct first in shallow-water settings. Ceratolithoides amplector Burnett 1997, C. pricei Burnett 1997, C. self-trailiae Burnett 1997, C. ultimus Burnett 1997, Cribrocorona gallica (Stradner 1963) Perch-Nielsen 1973. Micula praemurus (Bukry 1973) Stradner and Steinmetz 1984, Pseudomicula quadratus Perch-Nielsen et al. 1978, and Semihololithus spp. are present consistently in common to frequent abundances in ODP holes 1050C and 1052E on the Blake Nose, but they are rare or absent from neritic sections in Coastal Plain cores. It is apparent that these species flourished in an open ocean setting, suggesting that differences in assemblage abundance and diversity between deep ocean and nearshore areas were controlled by paleoceanographic factors. These species are not used for biostratigraphy, but may be useful indicators of open ocean conditions. The line of correlation (LOC) for nine Coastal Plain cores clearly defines the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) boundary unconformity at the top of the Maastrichtian section (Peedee Formation) and the Campanian-Maastrichtian (C/M) unconformity at the base of the Maastrichtian section (Peedee/Donoho Creek formational contact). The K/T boundary unconformity is undulatory in nature; updip Maastrichtian sections have been stripped to a greater depth than the downdip sections. The uppermost Campanian, all of the lowermost Maastrichtian, and the basal upper Maastrichtian sediments are missing from the study area.