Fossil Microplankton from Australian Late Mesozoic and Tertiary Sediments

Abstract

This paper provides the first comprehensive account of fossil microplankton assemblages from the southern hemisphere. Dinoflagellates, hystrichosphaerids, and microorganisms of uncertain affinity, all of which have unmineralized membranes, have been classified. Forty samples from bores and outcrops have been examined, and 25 genera, of which four are new, and 75 species, of which 46 are new, have been recorded from Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits. The data obtained have provided suggestive indications concerning the age of certain portions of two bores. A number of interesting facts has arisen from comparisons with the fossil microplanktons from European sediments.