OCCASIONAL PAPERS OF THE California Academy of Sciences No. 107, 11 pages, 1 table PRELIMINARY REPORT ON A STUDY OF FOSSIL SILICOFLAGELLATES FROM OAMARU, NEW ZEALAND By York T. Mandra A. L. Brigger ^ and Highoohi Mandra '/ .' ^asi SAN FRANCISCO PUBLISHED BY THE ACADEMY Anrlt 27* 1973 r OCCASIONAL PAPERS OF THE California Academy of Sciences No. 107, 11 pages, 1 table PRELIMINARY REPORT ON A STUDY OF FOSSIL SILICOFLAGELLATES FROM OAMARU, NEW ZEALAND By York T. Mandra Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences, Professor of Geology, California State University, San Francisco and A. L. Brigger Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences and Highoohi Mandra San Francisco, California 94132 Abstract: Approximately 10,000 specimens of silico- flagellates from Fl\ime Gully, Forrester's Hill, Bain's Farm, and Jackson's Paddock were observed and recorded. Three of these assemblages are from the Late Eocene. One, (Forrester's Hill) is from either the Late Eocene or Late Eocene to Early Oligocene. The assemblages are similar to some Late Eocene assemblages in the USSR and California. CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Occ. Papers Introduction During November, 1970, assisted by the New Zealand Geological Survey and accompanied by Mr. A. R. Edwards of the Survey, we collected at 12 localities and approximately 60 horizons of the Oamaru diatomite. The samples were prepared chemically. After all the nonsilicate fraction of each sample was removed, the re- maining prepared material was washed, screened, and di- vided into four parts based upon screen mesh size: +150; -150 to +250; -250 to +400; and -400. Checklists were made as follows: strewing slides were prepared from the -250 to +400 fraction. (This fraction has the greatest number of silicof lagellates . ) Then as the slide was scanned the first 100 observed silicof lagellate specimens on each slide were recorded and studied. A minimum of four slides per horizon were used. Hence our study is designed so that each horizon will have a minimum count of 400 specimens: 100 for each of the four slides. If we could not record 100 specimens on a slide, then all specimens on the slide were counted and a maximum of six slides were counted completely. Typical and atypical forms were picked with a me- chanical finger and mounted individually on slides to be- come 'temporary morphological types' for use during our study. In addition, with a mechanical finger we mounted individual specimens and then coated some with gold, some with platinum, and some with platinum-palladium for study under the Scanning Electron Microscope. In the Biogeology Clean Laboratory at the University of California at Santa Barbara, we made more than 100 Scanning Electron Micro- graphs of our Oamaru silicof lagellates . The study is continuing. The remaining Oamaru lo- calities are being studied and the scope of the research is being widened to include taxonomic, biostratigraphic , and paleotemperature data. Results to Date Approximately 10,000 silicof lagellate specimens from four localities were observed and recorded. These lo- calities are Flume Gully, Forrester's Hill, Bain's Farm, and Jackson's Paddock (Doig, 1967). The results are re- ported by locality. I. Flume Gully. The part of the Flume Gully Section from which we col- lected our samples is approximately 70 feet thick and in- cludes beds PP3 to PP17 of the recently proposed nomen- clature for Oamaru lithologic units. Ten horizons were No. 10 7] MANDRA ET AL . : NEW ZEALAND SILICOFLAGELLATES Studied in detail, and 10 Flume Gully checklists, one for each horizon, have been completed. In the Flume Gully section more than 4,000 silico- flagellate specimens were observed, recorded, and studied. Each Flume Gully silicof lagellate faunule at each horizon has many species and varieties that are common to other horizons in this section. However, each assemblage is different, and a statistical study has been started in order to determine whether these differences are sig- nificant. Because the results of this statistical study are not yet available, we compiled one composite checklist from the 10 Flume Gully checklists. This information is presented in table 1. All 10 checklists will be published in the future as the study continues. Many of the silicof lagellates listed in table 1 have long biozones, and, at this time, it is too early in our study to attempt to distinguish teilzones for our New Zealand silicof lagellates . However, in prior studies, a number of these microorganisms have been reported with re- stricted stratigraphic ranges. These biozones may in fact be short, or the apparent shortness may simply reflect the absence of appropriate studies at other areas. With this qualification, the following five silicof lagellate species of our study have been reported to date only from the Late Eocene of other regions . 1. Navioulopsis biapioulata var. oonstriota (Schulz) Glezer: Kreyenhagen Formation, California, USA; Aral-Caspian area, USSR. 2. Navioulopsis foliaoea Deflandre: Kreyenhagen Formation, California, USA; Newcastle, Barbados, BWI; Kharkov region, USSR. 3. Mesooena oamaruensis Schulz: Kreyenhagen Formation, California, USA; Aral-Caspian area, USSR. 4. Dictyooha hexaoantha Schulz: Kreyenhagen Formation, California, USA; Kharkov region, USSR. 5. Monopilarios estefoides Frenguelli: Newcastle, Barbados , BWI . Some workers in the USSR consider some of these diatomites to be Early Oligocene. Their reason, according to Glezer, (1966) is based upon the similarity between diatom floras in these diatomites and the diatom flora of the Oamaru dia- tomite which they considered in 19 49 to be Early Oligocene. Other discrepancies could be explained by mistaken im- pressions of age. For example, a major, current monograph (Glezer, 1966, p. 258) reports the age of the Barbados, BWI diatomite as Late Eocene to Early Miocene. CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Occ. 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