Annual Report 2011 of the Paleogene Deep-Water Benthic Foraminifera Working Group.

Following last year´s line of research, we have continued to study the behaviour of deep-sea benthic foraminifera during periods of sedimentary disturbance and global warming, such as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum and a newly discovered hyperthermal event during the Ypresian (middle Eocene). Much progress is also being made on the recovery of deep-sea benthic foraminiferal assemblages after the Cretaceous/Paleogene impact event, and on integrating the benthic foraminiferal isotope record in the global carbon cycle. Our Working Group will continue to do research on these two topics next year. Important advances on the taxonomy of Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene deep-sea benthic foraminifera are also being made, and will be discussed in our meeting next year. Finally, the members of our Working Group are organizing the next International Workshop on Agglutinated Foraminifera (IWAF-2012), which will be held in Zaragoza (Spain) from the 3rd to the 7th of September 2012 (have a look at the first circular!). Our Working Group will have a chance to meet during the first day of the meeting. A two-day field excursion has been scheduled for the last 2 days of the Workshop (6-7th Sept). We will visit the picturesque Basque-Cantabrian basin (Northern Spain and Southern France), where some of the best and world-famous Paleogene flysch deposits (including 3 GSSPs!) are exposed. During the fieldtrip, all the attendants will have the opportunity to study Upper Cretaceous to middle Eocene sediments and to pick up samples where they´ll find plenty of deep-water benthic foraminifera. And last but not least, we will all enjoy the breath-taking landscape and amazing food... see you in Zaragoza in 2012!

Report by Secretary: Laia Alegret, Spain.

Annual Report 2010 of the Paleogene Deep-Water Benthic Foraminifera Working Group.

This year, the working group has concentrated on analyzing the effects of Paleocene warming events (hyperthermals) on deep-sea benthic foraminifera. These results may serve as an analogue to understand the causes and potential consequences of the recent global warming. In addition, advances on the taxonomy of Paleocene and Eocene benthic foraminifera are being made. The group met during the 3rd International Paleontological Congress in London, and agreed to organize the next International Workshop on Agglutinated Foraminifera (IWAF-2012) in Zaragoza (Spain). The workshop will be held in September 2012, and will consist of three days of technical sessions at the University of Zaragoza, followed by a two-day field excursion in the picturesque Basque-Cantabrian flysch deposits in Northern Spain. The first circular of the workshop has been sent.

Report by Secretary: Laia Alegret, Spain.

Annual Report 2009 of the Paleogene Deep-Water Benthic Foraminifera Working Group.

The Paleogene Deep-Water Benthic Foraminiferal Working Group has continued its researches this year, investigating the benthic foraminiferal turnover and distribution across the Paleogene. Special attention has been paid to the following intervals: 1.- The Cretaceous/Paleogene transition: Investigations have been concentrated on the Pacific Ocean, where a new species (Adercotryma kuhnti) has been described, and the evolution of the food supply to the seafloor after the K/Pg boundary has been studied. 2.- The Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum: The extinction event of deep-water benthic foraminifera has been identified at the base of the Eocene in two Spanish sections, and its potential causes have been analyzed in detail. Environmental instability during the latest Paleocene, and the recovery of the assemblages during the early Eocene have been investigated. 3.- The Ypresian/Lutetian boundary: The group has been looking for benthic foraminiferal events and potential sections to locate the GSSP of the base of the Lutetian Stage. Finally, after a successful meeting in Getxo (Spain), during the Workshop on the Ypresian/Lutetian boundary stratotype, the Gorrodatxe section was selected as the GSSP of the base of the Lutetian. 4.- Oligocene: A Ph.D thesis on Oligocene benthic foraminifera will be presented by the end of this year by R. Fenero (University of Zaragoza). References:

Alegret, L. and Thomas, E. (2009). Food supply to the seafloor in the Pacific Ocean after the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary event. Marine Micropaleontology, 73: 105-116.

Alegret, L. and Thomas, E. (2009). Cretaceous evolution of the genus Adercotryma (Foraminifera) in the deep Pacific. Micropaleontology, 55 (1): 49-60.

Alegret, L., Ortiz, S., Orue-Etxebarria, X., Bernaola, G., Baceta, J.I., Monechi, S., Apellaniz, E. and Pujalte, V. (2009). The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: new data from the microfossil turnover at the Zumaia section, Spain. Palaios, 24: 318-328.

Alegret, L., Ortiz, S. and Molina, E. (2009). Extinction and recovery of benthic foraminifera across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum at the Alamedilla section (Southern Spain). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 279: 186-200.

Alegret, L., Ortiz, S., Arenillas, I. and Molina, E. (2009). What happens when the ocean is overheated? The foraminiferal response across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum at the Alamedilla section (Spain). Geological Society of America Bulletin, in press.

Fenero, R. (2009). Los microforaminíferos bentónicos del Eoceno terminal hasta el Mioceno inicial: taxonomía, inferencias paleoecológicas y paleoambientales. Ph.D Thesis, University of Zaragoza.

Ortiz, S., Alegret, L., Payros A., Orue-Etxebarria X., Apellaniz E., Molina, E. (2009). Benthic foraminiferal turnover across the Ypresian/Lutetian transition at the Gorrondatxe section (N Spain): response to sedimentary disturbance. In: Orue-Etxebarria et al., eds., The Ypresian/Lutetian transition in the Gorrondatxe Beach (Getxo, W Pyrenees): Review, recent advances and future prospects. Bilbao, p. 173-176. ISBN: 978-84-692-44876.

Report by Chairman: Michael Kaminski, UK. Secretary: Laia Alegret, Spain.

Annual Report 2008 of the Paleogene Deep-Water Benthic Foraminifera Working Group.

The Working Group on deep-water benthic foraminifera was created in 2008 in order to gain insight into the knowledge of Paleogene deep-sea benthic foraminifera, their palaeoecology, and potential for stratigraphic correlation. Michael A. Kaminski (University College London) was elected Chair and Laia Alegret (University of Zaragoza) as Secretary. Silvia Ortiz is currently working on the biostratigraphical aspects of the project at UCL as part of her post-doc. The group is investigating the benthic foraminiferal turnover and distribution across the Paleogene, and we are working actively in the study of the following boundaries: the Maastrichtian/Danian (Cretaceous/Paleogene), Danian/Selandian, Selandian/Thanetian, Thanetian/Ypresian (Paleocene/Eocene), Ypresian/Lutetian, Eocene/Oligocene and Rupelian/Chattian boundaries. These analyses include detailed studies on taxonomy, paleoecology, faunal turnover, paleoenvironmental inferences and stratigraphic distributions of deep-water benthic foraminifera. The group met in Romania in September 2008, during the International Workshop on Agglutinated Foraminifera. The group will meet next at the TMS Foraminiferal Group Spring meeting in Switzerland in May, 2009.
The following papers have been recently published or are in press:
Alegret L., Cruz L. E., Fenero R., Molina E. and Ortiz S. (2008). Effects of the Oligocene climatic events on the foraminiferal record from Fuente Caldera section (Spain, western Pyrenees). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 269: 94-102.
Alegret L. and Thomas E. (2008). Adercotryma kuhnti sp. nov., a Maastrichtian deep-water species from the Pacific Ocean, and evolution of the genus Adercotryma. Micropaleontology, in press.
Filipescu, S. & Kaminski, M.A. 2008. Paleocene deep-water agglutinated foraminifera in the Transylvanian Basin. In: Kaminski, M.A. & Coccioni, R. (eds), Proceedings of the Seventh International Workshop on Agglutinated Foraminifera. Grzybowski Foundation Special Publication, 13, 25-30.
Kaminski, M.A., Armitage, D.A., Jones, A.P. & Coccioni, R. 2008. Shocked diamonds in agglutinated foraminifera from the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary, Italy – a preliminary report. In: Kaminski, M.A. & Coccioni, R. (eds), Proceedings of the Seventh International Workshop on Agglutinated Foraminifera. Grzybowski Foundation Special Publication, 13, 57-61.
Kender, S., Kaminski, M.A. & Jones, R.W. 2008. Oligocene deep-water agglutinated foraminifera from the Congo Fan, Offshore Angola: Palaeoenvironments and assemblage distributions. In: Kaminski, M.A. & Coccioni, R. (eds), Proceedings of the Seventh International Workshop on Agglutinated Foraminifera. Grzybowski Foundation Special Publication, 13, 107-156.
Ortiz S., Gonzalvo C., Molina E., Rodríguez-Tovar F.J., Uchman A., Vandemberghe N., Zeelmaekers E. (2008). Palaeoenvironmental turnover across the Ypresian-Lutetian transition at the Agost section, Southeastern Spain: In search of a marker event to define the Stratotype for the base of the Lutetian Stage. Marine Micropaleontology, doi_10.1016_j.marmicro.2008.09.001.

Report by Chairman: Michael Kaminski, UK. Secretary: Laia Alegret, Spain.