Foraminifera from the Tepetate Formation (Heim) at Las Pocitas, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Abstract

In order to constrain the age and depositional paleoenvironment of the Tepetate Formation, benthic and planktonic foraminifera were analyzed in samples recovered from an exploration well located at Las Pocitas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The planktonic taxa identified allowed recognition of Zone P9 (Planorotalites palmerae-Acarinina pentacamerata), equivalent to a late early Eocene age of 50.4–49 Ma. The benthic foraminiferal association suggests that the sediments were deposited in a continental slope environment at an upper bathyal water depth of ca. 500 m. Composition and diversity of planktonic foraminifera indicate the presence of warm-temperate surface water masses. Micropaleontological evidence presented here and from previous reports indicates that the samples studied represent only a portion of the Tepetate Formation.

Keywords

• Tepetate
• Paleogene
• Baja California
• foraminifera