The use of deep-water agglutinated Foraminifera in correlating Lower Cretaceous pelagic and flysch sequences: current status and prospects for the future

Deep-water agglutinated Foraminifera (DWAF) display potential for correlating pelagic (calcareous and non-calcareous) and flysch environments. This is illustrated by an example from Sites 765 and 261 on the Argo Abyssal Plain. A working zonation based on DWAF has been developed for Lower Cretaceous flysch sequences of the Polish Carpathians, but this zonal scheme has not been tested in other areas of the Tethys. No zonation has yet been developed for abyssal oceanic DWAF. The challenge for the future, under the auspices of Project 262, is to test the existing zonation in other regions and develop a widely applicable biochronology for integration into a general Tethyan biochronological correlation scheme.