Systematic paleontology and biostratigraphy of Paleocene to late Oligocene Radiolaria from DSDP Site 329, Falkland Plateau, South Atlantic Ocean

A systematic study was carried out on the relatively rich and abundant Paleocene to late Oligocene radiolarian fauna from DSDP Site 329 (Leg 36), located on the Falkland Plateau. Among the 78 taxa identified in the studied interval, a new species (Siphocampe ewingensis n. sp.) and a new combination (Eucyrtidium amygdala (Shilov 1995) n. comb. are proprosed. The high-latitude radiolarian interval zones Eucyrtidium antiquum, Lychnocanoma conica and Clinorhabdus robusta, Oligocene in age, were identified in the upper part of the interval. The lowermost studied sample, within core 33, was assigned to an interval of high-latitude radiolarian zones (RP2-RP5; Paleocene in age), mainly due to the co-occurrence of Amphisphaera kina and Protoxiphotractus wilsoni. These biostratigraphic results improve resolution in the early and late Oligocene, whichwas previously undifferentiated asOligocene, based on calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy.