C.S. Bhargava Sharma, S. Chethan Kumar and N. Malarkodi*

Department of Geology, Bangalore University, Bangalore -560056 (KN), India

(*Corresponding author, Email: nallamuthumalarkodi@gmail.com)

Abstract

Present study records the planktonic foraminifera from the Campanian-Maastrichtian rocks of the Pondicherry area, Cauvery Basin, south India. Various depth habitats of the cool and the warm planktonic foraminiferal species are determined. The occurrence and species richness of planktonic foraminifera of the study area show the presence of warm marine environment dominant during the late Campanian. These warm conditions were rapidly converted to the cooler state exactly at the Campanian- Maastrichtian boundary. The cooler conditions were dominated during the early Maastrichtian as indicated by the association of heterohelicids with rugoglobigerinids and globigerinelloids. The abundances of double-keeled species point the existence of the high sea level and warmer conditions in the study area during the late Maastrichtian.

Keywords: Campanian-Maastrichtian, Paleoenvironment, Planktonic Foraminifera, Pondicherry Area, Cauvery Basin