The biostratigraphy of Seaford Head, Sussex, southern England; an international reference section for the basal boundaries for the Santonian and Campanian Stages in chalk facies

Abstract

Results of detailed microfaunal and nannofaunal analyses of the Seaford Head section of Sussex, southern England, are summarised and calibrated with the microfaunal recovery and detailed lithostratigraphy. The nannofossil events identified are discussed and compared with results from comparative sections on the Isle of Wight and in Kent, Norfolk, Germany and the North Sea basin. A calibration between nannofossil zones proposed by Burnett (1998), the foraminiferid zones of Hart et al. (1989) and macrofossil zones is discussed and refined. The Coniacian-Campanian microfaunal distribution is also described at a subzonal level.