Benthonic foraminiferal paleoecology of the Brasso Formation (Globorotalia fohsi lobata and Globorotalia fohsi robusta [N11–N12] Zones), Trinidad, West Indies: A transect through an oxygen minimum zone

Benthonic foraminifera indicate that part of the Middle Miocene Brasso Formation, central Trinidad (planktonic foraminiferal Zones N11–N12), was deposited during a regression. A stratigraphic sequence of five foraminiferal assemblages reflects changes in paleodepth and dissolved oxygen concentration and indicates that the relative fall in sea level brought the seabed into contact with an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ): (1) Assemblage 1 (Uvigerina quesqueyana, Siphonina pulchra) lived in upper bathyal, moderately oxygenated water beneath the OMZ; (2) Assemblage 2 (S. pulchra, Cassidulina laevigata, lesser Globocassidulina subglobosa) lived in outer neritic, moderately oxygenated water below the OMZ; (3) Assemblage 3 (U. subperegrina) occupied the outer neritic, lower margin of the OMZ; (4) Assemblage 4 (Brizalina subaenariensis, U. subperegrina) lived at the core of the OMZ and rates the lowest on the Benthonic Foraminiferal Oxygen Index; and (5) Assemblage 5 (middle-neritic species with few Uvigerina spp. and Brizalina spp.) lived in well-oxygenated water above the OMZ. The onset of the severest oxygen depletion was abrupt and occurred shortly after the N11–N12 boundary. Previous work on the Brasso Formation has reported a similar sequence of benthonic assemblages in planktonic foraminiferal Zones N8–N10. These assemblages may be useful for local correlation of the Brasso Formation.