Latest Santonian to latest Maastrichtian planktic foraminifera and biostratigraphy of the hemipelagic successions of the Prebetic Zone (Murcia and Alicante provinces, south-east Spain)

This paper presents the first detailed biostratigraphic analysis of the uppermost Santonian through uppermost Maastrichtian hemipelagic carbonate successions of south-east Spain based mainly on the stratigraphic distributions of planktic foraminifera. For the time interval studied, seven biozones of planktic foraminifera have been recognized. From oldest to youngest these are: the uppermost part of the Dicarinella asymetrica Zone, and the Globotruncanita elevata, Globotruncana ventricosa, Globotruncanita calcarata, Globotruncana falsostuarti, Gansserina gansseri and Abathomphalus mayaroensis zones. The biostratigraphic succession obtained from the sections studied in the Prebetic area is compared with those from sections in Tercis (France) and Kalaat Senan (Tunisia).