TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC FORAMINIFERID FAUNAS, NORTHERN EXMOUTH PLATEAU, EASTERN INDIAN-OCEAN

Triassic (Rhaetian) and Jurassic (Callovian and perhaps Oxfordian) foraminiferid faunas are documented for the first time in Australia from samples dredged on the Exmouth Plateau off northwestern Australia. The Triassic fauna is diverse, well preserved and with distinctly Tethyan characteristics. It probably was deposited under shallow, tropical reef conditions in an area where terrigenous input was minimal. The Callovian fauna is diverse, well preserved and cosmopolitan in character. It is dominated by smooth-shelled forms that occur in iron-oxide stained quartz calcarenites of shallow water aspect. The undated Jurassic fauna is less diverse, poorly preserved and of deeper water aspect. No new species are described. -Author