Fossil Coccospheres from a Tertiary Outcrop on the Continental Slope

Abstract

A soft chalky limestone or coccolith-marl, believed to form a submarine outcrop in the upper part of the continental slope off Brittany, consists largely of coccoliths, with subordinate quantities of foraminifera and sponge-spicules. Of the twenty or more species of Coccolithophoridae found in this deposit, two are preserved as complete coccospheres more frequently than as separate placoliths; these are described and named. The age of the rock is probably late Tertiary.