Miocene to Pleistocene sporomorphs and dinoflagellates from plankton-dated sediments in the NDO B-1 well, offshore Nile Delta, Egypt

Abstract

Based on well-preserved palynomorphs a biostratigraphic assessment of the Miocene to Pleistocene succession in the NDO B-1 well, Nile Delta area, Egypt, is presented. Terrestrial pollen and spores are relatively more abundant and diverse in their spectra than the marine dinoflagellate cysts, which has enabled their semi-quantitative estimation. Dinoflagellate cysts are investigated on a qualitative basis. Two informal spore-pollen zones and seven informal zones based on dinoflagellate cysts are suggested and calibrated by planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton zones in the well; on a local scale they can be useful in the Nile Delta area. The results were compared with the Cenozoic palynomorph associations in the Mediterranean and Paratethyan realms. The dinoflagellate cyst taxa around the Messinian–Zanclean boundary in the well log lack characteristic brackish Paratethyan taxa, which is probably due to a disconnection or limited water circulation between the Paratethys and the eastern Mediterranean at the Messinian–Zanclean boundary or related to a stratigraphic bias.