Cretaceous benthic foraminifera in ODP sites of Leg 120

At Site 748C, deposition began in marine conditions so shallow that there is no foraminiferal component at all and the environment may have been estuarine or salt marsh, in part with reducing conditions. After the Cenomanian/Turonian, conditions became more open marine, but waters were still very shallow so that planktonic percentage remains low. Indexes other than foraminiferal suggest that the Kerguelen Plateau was vegetated through much of the Upper Cretaceous and that there may always have been islands or larger expanses of the plateau surface exposed.