Marine Micropaleontology, 7 (1982) 363--368 363 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands

Short Communicat ion

DIATOM B IOSTRATIGRAPHY EASTERN JAVA ( INDONESIA)

OF LATE MIOCENE AND PL IOCENE SEDIMENTS OF

LLOYD H. BURCKLE

Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Palisades, New York 10964 (U.S.A.)

(Received August 28, 1981; accepted October 29, 1981)

Abstract

Burckle, L.H., 1982. Diatom biostratigraphy of Late Miocene and Pliocene sediments of eastern Java (Indonesia). Mar. Micropaleontol., 7 : 363--368.

A study of the marine diatoms of the Late Miocene to Pliocene Njepung section (Java) yield results that are in substantial agreement with Saint-Marc and Suminta (1979). The lower part of the Globigerina Marls belongs to the Late Miocene/Early Pliocene Thalassiosira convexa zone of Burckle (1972) while the middle of the forma- tion belongs to the Middle Miocene Nitzschia jousea zone of Burckle (1972). An open ocean environment is in- dicated while the abundant presence of Thalassiosira nitzschioides suggests strong upwelling, at least in the lower part of the Globigerina Marls.

In t roduct ion

Within the past few years, a number of papers have been publ ished on the micro- fossil b iostrat igraphy of Late Miocene/ latest-Pl iocene sections in central and eastern Java. (Ninkovich and Burckle, 1978; Saint- Marc and Suminta, 1979; Van Gorsel and Troelstra, 1981.) In addit ion to identi fying biostrat igraphic markers, these papers have addressed such prob lems as paleocl imate, pa leoceanography, the t iming of the emer- gence of this port ion of Java as well as the t iming of the first appearance of hominids in Java (Ninkovich and Burckle, 1978; Nin- kovich et al., 1982). The sections studied by Saint-Marc and Suminta {1979) and Van Gorsel and Troelstra (1981) are located a short distance f rom the Bodjonegoro Well No. 1 (Bolli, 1966) and serve to complement its foramini feral b iostrat igraphy.

Through the courtesy of Saint-Marc, I obta ined samples (some 70 in all) f rom the Njepung section (Saint-Marc and Suminta, 1979) in eastern Java for d iatom analysis. The Njepung section, more than 650 m thick, is located 50 km southwest of Bodjo- negoro and consists of the Late Miocene Kerek l imestone overlain by the Late Mio- cene--Pl iocene Globigerina Marls format ion and the Pleistocene Njepung l imestone. The results obtained by these two authors are summar ized in Fig. 1. A hiatus was iden- tif ied at the contact between the Kerek Format ion and the Globigerina Marls within the Globorotalia acostaensis Zone. Three addit ional foramini feral zones gave the authors suff icient data to tie their section to the Bodjonegoro Well of Bolli (1966).

The regional geology of the Njepung area has been summar ized by Saint-Marc and Suminta (1979). The region is within an

0377-8398/82/0000--0000/$02.75 1982 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company

364

NJEPUNG FORMATI ONS

SECT ON SAMPLE

70

NJEPUNG

L IME STONE

GLOBI GE RI NA

MARLS

6O

< 59

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-42

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/ 50

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-11

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L IME STONE )

FORAM. ZONES S St- Marc ~ Suminta (1979)

G.

truncatulinoides

obliquiloculata

G.

margar/tae

G.

acostaens /s

G.

acostaensi$

DIATOM ZONES This poper

Th.

con vex a

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~aleomac stratig "

Middle port of

GAUSS [LLq

Mid to upper port of

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Lower

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EPOCH I

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Fig. 1. D iatom zonat ion in the Njepung section. Obl ique lines indicate intervals that were barren of diatoms. The foraminiferal zonat ion was determined on the same sample set by Saint-Marc and Suminta (1979).

365

east--west trending anticlinorium (the Ken- deng Zone). Paralleling it to the south is the east--west trending volcanic high of Java, while to the north is the Rembang uplift. The Kendeng Zone was submerged during the Late Miocene and Pliocene and was apparently deep enough for open ocean con- ditions to prevail. Progressive uplift from the south eventually led to emergent conditions in this region during the latest Pliocene.

Methods

Samples were prepared using procedures described by Burckle et al. (1978}. This is a modification of a "standard" method described by Schrader (1974} and is not much different from that used by most diatomists. Identification of major index species follow that of Muchina (1963), Burckle (1972), and Schrader (1974) while the ranges of these species are taken from Burckle (1972, 1977, 1978), Burckle and Opdyke (1977) and Kazarina (1975). In these papers, all ranges of all index species have been tied directly to the paleomagnetic reversal record. Of the 70 samples examined, samples 1 to 29 and 39 to 41 contained diatoms (Fig. 1). The remaining samples were barren of this group, or the diatoms were in too poor a state of preservation for identification.

Biostratigraphy

The late Cenozoic planktonic diatom zonation of Burckle (1972, 1978) is used in this study. The Epoch and Age boundaries follow the usage of Cita (1975), Saito et al. (1975), Berggren and Van Couvering (1974), Van Couvering et al. (1976), and Berggren et al. (1980}, in that the Miocene/Pliocene boundary is placed just above the Epoch 5/ Gilbert Magnetic Epoch boundary and the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary is placed in the Olduvai Event of the Matuyama Reversed Magnetic Epoch. In their study, Saint-Marc and Suminta (1979) followed the usage of

Stainforth et al. (1975) in placing the Plio- cene/Pleistocene boundary at the Globorotalia acostaensis Blow last appearance, which occurs in the middle of the Gauss Normal Magnetic Epoch (Saito et al., 1975).

Parts of two diatom zones are recognized in this section: the Thalassiosira convexa zone occurs from samples 8 to 29, while the Nitzschia jouseae zone is found in samples 39 to 41. The lower~most samples from the Kerek limestone (samples 1--7) contain abundant sponge spicules although diatoms are also present in varying degrees of preser- vation. Arachnoidiscus sp. is present along with Actinocyclus ellipticus Grunow, A. ellip- ticus vat. javanicus Reinhold, Hemidiscus cuneiformis Wallich, Astrolampra marylandica Ehrenberg and Hemiaulus polymorphus Grunow. This assemblage differs somewhat from the diatoms in the lower part of the Globigerina Marls (samples 8--29). In this interval, I find such forms as Thalassiosira convexa var. aspinosa Schrader, Nitzschia reinholdii Kanaya et Koizumi, Coscindodis- cus nodulifer 0. Schmidt, Nitzschia marina Grunow, Hemidiscus cuneiformis and Litho- desmium cornigerum Brun. In sample 15, Coscinodiscus nodulifer var. cyclopus Jous6 first appears. In the equatorial Pacific, the earliest-Pliocene first appearance of this form is near the "c ' " event of the Gilbert Magnetic Reversed Epoch (Burckle and Opdyke, in prep.). This form also occurs in the middle part of the Late Miocene but is absent from sediments of latest-Miocene age. Nitzschia reinholdii is reported from latest-Miozene to Pleistocene sediments. In this section, it occurs in samples 8 to 29 and 39 to 42 as does Nitzschia marina, a Miocene to Recent form. In sample 27, I record an occurrence of Cussia tatsunokuchi Koizumi. This Early Pliocene form is common to higher latitudes and to marginal seas but has not been directly tied to the paleomagnetic stratigraphy. Thalassiosira convexa var. aspinosa has been tied to the paleomagnetics, however, and occurs from the Late Miocene (Late Epoch 6) to the Late Pliocene (early part of the Matu-

366

yama Reversed Epoch). This form occurs in samples 8 to 29 and 39 to 41. Finally, I note the occurrence of Nitzschia jouseae Burckle in samples 39 to 41. This species ranges in the Pliocene from the "c" event of the Gilbert to the upper part of the Gauss Normal Epoch. The most abundant species found in most samples is Thalassionema nitzschioides Grunow and Th. nitzschioides var. parva. These two forms are quite cos- mopolitan, but occur most abundantly in upwelling areas along eastern boundary cur- rents (Cook-Poferl et al., 1975).

Discussion

In their discussion of the Njepung section, Saint-Marc and Suminta (1979) identified the Miocene/Pliocene boundary by the first appearance of Globorotalia margaritae and the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary by the last appearance of Globoquadrina acostaensis (Stainforth et al., 1975). In their discussions Cita (1975), Saito et al. (1975) and Berggren and Van Couvering (1974) placed this bound- ary at or just above the upper normal event of Magnetic Epoch 5. G. margaritae Bolli and Bermudez is rejected as a suitable marker for the boundary because: (a) it occurs below the boundary in some regions, particularly the Mediterranean (Baena Perez et al., 1977); and (b) the first appearance cannot be reli- ably and consistently detected. Therefore, 1 have followed current usage (Berggren and Van Couvering, 1974) in placing the bound- ary in the lower part of the Gilbert Reversed Epoch at approximately 4.9 to 5.1 and coin- cident with the first appearance of Globo- rotalia turnida Brady. This level is also marked by the last appearance of the diatom species Thalassiosira miocenica Schrader (Burckle and Opdyke, 1977; Burckle, 1978) although this species is not recorded in this section.

Saito et al. (1975) record the last appear- ance of G. acostaensis in the middle of the Gauss Normal Epoch. This is the Pliocene/ Pleistocene boundary after the usage of Stainforth et al. (1975) which is followed

by Saint-Marc and Suminta (1979), but is Late Pliocene after the usage of Saito et al. (1975). The age of the transition from marine to non-marine sediment in this part of Java is not substantially different, therefore, from that reported by Ninkovich and Burckle (1979) and Ninkovich et al. (1982), although these authors place it in the Late Pliocene (after the usage of Saito et al., 1975} while Saint-Marc and Suminta (1979) place it in the Early Pleistocene.

The diatoms in samples 8 to 29 belong to the Thalassiosira convexa zone of Burckle (1972). According to Burckle {1972) the nominate taxon Th. convexa var. aspinosa first appears in the upper part of Magnetic Epoch 6 and disappears in the lower part of the Matuyama Reversed Epoch. There are several reasons to suggest that the occurrence of this species in the Njepung section is in the lower part of its range. In sample 15, I note the first appearance of Coscinodiscus nodulifer var. cyclopus. According to Burckle (in prep.), this species first appears in the lower part of the Gilbert Reversal Epoch, but above the last appearance of Th. miocenica. The close association with the first appear- ance of G. tumida suggests that this part of the section is near the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. Further evidence for this point is the occurrence of the diatom C. tatsuno- kuchi. Although this species has never been directly tied to the paleomagnetic reversal record, there is ample evidence in the litera- ture to suggest that it ranges from latest Miocene to earliest Pliocene (Koizumi, 1972).

Samples 39 to 41 contain Th. convexa var. aspinosa and Nitzschia ]ouseae. This latter species first appears in the split "c" magnetic event of the Gilbert and disappears in the upper normal event of the Gauss (Burckle, 1972; Burckle and Opdyke, 1977). The co-occurrence of these two species and the absence of Rhizosolenia praebergoni Muchina and Thalassiosira convexa var. convexa, both of which first appear in or near the Gauss argues for an Early Pliocene age

367

for this sample, sometime during the Gilbert Reversal Magnetic Epoch. I use negative evidence because both of these species are found in the equatorial Atlantic and Indo- Pacific (Burckle, 1972; Schrader, 1974; Kazarina, 1975), and thus, their presence should be expected in the Njepung section particularly since Ninkovich and Burckle (1979) and Ninkovich et al. (1982) report the presence of these two species in sections from central Java. The composition of the diatom flora {abundant Thalassionema nitzschioides and var. parva and such open ocean tropical and subtropical forms as Nitzschia marina, Coscinodiscus nodulifer, Hernidiscus cuneiforrnis and Coscinodiscus radiatus Ehrenberg) support the conclusion of Saint-Marc and Suminta (1979) that this section represents a largely deep water, open ocean environment. Abundant Thalas- sionerna nitzschioides is associated with a strongly upwelling marine environment usual- ly along an eastern boundary current. In previous studies (Cook-Poferl et al., 1975, and author's unpublished notes) an assemblage dominated by Thalassionerna nitzschioides in surface sediments was found to be as- sociated with the Peru--Chile current. Burckle et al. (1982) noted the initiation of the Th. nitzschioides dominated assemblage occuring at the same time as a major global cooling. Finally, Schrader (in Berggren et al., 1976) has pointed out the close associa- tion between a Th. nitzschioides dominated assemblage and coastal upwelling in the E1 Cuervo section of southern Spain.

Conclusions

Diatom results from the Late Miocene/ Pliocene Njepung section of eastern Java are in substantial agreement with results from the Foraminifera. They provide additional ties to the paleomagnetic reversal records. Correlations are made as follows.

(1) The lower part of the Globigerina Marls belong to the Thalassiosira convexa zone of Burckle (1972).

(2) The first appearance of G. turnida and the nearly concurrent first appearance of C. nodulifer var. cyclopus indicate that the level near samples 13 to 15 is in the early Gilbert Magnetic Epoch. This contention is supported by the joint occurrence of C. tatsunokuchi.

(3) The joint occurrence of Th. convexa var. aspinosa and N. jouseae in samples 39 to 41 indicate that this level is equivalent to the middle to upper part of the Gilbert.

(4) An open ocean environment is in- dicated while the abundant presence of Th. nitzschioides suggests strong upwelling at least during the time of deposition of the lower part of the Globigerina Marls.

Acknowledgements

The samples for this study were provided by LEMIGAS through Dr. Pierre Saint-Marc of the Centre de Recherches Micropaleon- tologiques J. Cuvillier, Nice, France. I am very grateful to him for this and for permission from LEMIGAS to publish these results. Constance Sancetta, Peter Thompson and Sandra Bromble read the manuscript and made many helpful suggestions, for which I am grateful. Research was supported by NSF Grants OCE 78-20885 and OCE 79- 19092. This is Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory Number 3252.

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