Late Paleocene–Early Eocene larger foraminifera from the Galala Plateaus, North Eastern Desert, Egypt: biostratigraphic, paleoenvironmental and paleoecological implications

Two stratigraphic sections are investigated, and a diverse larger benthic foraminiferal assemblage is recorded from the upper Paleocene–lower Eocene Southern Galala Formation at the Galala Plateaus, north Eastern Desert, Egypt. Twenty-eight larger foraminiferal species, belonging to thirteen genera, are identified and their comparative stratigraphic range with the Tethyan zonations of Hottinger (1960) and Serra-Kiel et al. (1998) is documented. Nine shallow benthic zones (SBZ3-6 and SBZ8-12) are designated in the studied interval, involving index zonal markers, e.g., Glomalveolina primaeva (Reichel), G. levis Hottinger, Nummulites atacicus (Leymerie), Alveolina vredenburgi Davies, and A. ellipsoidalis Schwager. Fifty-four thin sections are prepared and analyzed, yielding seven microfacies types in the present study, with larger benthic foraminifera as the dominant biotic components. These microfacies types indicate a deposition in restricted tidal flat inner ramp to open-marine middle ramp environments. The inner ramp environments are dominated by alveolinids, orbitolitids, and in part by miliolids and orthophragminids, reflecting euphotic to mesophotic, meso-oligotrophic, and normal to hyper salinity conditions. The middle ramp environment is characterized by nummulitids, implying meso-oligophotic, oligotrophic, and normal salinity conditions. The studied successions at the Galala Plateaus are devoid of corals in platform stages II and III, similar to the Pyrenean strata from middle latitudes at the northern Tethys, except for small coral patches in both stages in the latter due to the cooler temperature. The Early Eocene (Cuisian) Nummulites accumulations suggest a development on paleohighs in a distal inner ramp environment, and then a transportation by wave and current actions into the surrounding proximal middle ramp environment.