Abstract

One of the large benthic foraminifera discovered in the foralgal reef for the first time is Ranikothalia cantenula. This is the first time that this species has been seen in a thin stretch off the Gulf Coast of the United States. It belongs to the group of large Paleocene benthic foraminifera. During a period of low sea level, this reef formed. Based on the planktonic and benthic foraminifera that have already been identified in the reef, the biostratigraphic occurrence of this species was associated to biozonation in this sector. An indication of a shallow marine habitat (lowstand systems tract) can be observed in the red coralline red algae forms, Ranikothalia cantenula, which are present in crustose form. The fact that this Salt Mountain Alabama outcrop correlates with sections in western Cuba, Costa Rica, and close to the Panama Channel indicates that Ranikothalia cantenula is common throughout the Gulf of Mexico Basin and the Caribbean in rocks that date from the Late Paleocene to Early Eocene. Due to the presence of Ranikothalia cantenula at the time, the migration of massive benthic foraminifera from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Caribbean region of North and South America and into the Pacific Ocean may have been facilitated (Early Late Paleocene to Early Eocene). This relationship may be crucial in establishing a causal relationship between specific events, sea level rise, and global warming.