The Gulf of Batabano is about 180 miles long, 190 miles wide, and is located on the southwest coast of Cuba. The floor of the Gulf is a shallow submerged platform area with water depths ranging between 0 and 40 feet. The southern margin of the platform is bounded by a precipitous declivity resulting in deep-water facies on the south being separated from shoals of the platform by a narrow structural trend.

On the platform, foraminiferal abundance and diversity are greatest in the northern and western areas of Batabano Bay. Ostracodes are also most abundant in these areas. Foraminifera are from 10 to more than 50 times as abundant as ostracodes over most of the bay. General biofacies patterns include abundant miliolids in perimeter areas of the bay, an Elphidium facies in the central area of the bay, and an Archaias facies in the southeastern area of the bay. Areas of mud matrix characterize the first two biofacies whereas non-skeletal grains correlate with the Archaias facies.

Detailed and specific dominant foraminiferal faunas include: (1) a brackish Ammonia beccarii tepida assemblage

End_Page 349------------------------------

in the Ensenada de la Broa; (2) a transitional miliolid-Elphidium facies over much of the inner bay area; (3) an Archaias high-energy biofacies in the eastern part of the bay associated with coarse sediment, relatively stable salinity values, and a rather high oxygen content; (4) a Discorbis-Vertebralina low-energy biofacies in the western part of the bay in areas of mostly mud matrix; and (5) a reef-front facies composed of Amphistegina lessonii, Asterigerina carinata, and Rotorbinella rosea which are associated with coarse well-sorted sediments, strong currents, and a high oxygen content. Planktonic Foraminifera do not occur in the platform biofacies.

Deep-water cores off the Batabano platform show high percentages of displaced platform Foraminifera within the benthic faunas, more than 80 per cent planktonic Foraminifera in deeper-water cores, foraminiferal numbers of several thousand, and rare reworked Miocene Foraminifera.

End_of_Article - Last_Page 350------------