Paleontological study of cored sediments from six drill holes on the continental margin off eastern Florida, in water depths ranging from 25 to 1,030 m., has made possible the reconstruction of faunal successions of planktonic Foraminifera through most of the Tertiary. The oldest assemblage cored includes species characteristic of the middle Paleocene Globorotalia pusilla pusilla Zone. With the exception of the Oligocene, the foraminiferal sequences present beneath the continental shelf, Florida-Hatteras slope, and Blake plateau are in general accordance with those established in the Caribbean region for marine beds now exposed on land. The Oligocene interval is identified on the basis of foraminiferal faunas found in the Vicksburg Group of the Gulf Coast, this equivalent being absent from the otherwise well-developed Tertiary of Venezuela and Trinidad. Miocene sections are best developed in J-3 hole in the southeastern part of Blake plateau, where approximately 49 m. of lower Miocene, 16 m. of middle Miocene, and 10 m. of upper Miocene consist entirely of Globigerina-ooze facies.

A marked contrast in sedimentary facies, i. e., shallow-water calcarenite and silty phosphatic clay in nearshore holes, versus Globigerina-coccolith ooze in offshore holes, appears to have persisted from Eocene through Miocene times. Eocene and Oligocene sediments from nearshore sites contain assemblages of planktonic Foraminifera mixed with the benthonic species characteristic of Gulf Coast stratigraphy, thus enabling clear correlation of the Gulf Coast stages with established planktonic foraminiferal zones.

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