ABSTRACT

The H.V. Howe stratigraphic collection of ostracodes at Louisiana State University consists of more than 2000 slides and samples processed from Mesozoic and Tertiary localities throughout the Gulf Coast. The sorted Jacksonian (Upper Eocene) material comprises approximately 70,000 specimens mounted on 121 prepared slides. All of the classic Jacksonian localities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are represented.

The Jacksonian sediments yield prolific and diverse faunas. Specimens in the H. V. Howe collection show that eight species of ostracodes representing eight genera are common to abundant in all of the stratigraphic members of the Jackson Group in Louisiana, Mississippi, and the argillaceous and arenaceous facies in western Alabama. Five additional species are found in all members of the Jackson Group except for their absence in either the Shubuta clay or the Cocoa sand.

The widespread association of the diagnostic species provide an easy and reliable method for recognizing Jacksonian deposits in the central Gulf Coast.