Annual Report 2010 of the Working Group on Paleogene Stratigraphy of the North Pacific

A working meeting on Paleogene stratigraphy was held in Sakhalin, August 2010. It considered a new model of the Paleogene correlation scheme for the shelf basins of Japan and the Sakhalin-Kamchatka region. Special attention was given to the Early-Middle Eocene geological events: the greatest Cenozoic climatic optimum of Early Eocene and the tectonic and paleogeographic changes in the intial Middle Eocene). Investigations of the North Kamchatka Paleogene sequences continued. Abundant assemblages of mollusks (7 local zones with over 70 species), planktonic and benthic foraminifers (5-7 zones) of Thanetian and Ypresian have been distinguished for the first time. A monographic description and plates of this paleontological material are prepared. Analysis of the material shows that the Kamchatka assemblages are very similar to those from the Kalifornia formations. A nomograph on problems of the Upper Paleocene—Lower Eocene transitional beds is planned to be published next year. In parallel, paleomagnetic investigations of the same sequences have been carried out.

Report by Yu. B. Gladenkov, Chairman