4 o UPPER CRETACEOUS-LOWER TERTIARY FORAMINIFERA 



that their Lower Eocene of the Giddi section is partly of Upper Paleocene age, that 

 their Upper Paleocene of the Nekhl section is definitely Lower Eocene, and that the 

 presence of the Danian in the two sections is to be doubted because of the absence of 

 typical Danian forms such as Globorotalia compressa (Plummer), G. pseudobulloides 

 (Plummer) G. trinidadensis Bolli and Globigerina daubjergensis Bronnimann. More- 

 over, it points to the occurrence of a stratigraphical break between the Maestrichtian 

 and the overlying paleocene, substantiated by the reduced thickness of the shale 

 succession between the top of the Maestrichtian and the first appearance of G. 

 velascoensis, especially in the Nekhl section (although their G. velascoensis is mis- 

 identified) . 



Hassan (1956) studied the type area of Zittel's " overwegischichten " in the 

 Kharga Oasis, which he considered to be of Maestrichtian age, and divided it into 

 the following three faunal zones : 



1. A lower zone (A) with Isocardia chargensis, Bostrychoceras polyplocum, 



Nostoceras sp., Nautilus desertorum, Baculites anceps, Chlamys mayereymari 

 and Trignoarca cf. gauldrina. 



2. A middle zone (B) with Exogyra overwegi, Plicatula instabilis, Plicatula 



aschersoni, Veniella (Roudaireia) drui, Cardita libyca and Hoplitopiacenti- 

 ceras awadi. 



3. An upper zone (C) with Cardita libyca and no ammonites. 



He followed Laffitte (1934, 1939) in considering the lower limit of the Maestrichtian 

 in North Africa to be marked by the appearance of Orbitoides tissoti, Bostrychoceras 

 polyplocum and Libycoceras ismaeli and thus considered his zone (A) to be of Lower 

 Maestrichtian age. However, as mentioned by Leriche (1927, 1929), Abrard (1931, 

 1948) and Jeletzky (1951), Bostrychoceras polyplocum characterizes the Upper 

 Campanian in its type area, and Hassan's zone (A) should therefore belong to the 

 Upper Campanian and not the Lower Maestrichtian, if his record of Bostrychoceras 

 polyplocum is correct. 



In his zone (C), Hassan stated that " Not a single ammonite has been found in the 

 third zone which is crowded with Cardita libyca ". Nevertheless, he assigned this 

 zone to the Upper Maestrichtian, although in the same paper he mentioned that 

 Fourtau (1904) had clearly reasoned that the limit between the Maestrichtian and 

 the Danian should be drawn at the top of the highest bed with ammonites in the 

 Libyan Desert. 



Nakkady (1959) described the same section and assigned the lower part of the 

 succession to the Maestrichtian, the Cardita beds and the overlying shale and chalk 

 section to the Danian and the nummulitic limestone above, to the Montian. However, 

 analysis of his recorded planktonic Foraminifera shows that his Danian actually 

 represents the whole Paleocene, while his Montian represents the Lower Eocene. 

 Moreover, a comparison of the succession, as described by both Hassan (1956) and 

 Nakkady (1959), with the sections studied, clearly points to the occurrence of a 

 marked stratigraphical break, in spite of the fact that these authors described the 

 succession as perfectly conformable. 



