The Uitoe Limestone of New Caledonia : a Middle Eocene syntectonic foralgal reef from the southwest Pacific
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Abstract
A study of a poorly understood limestone unit was conducted to contribute temporal information necessary to unraveling a series of cryptic events for a complex geologic region containing economically important natural resources. Secondary objectives included understanding the environment of deposition and regional influences. Biostratigraphic and sedimentologic information observed from the UitoƩ Limestone went to reconstructing the paleoenvironment, constraining the age of deposition and indicating the paleogeographic faunal associations. Facies associations indicate a middle ramp depositional setting common in many location in the Tethys Sea. Paleogeographic associations for the microflora and fauna indicate a Tethyan signature present but a lack of Australian influence. A combination of planktic and benthic foraminiferal assemblages for the region constrain the age of the UitoƩ Limestone between the middle of the Lutetian and the Early Bartonian.