CENOZOIC MICROPALEONTOLOGICAL BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE LASMO NSR(V)L COHASSET PRODUCER CP1 P-51 WELL, SCOTIAN SHELF/

Cuttings samples from the Cenozoic section of the well LASMO/NSR(V)L C ohasset Producer CP1 P-51 (Cohasset field, Scotian Shelf) have been an alyzed for microfossil content. These closely spaced samples contain a ssemblages of foraminifera and other microfossils of Paleocene to earl y Middle Miocene age, based both on diagnostic planktonic foraminifera and some regional benthic markers. A single major break or reduction in deposition has removed or compressed strata of Late Eocene age, sug gesting an unconformity or hiatus between Oligocene and upper Middle E ocene strata. The microfossil assemblages suggest a middle to upper ba thyal environment for this site during most of the Paleogene, grading up into neritic conditions in the Oligocene and Miocene. Relatively si lty and later sandy deposits at the site may have reduced or diluted m icrofossil numbers and diversities. An eroding Mesozoic outcrop in the area contributed Late Cretaceous contaminants during the Paleogene.