A HIGH-RESOLUTION NORTH-SEA EOCENE DINOCYST ZONATION

Abundant dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) from Eocene strata of the No rth Sea exhibit a consistent succession of events, based on the analys is of 120 wells from Quadrant 3 in the north to Quadrants 21 and 22 in the south. These events have a constant relationship with stratigraph ic sequences and subsequences throughout the area. Eight Eocene dinocy st zones and 23 Subzones, and the uppermost Palaeocene Apectodinium au gustum Biozone are defined by last occurrence or abundance events. The North Sea dinocyst succession is similar to that in Denmark, northwes t Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and southern England, permitting c orrelation with calcareous nannoplankton zones for sections in these a reas, and hence allowing correlation of North Sea stratigraphy with no rthwest European and worldwide events.