Miocene marine micropalaeontology and palaeoceanography of the balcombe clay, Southern Victoria, Australia

This study considers mid-Miocene aged fossil ostracod shells collected from an exposure of the marine Balcombe Clay occurring along the banks of Gunyong Creek, a small coastal waterway near Mount Eliza, Victoria. These fossil specimens were used to investigate an oceanic upwelling event, which occurred in Bass Strait seaway during the mid-Miocene. The fossil ostracod fauna from this site is also described in detail and the palaeoecology of each species was discussed. A total of 4590 specimens from the three soft clay layers at Gunyong Creek were collected and included 40 species from 31 genera. One new species, Miracythere neilensis sp. nov., has been described. Five deep-sea species (Legitimocythere sp., Vandiemencythere gunyoungensis, Vandiemencythere sp., Cytheropteron pherozigzag and Miracythere neilensis sp. nov.) have been identified amongst a mostly autochthonous continental shelf fossil ostracod assemblage, suggesting a small population of deep-sea ostracods migrated onto the continental shelf during a strong mid-Miocene oceanic upwelling event.