ABSTRACT
Subsurface shale samples from the Late Paleocene-Early Eocene Oshosun Formation recovered from IB10 Borehole in the Dahomey Basin were subjected to palynological investigation. The palynomorph specimens recovered are moderately well preserved. The investigation revealed the abundance of the thermophilic form, Apectodinium in some of the samples. Drastic abundance of Apectodinium coincides with a global hyperthermal event, the Paleocene- Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The assemblages of the investigated unit are generally dominated by dinoflagellate cysts represented by Homotryblium, Senegalinium, Phelodinium and Kallosphaeridium. The evidence of PETM event is provided with the dramatic increase in abundance of the genus Apectodinium at an interval in the investigated borehole sediments. The abundance, distribution pattern and morphological diversification of Apectodinium in the Oshosun Formation correlate well with results from other PETM sites around world.
