All 146,039 foraminifera obtained from twenty-four 5-ml replicate samples taken 10-cm apart along one 8-cm thick bed in the Monterey Formation were identified and counted. Replicates 1 through 19 and 20 through 24 differ taxonomically and, very significantly, numerically. Differences probably reflect postmortem transport, small-scale ecological variations, and possibly other phenomena. Such foraminiferal distributions can assist both the determination of sampling adequacy and sedimentation processes themselves.
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