Abstract
The proprietary palynological zonation developed by Shell U.K. Exploration and Production for the Paleocene of the North Sea Basin is formally released and described. Four main zones - in ascending order PT11, PT13, PT15 and PT19 - can be consistently recognised basin-wide from microplankton assemblages. The zonation for the central North Sea provides a further fourfold, mainly pollen-based, subdivision - PT19.1, PT19.2, PT19.3 and PT19.4 - of the prospective Forties Formation. Changes in climate may be considered a major influence over quantitative shifts in the Late Paleocene pollen spectrum and so it is reasonable to assume that such shifts may represent ‘time-lines’; hence the subzones may be valid over a much wider area than the central North Sea.