Abstract
A sedimentary deposit discovered at Kerguelen Islands in 1988 is interbedded in the Cape MacLear cliffs, near Mont Rond (Ronarc'h Peninsula). The age of this oceanic deposit is considered to be lower to middle Miocene as indicated by isotopic dating of both the underlying and overlying basalts. This deposit yields a fauna essentially consisting of molluscs (bivalves, gastropods) and crustaceans (cirripedes). This fauna exhibits some similarities to Miocene to Recent austral faunas (New Zealand, Argentina) as a result of the establishment of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. However, it has no species in common with the extant Kerguelen fauna. The Mont Rond fossil assemblage is best compared with either of two types of extant communities developed on a bare sandy sea floor where infaunal species are dominant, but most likely to an opportunistic one in depths from approximately 10 to 80 m.
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