Paleoenvironmental changes and influence on Operculodinium centrocarpum during the Quaternary in the Campos Basin, southwestern Brazil

•O. centrocarpum is inversely correlated to diversity, continental/marine ratio and δ18O.•In the Last Glacial Maximum occurs decrease O. centrocarpum and higher input terrigenous.•The dominance of O. centrocarpum reflects the influence of the changes of paleoclimate.•High abundance of O. centrocarpum in the Quaternary from Campos Basin.•Opportunistic behavior of the O. centrocarpum in the Campos Basin.

The purpose of this paper is to document the changes observed in the Quaternary dinoflagellate assemblages from 80 core samples from the Campos Basin. The Interglacial (Subzone X1), Glacial (Subzones Y5 to Y2), Last Glacial Maximum (Subzone Y1) and Post-Glacial (Zone Z) intervals were identified. High abundance of Operculodinium centrocarpum suggests the warm, high salinity and nutrient-poor water conditions dominated the upper water column of the Campos Basin. The climate and oceanic current dynamic of the continental slope of the Campos Basin appears to has been a significant controlling factor in the distribution of dinocysts, particularly of O. centrocarpum, during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition.