Biosteering is a high-resolution biostratigraphic technique that can be critical in the exploration of reservoirs. It involves real-time monitoring during the drilling of a borehole to determine the position of the drill bit within the reservoir interval. This can be done using a pre-established biozonation scheme constructed from palynofacies. For this study, data from a deepwater well from the Alaminos Canyon block (AC 857#1) was donated by Royal Dutch Shell to the Center for Excellence in Palynology (CENEX) for palynological analysis. This well penetrates the Paleogene Wilcox Group sediments, and while the palynology of the onshore Wilcox Group is fairly well documented, the deepwater palynology is largely proprietary. Preservation of calcareous microfossils, like nannofossils and foraminifera, is also often poor in the deepwater Wilcox Group, so the development of a deepwater palynological biostratigraphy has important practical applications in the Gulf of Mexico. Ditch cuttings from this well with measured depths between 4000 m and 5200 m were processed into 128 samples. Pollen, spore, and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages from these samples are currently being identified and tabulated. The presence, absence, and abundance data of these organic-walled microfossils will be used to construct a biozonation scheme, employing mostly pollen and spores, but also with a limited focus on dinoflagellate events. This study will provide the first nonproprietary palynological analysis of deepwater Wilcox Group sands, thus providing stratigraphic control for ongoing and future Gulf of Mexico oil exploration.