30 Geologic Studies of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain (Posters)

Friday, 29 March 2019
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Carolina Ballroom

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF THE PALEOCENE-EOCENE RECORD OF A MID-ATLANTIC SHALLOW-MARINE SECTION: THE WOODLAND BEACH CORE, DELAWARE

Paper number: 30-10
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Authors

Abstract

The Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is a global warming event found within a long-term warming trend in the early Cenozoic Era (56 million years ago). The PETM has been detected in the marine paleoclimate record as a sudden global temperature increase of approximately 5°C with an associated increase in the amount of 13C-depleted carbon in the ocean. Drill cores from New Jersey and Virginia, USA show that shallow-marine deposits of the Marlsboro Clay/Formation recorded the PETM event. In this study, the Woodland Beach Core drilled in northern Delaware for the Delaware Geological Survey is examined for evidence of the PETM. The core is investigated using microfauna assemblages and geochemical data, and core photoscans to assess the possible presence of the PETM, the nature of depositional changes stratigraphically around the P/E boundary, and to search for a potential record of Milankovitch cycles. Preliminary observations suggest that Woodland Beach Core sediments near the PETM are different from typical kaolinite-clay-rich silts of the Marlsboro in other cores in the Mid-Atlantic region. Both planktonic and benthic foraminifera are present throughout the P/E boundary interval. Photoscans of the upper Vincentown to lower Manasquan formations detect 0.3-0.5 ft sedimentary cycling; longer cycles are masked by 2-ft artifacts, and spectral analysis suggests that multiple hiatuses occur in the section.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 51, No. 3

doi: 10.1130/abs/2019SE-327545

© Copyright 2019 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.