23 Paleontology of North America (Posters)

Added from Discipline submissions.

Tuesday, 10 March 2026
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
RCC, Lower Level Hall

Cretaceous Gravels or Glacial Diamictites? The Case of Dover Road and Lighthouse Cliff in the Jackson Purchase Region of Kentucky

Paper number: 23-19
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 12:15 PM – 12:15 PM

Authors

Abstract

The Mississippi Embayment Mapping-Biostratigraphy (MEMBi) Project aims to check historical palynostratigraphic controls to confirm age assignment of rock units used in surficial and sub-surface mapping throughout the Northern Mississippi Embayment. The early stages of the project have focused on two end members of the units found in this region: upper Cretaceous and Eocene units. In Kentucky, it is often difficult to differentiate Cretaceous clay-rich gravel deposits from those deposited later using lithostratigraphy alone, and palynostratigraphy is rarely applied to gravel deposits due to grain-size effects and the risk of wash down of younger palynomorphs into porous sediments. However, examination of clay lenses within larger gravel deposits is possible. Dover Road and Lighthouse Cliff are classic examples of quartz-pebble and cobble conglomerates that form readily accessible resistant ledges in the region. Their purported age is unclear from existing geological maps; the designation of “Cretaceous” and “Quaternary” for gravel deposits seems to be arbitrary. Low-acid palynological processing methods were used to obtain the full suite of palynomorphs contained in clay lenses within the gravels. While sparse, the suite is clearly not representative of Cretaceous plants and suggests that the gravels in both localities are Quaternary diamictites.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 1

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026SE-411847

© Copyright 2026 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.