Paleocene sea level movements with a 430,000 year quasi-periodic cyclicity

Journal Article · Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · Palaois; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/3514815· OSTI ID:6225045

Briskin, M ^[1]; Fluegeman, R ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Cincinnati, OH (USA)
2. Ball State Univ., Muncie, IN (USA)

Sea level movements with quasi-periodicity of 430,000 years are identified in the marine sedimentary units of the Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia which represent a 5.8 million year record of strandline displacement during Paleocene time. Principal component analysis of the benthic foraminiferal fauna yielded six assemblages which when combined with two other qualitatively derived assemblages provided paleoecologic information which clearly reflects the influence of paleocirculation and paleoclimatic regime of the Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain. The presence of the planktonic foraminiferal taxa Subbotina trinidadensis and Planorotalites pseudomenardii as well as paleolatitudes ranging from 15{degree} N (for the Campeche Shelf) to 25{degree} N (for the Coastal Plain) emphasizes a paleoclimatic regime which is dominantly tropical. A paleoceanographic model was derived which suggests that normal marine waters were brought into the Gulf of Mexico by two major currents. Strandline displacements are related to transgressive and regressive sea level movements in an ice free Paleocene world. The well delineated 430,000 year quasi-periodic cycle observed in the sea level curve is identified as being astronomical in character. These results support the view that changes in the Earth's orbit may trigger changes in the geometry of the Earth's surface in a way which causes sea level to oscillate with a quasi-periodicity of 430,000 years.

• OSTI ID: 6225045
• Journal Information: Palaois; (USA), Vol. 5:2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
ALABAMA
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
PALEONTOLOGY
GEORGIA
MISSISSIPPI
SEA LEVEL
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
BENTHOS
CLIMATES
CONTINENTAL SHELF
EARTH PLANET
FORAMINIFERA
FOSSILS
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GULF COAST
GULF OF MEXICO
LATITUDE EFFECT
OCEANOGRAPHY
ORBIT STABILITY
ORBITS
OSCILLATIONS
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
RECYCLING
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
TERTIARY PERIOD
VARIATIONS
WATER CURRENTS
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARIBBEAN SEA
CENOZOIC ERA
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CURRENTS
FEDERAL REGION IV
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
INVERTEBRATES
LEVELS
MICROORGANISMS
NORTH AMERICA
PLANETS
PROTOZOA
SARCODINA
SEAS
STABILITY
SURFACE WATERS
USA
580000* - Geosciences