Biostratigraphic expression of pleistocene sequence boundaries, Gulf of Mexico

Journal Article · Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1993 · Palaios; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/3515169· OSTI ID:6328468

Martin, R E ^[1]; Neff, E D ^[2]; Johnson, G W ^[3]; Krantz, D E ^[4]

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1. Univ. of Delaware, Newark (United States)
2. Univ. of Rhode Island, Narragansett (United States)
3. McLaren-Hart Environmental Management, Pennsauken, NJ (United States)
4. Univ. of Delaware, Lewes (United States)

The quaternary section west of the Mississippi River delta consists of thousands of meters of terrigenous sediments, but the stratigraphic and paleoclimatic history recorded in these sequences is often distorted as a result of salt and shale diapirism. Quaternary sequences of the western Gulf of Mexico often reflect highly variable sediment accumulation rates within and between isolated salt-withdrawal basins and missing section resulting from unconformities and extensive faulting. The sedimentary record of Ocean Drilling Program's Core 625B (northeast Gulf of Mexico) contains significant unconformaties that represent a record of sea-level change during the Pleistocene. The core may thus serve as a standard for timing of sea-level changes of the Western Gulf. Utilizing primarily relative abundances of the warm-water Globorotalia menardii complex and cool water G. inflata, we have subdivided the pre-zone W Pleistocene of Core 625B into 17 subzones, resulting in an average duration of approximately 100,000 years per unit. Based on graphic correlation, subzonal boundaries are largely coeval between sites and can provide high-resolution biostratigraphic subdivision of the Pleistocene of industrial wells on an operational basis. Also, the subzonation delineates anomalous paleotops that are reworked, erosionally truncated at sequence boundaries or delta-depressed as a result of localized sediment influx. Graphic correlation of subzonal boundaries coupled with available biostratigraphic and magnetostrategraphic datums has demonstrated the near synchronomy of subzonal boundaries and their utility in the subdivision of the Pleistocene. Using graphic correlation, the paleontologist can build viable exploration models that can be used to predict the occurrence of hydrocarbon reservoir sands. 87 refs., 13 figs.

• OSTI ID: 6328468
• Journal Information: Palaios; (United States), Vol. 8:2; ISSN 0883-1351
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
02 PETROLEUM
GULF OF MEXICO
STRATIGRAPHY
EXPLORATION
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGIC STRATA
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
PALEONTOLOGY
PLEISTOCENE EPOCH
SEA LEVEL
SEDIMENTS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARIBBEAN SEA
CENOZOIC ERA
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
LEVELS
QUATERNARY PERIOD
RIVERS
SEAS
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
580000* - Geosciences
020200 - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration