Effect and mechanism of episodic sea level events: record preserved in late Wisconsinan-Holocene incised valley-fill sequences
Conference
·
· AAPG (Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.) Bull.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6251456
Late Wisconsinan-Holocene sea level curves have been considered as regional phenomena, mainly because geoidal and hydroisostatic effects cause worldwide sea level changes to be nonuniform. In spite of this observation, recent sea level curves suggest a global pattern of episodic sea level events occurring throughout the last post-glacial transgression. Evidence from the northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf supports an episodic model. These episodic eustatic events must have had a profound impact on the evolution of coasts and estuaries. The consequences of episodic events are manifested in the sedimentary record as rapid translations of the shoreline, displacement of estuaries, generation of shelf sand bodies, and discontinuities in incised valley-fill sequences. Recently gathered evidence from the Antarctic continental shelf indicates that late Wisconsinan ice sheets were formerly grounded at the shelf edge and that retreat of these ice sheets from the shelf was rapid and sporadic. The subsequent drawdown of marine ice sheets and the associated eustatic rise in sea level during any single event was probably on the order of 5 to 10 m in a few centuries. On a low-gradient shelf such as the North Texas shelf, the shoreline would translate up to 25 km. Several episodic eustatic events are believed to have occurred during the late Wisconsinan-Holocene and were probably instrumental in isolating shelf sand bodies.
- Research Organization:
- Rice Univ., Houston, TX (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6251456
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8810362-
- Conference Information:
- Journal Name: AAPG (Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.) Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 72:9
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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