Sugarman, Peter J. et al. (2001): Late Cretaceous sequences in the New Jersey coastal plain

Leg/Site/Hole:
Identifier:
2004-013226
georefid

Creator:
Sugarman, Peter J.
New Jersey Geological Survey, Trenton, NJ, United States
author

Miller, Kenneth G.
Rutgers-State University of New Jersey, United States
author

Hernandez, John C.
author

Browning, James V.
author

Olsson, Richard K.
author

Skinner, Ethan
author

Identification:
Late Cretaceous sequences in the New Jersey coastal plain
2001
In: Anonymous, Geological Society of America, 2001 annual meeting
Geological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, United States
33
6
100
Cretaceous cycles in the NJ Coastal Plain are sequences bounded by unconformities associated with baselevel lowerings. Continuous coring by the NJ Coastal Plain Drilling Project (ODP Legs 150X and 174A) recovered 8-9 Upper Cretaceous Cenomanian-Maastrichtian sequences at Bass River and Ancora that are thick, downdip equivalents of sequences observed discontinuously in outcrops and wells. Facies changes within Upper Cretaceous sequences are pronounced and generally follow a predictable pattern of basal glauconite shelf sands (TST), medial prodelta silts (lower HST), and upper quartz sands (upper HST). Though facies changes are distinct, benthic foraminiferal biofacies studies suggest minimal water depth variations within the 4 sequences examined; the other 4 are poorly fossiliferous. A relatively precise chronology was obtained for Ancora, providing the first independent means of verifying biostratigraphic correlations and resolving discrepancies. The Ancora borehole indicates minimal hiatuses (<<1 m.y.) associated with the basal Merchantville II/I, Englishtown, and Marshalltown sequence boundaries and long hiatuses (>1 m.y.) associated with other sequence boundaries. Several sequence boundaries correlate well with those of Haq et al. (1987), suggesting that they are global, though several do not agree between studies. We attribute minimal water depth variations within Late Cretaceous sequences to minimal sea-level variations (10-m scale), though sequence boundaries certainly reflect larger (10's of m) lowerings. The basal Navesink sequence boundary (ca. 71.5) can be tied to a global oxygen isotopic increase interpreted as a glacioeustatic lowering. Santonian-Campanian sequence boundaries cannot be readily related to oxygen isotopic variations due to poor global records. Though difficult to ascribe Upper Cretaceous sequence boundaries to ice volume increases, we conclude that further study evaluating such links is warranted.
English
Coverage:Geographic coordinates:
North:39.4132
West:-74.5056East: -74.2600
South:39.3700

Stratigraphy; Ancora New Jersey; Atlantic Coastal Plain; Bass River; benthic taxa; biofacies; boundary conditions; Burlington County New Jersey; Camden County New Jersey; Cenomanian; clastic rocks; correlation; Cretaceous; deltaic environment; depth; Foraminifera; glaciation; glauconite; Invertebrata; isotope ratios; isotopes; Leg 150X; Leg 174AX; lithofacies; Maestrichtian; marine environment; Mesozoic; mica group; microfossils; Navesink Formation; New Jersey; O-18/O-16; Ocean Drilling Program; oxygen; Protista; sandstone; sedimentary rocks; Senonian; sequence stratigraphy; sheet silicates; shelf environment; silicates; siltstone; stable isotopes; unconformities; United States; Upper Cretaceous;

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