Late Cenozoic cooling favored glacial over tectonic controls on sediment supply to the western Gulf of Mexico

Terrigenous marine sediment records the landscape response to climate and tectonic perturbations. Here, we determined the source of Miocene-Pleistocene debris in the western Gulf of Mexico (WGOM) to understand changes in sediment supply during a greenhouse-glacial transition. Sediment composition at...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 2018-11, Vol.46 (11), p.995-998
Main Authors: Hessler, Angela M, Covault, Jacob A, Stockli, Daniel F, Fildani, Andrea
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atlantic Ocean
Catchment area
Cenozoic
climate change
Cooling
cores
Deep sea
Deep sea drilling
Deep Sea Drilling Project
Deep water
Deep-sea fans
Deepwater drilling
Drilling
DSDP Site 3
DSDP Site 87
DSDP Site 89
DSDP Site 90
DSDP Site 91
Erosion
Geology
Glacial erosion
Glaciation
Glaciers
Glaciology
Gravity
Gulf of Mexico
Landscape
Leg 1
Leg 10
lithostratigraphy
Marine sediments
mineral composition
Miocene
Neogene
North Atlantic
paleoclimatology
paleogeography
Plate tectonics
Pleistocene
Pleistocene glaciation
Pliocene
Provenance
Quaternary
Sediment
Sediment composition
Sediment deposits
Sediments
Stratigraphy
Tectonics
terrigenous materials
Tertiary
Tropical climate
western Gulf of Mexico
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Summary:Terrigenous marine sediment records the landscape response to climate and tectonic perturbations. Here, we determined the source of Miocene-Pleistocene debris in the western Gulf of Mexico (WGOM) to understand changes in sediment supply during a greenhouse-glacial transition. Sediment composition at Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Sites 3, 87, and 89-91 shows a reversal in provenance following the onset of Pleistocene glaciation. During Miocene time, sediment was supplied to the deep WGOM from tectonically active, tropical highlands of southern Mexico, accumulating as sediment-gravity-flow deposits across broad deep-water fan systems. Then, following the mid-Pleistocene transition (ca. 0.7 Ma), the WGOM saw sustained (105 yr) influx of sediment from the north due to glacial erosion, high discharge, and expanded drainages across the Mississippi catchment. This major provenance shift points to the importance of glacial controls on marine sediment supply during late Cenozoic cooling.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/G45528.1