Cenozoic global sea level, sequences, and the New Jersey Transect: Results From coastal plain and continental slope drilling

Abstract

Abstract. The New Jersey Sea Level Transect was designed to evaluate the relationships among global sea level (eustatic) change, unconformity-bounded sequences, and variations in subsidence, sediment supply, and climate on a passive continental margin. By sampling and dating Cenozoic strata from coastal plain and continental slope locations, we show that sequence boundaries correlate (within +0.

Eustatic variations during the Paleocene‐Eocene greenhouse world

“…This work also inferred large amplitude variations on short time intervals (<10 6 a), including a 40 m drop near the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary (Figure 1). More recent work, especially on the New Jersey margin, has included ''backstripping'', which accounts for sediment compaction and loading [Kominz et al, 1998;Miller et al, 1998a;van Sickel et al, 2004;Miller et al, 2005a]. In general, these studies indicate that sea level was 70-140 m higher during the late Paleocene and early Eocene than at present.…”

“…Collectively, the evidence points to a eustatic rise, which at least in the New Jersey sections initiated prior to the CIE and has its MFS within the CIE (Figure 9). The sea level rise corresponds to a package of sediment (sequence) called Paleocene-3 (Pa-3) on the New Jersey Shelf [Liu et al, 1997;Miller et al, 1998a] and named Thanetian-5 (Tht-5) in the North Sea [Hardenbol, 1994;Powell et al, 1996;Bujak and Brinkhuis, 1998;Payne et al, 2005]. …”

“…During lowstands, accommodation space may be too small on the shelf to accumulate sediments. During highstands, thick sequences may accumulate with sufficient terrigenous sediment influx, and the grain size and composition of the sediments is then dependent on the distance to the source of sediment input Miller et al, 1998a]. On the basis of sequences from continental slopes, early work suggested that late Paleocene and early Eocene sea level fluctuated between 50 and 220 m higher than at present [Haq et al, 1987].…”

“…With limited continental ice and average deep ocean temperatures of 8 -15°C, early Paleogene sea level should have been 70-80 m higher than present-day, assuming a similar volume for the overall ocean basin, or upward of 120 m higher than present-day, if this volume was significantly smaller [Müller et al, 2008]. However, small ice sheets may have existed on elevated regions of Antarctica throughout the early Paleogene, and these could have contributed to low-amplitude sea level variations [Miller et al, 1998a;Speijer and Wagner, 2002;DeConto and Pollard, 2003;Miller et al, 2005b]. Thermal expansion and contraction of ocean water may also have affected sea level by several meters given the temperaturedensity relationship of seawater (1.9 Á 10 À4 m 3 /°T).…”

Stable oxygen isotope record of the Eocene-Oligocene transition in the southern North Sea Basin: positioning the Oi-1 event

“…At the Eocene-Oligocene transition, several notable positive excursions in the curve have been recognised, mostly based on data from the open ocean (e.g., Zachos et al, 1996Zachos et al, , 2001Miller et al, 1991Miller et al, , 1998Abreu & Anderson, 1998;Bohaty & Zachos, 2003). Beginning in the basal Oligocene, oxygen isotope values of marine carbonates become significantly more positive than those of the late Eocene.The earliest and largest magnitude shift has been termed the Oi-1 event, and occurred between 33.5 and 33.05 Ma (Zachos et al, 1996), slightly later than the EoceneOligocene boundary at 33.7 Ma (Odin & Montanari, 1989).…”