Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:05:14.717Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Pleistocene Paleoclimatology, Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy and Tephrochronology, Western Gulf of Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

James P. Kennett  and
Paul Huddlestun
James P. Kennett
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881
Paul Huddlestun
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The distribution of planktonic foraminifera has been studied in 28 piston cores of Late Pleistocene age from the western Gulf of Mexico. Detailed correlation between the cores has been made possible by a high degree of similarity of frequency changes within several species; by coiling direction changes within Globorotalia truncatulinoides; by a datum level representing the near extinction of Globorotalia menardii flexuosa, and Globorotaloides hexagona at the end of the last interglacial; by three distinct volcanic ash horizons, and by calcium carbonate dissolution effects at distinct intervals. Almost all species demonstrate distinct frequency oscillations that are correlatable between cores. A high proportion of these are clearly related to paleoclimatic oscillations and reflect rapidly changing water-mass conditions within the Gulf of Mexico during the latest Pleistocene. No interval appears to have been represented by stable environmental conditions. Causes of frequency changes within several other species are not clearly related to inferred paleoenvironmental changes. High similarity of faunas exists at all times between the northwest and southwest Gulf of Mexico, reflecting similarity of water-mass conditions over a wide latitudinal range. High sedimentation rates, which average between 10 cm/1000 years and 30 cm/1000 years, have enabled a detailed paleoclimatic curve to be established for the last 200,000 years. Three interglacials and two glacials are recognized. Distinct foraminiferal assemblages have enabled definition of 18 zones most of which are related to paleoclimatic changes. Most intense coolings occurred at the end of the penultimate glaciation (zone W) and during the middle of the Wisconsin glaciation (zone Y).

The Gulf of Mexico curve is somewhat similar to those of other regions based on O18/O16 ratios, except that, despite close control, no intense cooling is apparent near the end of the last glaciation. The most sensitive warm water indicators are the G. menardii complex and Pulleniatina obliquiloculata; the most sensitive cooler water forms are Globorotalia inflata, and Globigerina falconensis. Several species have intermediate temperature tolerances. Much climatic information is lost when only the G. menardii complex is utilized in climatic studies, because these forms are essentially absent during glacial episodes. The most distinct faunal change associated with the Holocene warming does not coincide with the Z-Y boundary defined by the first consistent occurrence of G. menardii but occurs slightly earlier during the latest Wisconsin. The X zone, based on the consistent occurrence of the G. menardii group is of shorter duration in Gulf of Mexico cores than in cores from the central Caribbean Sea and the equatorial Atlantic Ocean.

Three major volcanic ash horizons coincide with climatic coolings; almost immediately preceding the last interglacial (135,000 years B.P.); towards the end of the last interglacial (end of zone X; 90–95,000 years B.P.), and in the earliest part of the last glaciation (75,000 years B.P.). A drastic reduction of G. menardii flexuosa and G. hexagona coincides with the middle ash horizon.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , July 1972 , pp. 38 - 69
Copyright
Academic Press, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bé, A. W. H., (1970). Globorotalia menardii flexuosa (Koch): An “extinct” foraminiferal subspecies living in the northern Indian Ocean. Deep-Sea Research 17, 595–601.Google Scholar
Beard, J. H., (1969). Pleistocene paleotemperature record based on planktonic foraminifers, Gulf of Mexico. Transactions of the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies. 19, 535–553.Google Scholar
Bergantino, R. N. (1971). Submarine Regional Geomorphology of the Gulf of Mexico. Geological Society of America Bulletin 82, 741–752.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, W. H. (1969). Ecologic patterns of living planktonic foraminifera. Deep-Sea Research 16, 1–24.Google Scholar
Bouma, A. H. (1971). Types and distribution of minor structures in USNS Kane Gulf of Mexico Cores. In “TAMU results from the USNS Kane, 1969 expedition, Gulf of Mexico.” (Bouma, A.H., Bryant, W.R., and Davies, D.K., Eds.), Department of the Interior, U.S.G.S..Google Scholar
Broecker, W. S., and Ku, T. L., (1969). Caribbean cores P6304-8 and P6304-9. New analysis of absolute chronology. Science 166, 404–406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broecker, W. S., and Van Donk, J. (1970). Insolation changes, ice volumes, and the O18 record in deep-sea cores. Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics Vol. 8, 1, 169–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, C. (1966). Calcareous zooplankton in the Scotia Sea and Drake Passage. Nature (London) 212, 678–681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dansgaard, W., Johnsen, S. J., Moller, J., and Langway, C. C. (1969). One thousand centuries of climatic record from Camp Century on the Greenland ice sheet. Science 166, 377–381.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emilliani, C., (1955). Pleistocene temperatures. Journal of Geology 63, 538–578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emiliani, C., (1966). Paleotemperature analysis of Caribbean cores P6304-8 and P6304-9 and a generalized temperature curve for the past 425,000 years. Journal of Geology 74, 109–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emiliani, C. (1969). A new paleontology. Micropaleontology 15, 265–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emiliani, C. (1971). The last interglacial. Paleotemperatures and chronology. Science 171, 571–573.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Epstein, S., Sharp, R. P., and Gow, A. J., (1970). Antarctic ice sheet. Stable isotope analyses of Byrd Station cores and interhemispheric climatic implications. Science 168, 1570–1572.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ericson, D. B., Wollin, G., and Wollin, J. (1954). Coiling direction of Globorotalia truncatulinoides in deep-sea cores. Deep-Sea Research 2, 152–158.Google Scholar
Ericson, D. B., and Wollin, G., (1956). Correlation of six cores from the equatorial Atlantic and the Caribbean. Deep-Sea Research 3, 104–125.Google Scholar
Ericson, D. B., and Wollin, G., (1968). Pleistocene climates and chronology in deep-sea sediments. Science 162, 1227–1234.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ericson, D. B., and Wollin, G., (1970). Pleistocene climates in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans: A comparison based on deep-sea sediments. Science 167, 1483–1485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ewing, M., Ericson, D. B., and Heezen, B. C., (1958). Sediments and topography of the Gulf of Mexico. In “Habitat of Oil.” (Weeks, L. G. Ed.), American Association of Petroleum Geologists. pp. 995–1053.Google Scholar
Geitzenauer, K. R., (1972). The Pleistocene calcareous nannoplankton of the subantarctic Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Research (in press).Google Scholar
Greiner, G., (1970). Distribution of major benthonic foaminiferal groups on the Gulf of Mexico continental shelf. Micropaleontology 16, 83–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hays, J. D., (1967). Quaternary sediments of the Antarctic Ocean, In “Progress in Oceanology.” Sears, Mary Ed.), Vol. 4, 117–131. Pergamon Press, London.Google Scholar
Hendy, C. H., and Wilson, A. T., (1968). Paleoclimatic data from speleothems. Nature (London) 219, 48–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, T. C., and Goodell, H. G., (1970). Sediments and sedimentary processes of eastern Mississippi Cone, Gulf of Mexico. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 54, 2070–2100.Google Scholar
Huddlestun, P., (1972). Pleistocene paleoclimates based on radiolaria from subantarctic deep-sea cores. Deep-Sea Research (in press).Google Scholar
Imbrie, J., and Kipp, N. G., (1971). New method for quantitative paleoclimatology, In “The Late Cenozoic glacial ages.” (Turekian, K.K., Ed.). Yale University.Google Scholar
Jendrzejewski, J. P., and Zarilljo, G. A. (1971). Late Pleistocene Paleotemperature Oscillations defined by Silicoflagellate Changes in a subantarctic Deep-Sea Core. Deep-Sea Research (in press).Google Scholar
Jones, J. I., (1967). Significance of distribution of planktonic foraminifera in the equatorial Atlantic undercurrent. Micropaleontology 13, 489–501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leipper, D. F., (1970). A sequence of current patterns in the Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Geophysical Research 75, No. 3, 637–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lidz, L., (1966). Deep-sea Pleistocene biostratigraphy. Science 154, 1448–1452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lynts, G. W., (1971). Analysis of the planktonic foraminiferal fauna of core 6275, Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas. Micropaleontology 17, 152–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIntyre, A., and Jantzen, R., (1969). Paleogeography and stratigraphy of coccolith carbonate in the Pleistocene North Atlantic: 7th Cong. Inqua, Resumes des Communications, Sec. II, p. 68.Google Scholar
McIntyre, A., Ruddiman, W. F., and Jantzen, R., (1972). Southward Penetrations of the North Atlantic Polar Front. faunal and floral evidence of large-scale surface water mass movements over the last 225,000 years. Deep-Sea Research 19, 61–77.Google Scholar
Natland, M. L., (1938). New species of foraminifera from off the west coast of North America and from the later Tertiary of the Los Angeles Basin. University California, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Contributions 4, 137–164.Google Scholar
Nowlin, W. D. Jr., (1971). Water masses and general circulation of the Gulf of Mexico. Oceanology International February, 28–33.Google Scholar
Parker, F. L., (1955). Distribution of planktonic foraminifera in some Mediterranean sediments. (Papers in Marine Biology and Oceanography). Deep-Sea Research Supplement 3, 204–211.Google Scholar
Parker, F. L., (1958). Eastern Mediterranean Foraminifera. Reports of the Swedish Deep-Sea Expedition (1947–1948) 8, 217–283.Google Scholar
Parker, F. L., (1967). Late Tertiary biostratigraphy (planktonic foraminifera) of tropical Indo-Pacific deep-sea cores. Bulletin of the American Paleontologists 52, 111–208.Google Scholar
Phleger, F. B. (1951). Ecology of foraminifera, northwest Gulf of Mexico. Part 1, Foraminifera distribution. Geological Society of America Memoir 46, 1–88.Google Scholar
Phleger, F. B., Parker, F. L., and Pierson, J. F. (1953). North Atlantic foraminifera. Reports of the Swedish Deep-Sea Expedition (1947–1948) 7, Fasc. 1, 122 p.Google Scholar
Phleger, F. B. (1955). Foraminiferal faunas in cores offshore from the Mississippi Delta. Deep-Sea Research Supplement 3 (Papers in Marine Biology and Oceanography) 45–57.Google Scholar
Ruddiman, W. F. (1971). Pleistocene sedimentation in the equatorial Atlantic. Stratigraphy and faunal paleoclimatology. Geological Society of America Bulletin 82, 283–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sackett, W. M., and Rankin, J. G. (1970). Paleotemperatures for the Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Geophysical Research 75, 4557–4560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uchupi, E. (1967). Bathymetry of the Gulf of Mexico: Transactions of Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies 17th Annual Meeting 161–172.Google Scholar
Willman, H. B., and Frye, J. C. (1970). Pleistocene Stratigraphy of Illinois, Illinois State Geological Survey Bulletin 94, 1–204.Google Scholar
Wollin, G., Ericson, D. B. and Ewing, M. (1971a). Late Pleistocene climates recorded in Atlantic and Pacific deep-sea sediments, In “The Late Cenozoic glacial ages.” (Turekian, K. K. Ed.), pp. 199–214. Yale University.Google Scholar
Wollin, G., Ericson, D. B., and Ryan, W. B. F. (1971b). Magnetism of the earth and climatic changes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 12, 175–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar