Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T16:34:51.290Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Quaternary depositional patterns and sea-level fluctuations, Northeastern North Carolina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Peter R. Parham ,
Stanley R. Riggs ,
Stephen J. Culver ,
David J. Mallinson  and
John F. Wehmiller
Peter R. Parham*
Affiliation:
Geology Department, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
Stanley R. Riggs
Affiliation:
Geology Department, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
Stephen J. Culver
Affiliation:
Geology Department, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
David J. Mallinson
Affiliation:
Geology Department, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
John F. Wehmiller
Affiliation:
Geology Department, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: +1 252 328 4391. E-mail address:[email protected] (P.R. Parham).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A detailed record of late Quaternary sea-level oscillations is preserved within the upper 45 m of deposits along an eight km transect across Croatan Sound, a drowned tributary of the Roanoke/Albemarle drainage system, northeastern North Carolina. Drill-hole and seismic data reveal nine relatively complete sequences filling an antecedent valley comprised of discontinuous middle and early Pleistocene deposits. On interfluves, lithologically similar marine deposits of different sequences occur stacked in vertical succession and separated by ravinement surfaces. Within the paleo-drainage, marine deposits are separated by fluvial and/or estuarine sediments deposited during periods of lowered sea level. Foraminiferal and molluscan fossil assemblages indicate that marine facies were deposited in a shallow-marine embayment with open connection to shelf waters. Each sequence modifies or truncates portions of the preceding sequence or sequences. Sequence boundaries are the product of a combination of fluvial, estuarine, and marine erosional processes. Stratigraphic and age analyses constrain the ages of sequences to late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 and younger (∼ 140 ka to present), indicating multiple sea-level oscillations during this interval. Elevations of highstand deposits associated with late MIS 5 and MIS 3 imply that sea level was either similar to present during those times, or that the region may have been influenced by glacio-isostatic uplift and subsidence.

Keywords

Late QuaternarySea-level recordNortheastern North CarolinaStratigraphyAntecedent topography
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 67 , Issue 1 , January 2007 , pp. 83 - 99
Copyright
University of Washington

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

Antonioli, F., Bard, E., Potter, E.K., Silenzi, S., and Improta, S. 215-ka history of sea-level oscillations from marine and continental layers in Argentarola Cave speleothems (Italy). Global and Planetary Change 43, (2004). 57–78.Google Scholar
Brown, P.M., Miller, J.A., and Swain, F.M. Structural and Stratigraphic Framework, and Spatial Distribution of Permeability of Atlantic Coastal Plain, North Carolina to New York, 796. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 796, (1972). 79 pp.Google Scholar
Burdette, K., (2005). Chronostratigraphy of the Currituck sand ridges. Currituck County, North Carolina [M.S. Thesis]: Department of Geology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. 184 pp.Google Scholar
Chapman, M.R., and Shackleton, N.J. Global ice-volume fluctuations, North Atlantic ice-rafting events, and deep-ocean circulation changes between 130 and 70 ka. Geology 27, (1999). 795–798.Google Scholar
Chappell, J., Omura, A., Esat, T., McCulloch, M., Pandolfi, J., Ota, Y., and Pillans, B. Reconciliation of late Quaternary sea levels derived from coral terraces at Huon Peninsula with deep sea oxygen isotope records. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 141, (1996). 227–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Culver, S.J., and Buzas, M.A. Distribution of recent benthic foraminifera off the North American Atlantic coast. Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences 6 (1980). (512 pp.)Google Scholar
Cutler, K.B., Edwards, R.L., Taylor, F.W., Cheng, H., Adkins, J., Gallup, C.D., Cutler, G.S., Burr, G.S., and Bloom, A.L. Rapid sea-level fall and deep-ocean temperature change during the last interglacial period. Earth and Planetary Letters 206, (2003). 253–271.Google Scholar
Eames, G.B., (1983). The late Quaternary seismic stratigraphy, lithostratigraphy, and geologic history of a shelf–barrier–estuarine system. Dare County, North Carolina [M.S. Thesis]: Department of Geology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. 196 pp.Google Scholar
Folk, R.L. Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks. (1974). Hemphill Publishing Co., Austin, TX. 182 pp.Google Scholar
Foyle, A.M., and Oertel, G.F. Transgressive systems tract development and incised-valley fills within a Quaternary estuary-shelf system: Virginia inner shelf, USA. Marine Geology 137, (1997). 227–249.Google Scholar
Grossman, S. Living and subfossil rhizopod and ostracode populations. Grossman, S., Benson, R.H. Ecology of Rhizopodea and Ostracoda of Southern Pamlico Sound Region vol. 44, (1967). The University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions, North Carolina. 90 pp.Google Scholar
Hine, A.C., and Snyder, S.W. Coastal lithosome preservation: evidence from the shoreface and inner continental shelf off Bogue Banks, North Carolina. Marine Geology 63, (1985). 307–330.Google Scholar
Kafescioglu, I.A. A quantitative distribution of foraminifera on the continental shelf and uppermost shelf of Massachusetts. Micropaleontology 21, no. 3 (1975). 261–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klitgord, K.D., Hutchinson, D.R., and Schouten, H., (1988). U.S. Atlantic continental margin; structural and tectonic framework. in Sheridan, R.E. and Grow, J.A. (Eds.), The Atlantic Continental Margin : U.S.: Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. I-2, pp. 19–55.Google Scholar
Lambeck, K., and Johnson, P. The viscosity of the mantle: evidence from analysis of glacial-rebound phenomena. Jackson, I. The Earth's Mantle: Composition, Structure, and Evolution. (1998). Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK. 461–502.Google Scholar
Lambeck, K., and Nakada, M. Constraints on the age and duration of the last interglacial period and on sea-level variations. Nature 357, (1992). 125–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambeck, K., Yokoyama, Y., and Purcell, T. Into and out of the last glacial maximum: sea-level change during oxygen isotope stages 3 and 2. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, (2002). 343–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ludwig, K.R., Muhs, D.R., Simmons, K.R., Halley, R.B., and Shinn, E.A. Sea-level records at ∼ 80 ka from tectonically stable platforms: Florida and Bermuda. Geology 24, 3 (1996). 211–214.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallinson, D., Riggs, S., Thieler, E.R., Foster, D., Culver, S., Corbett, D.R., Hoffman, C.W., and Wehmiller, J. Late Neogene evolution of the northeastern North Carolina coastal system: filling the northern Albemarle Embayment. Marine Geology 217, (2005). 97–117.Google Scholar
Mello, J.F., and Buzas, M.A. An application of cluster analysis as a method of determining biofacies. Journal of Paleontology 42, (1968). 747–758.Google Scholar
Miller, D.N. Ecological study of the foraminifera of Mason Inlet, North Carolina. Contributions from the Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research 4, (1953). 41–63.Google Scholar
Muhs, D.R., Kennedy, G.L., and Rockwell, T.K. Uranium-series ages of marine terrace corals from the Pacific coast of North America and implications for last-interglacial sea level history. Quaternary Research 42, (1994). 72–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhs, D.R., Simmons, K.R., and Steinke, B. Timing and warmth of the Last Interglacial period: new U-series evidence from Hawaii and Bermuda and a new fossil compilation for North America. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, (2002). 1355–1383.Google Scholar
Murray, S.W. Recent foraminifera from the Atlantic continental shelf of the United States. Micropaleontology 15, 4 (1969). 401–419.Google Scholar
Nummedal, D., and Swift, D.J.P. Transgressive stratigraphy at sequence-bounding unconformities: some principles derived from Holocene and Cretaceous examples. Nummedal, D., Pilkey, O.H., Howard, J.D. Sea-Level Fluctuation and Coastal Evolution vol. 41, (1987). SEPM Spec. Publ., 241–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ota, Y., and Omura, A. Contrasting styles and rates of tectonic uplift of coral terraces in the Ryukyu and Daito Islands, southwestern Japan. Quaternary International 15, (1992). 17–29.Google Scholar
Parham, P.R., (2003). The Quaternary lithostratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, and geologic history of the Croatan Sound area. North Carolina [M.S. Thesis]: Department of Geology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. 141 pp.Google Scholar
Plint, A.G., and Nummedal, D. The falling stage systems tract: recognition and importance in sequence stratigraphic analysis. Hunt, D., and Gawthorpe, R.L. Sedimentary Response to Forced Regressions. Special Publications 174, (2000). Geological Society, London, 1–17. Special Publications Google Scholar
Popenoe, P. Cenozoic depositional and structural history of the North Carolina margin from seismic stratigraphic analyses. Poag, C.W. Stratigraphy and Depositional History of the U.S. Atlantic Margin. (1985). 125–187. Van Nostrand Reinhold, Stroudsburg, PA Google Scholar
Potter, E.K., and Lambeck, K. Reconciliation of sea-level observations in the Western North Atlantic during the last glacial cycle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 217, (2003). 171–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riggs, S.R., and Ames, D. Drowning the North Carolina Coast: Sea-Level Rise and Estuarine Dynamics. (2003). North Carolina Sea Grant, Raleigh. Pub. no. UNC-SG-03-04. 152 pp.Google Scholar
Riggs, S.R., and O'Conner, M.P. Relict Sediment Deposits in a Major Transgressive Coastal System. (1974). North Carolina Sea Grant Publication, Raleigh. Pub. no. UNC-SG-74-4, 37 pp.Google Scholar
Riggs, S.R., and O'Connor, M.P. Evolutionary succession of drowned coastal plain barbuilt estuaries. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 7, 7 (1975). 1247–1248.Google Scholar
Riggs, S.R., York, L.L., Wehmiller, J.F., and Snyder, S.W. Depositional patterns resulting from high-frequency Quaternary sea-level fluctuations in northeastern North Carolina. Fletcher, C.H., Wehmiller, J.F. Quaternary Coasts of the United States: Marine and Lacustrine Systems vol. 48, (1992). SEPM Special Publication, 141–153.Google Scholar
Riggs, S.R., Cleary, W.J., and Snyder, S.W. Influence of inherited geologic framework on barrier shoreface morphology and dynamics. Marine Geology 126, (1995). 213–234.Google Scholar
Riggs, S.R., Rudolph, G.L., and Ames, D.V., (2000). Erosional scour and geologic evolution of Croatan Sound, northeastern North Carolina.: Report no. FHWA/NC/2000-002, Contract Research Project 98-4, North Carolina Department of Transportation, . 116 pp.Google Scholar
Rodriguez, A.B., Anderson, J.B., Banfield, L.A., Taviani, M., Abdulah, K., and Snow, J.N. Identification of a −15 m middle Wisconsin shoreline on the Texas inner continental shelf. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 158, (2000). 25–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rudolph, G.L., (1999). Holocene evolution of a drowned tributary estuary, Croatan Sound. North Carolina [M.S. Thesis]: Department of Geology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. 192 pp.Google Scholar
S & ME, (1997). Structure Foundation Investigation Report, U.S. 64/264 from U.S. 264 to ECL of Manteo over Croatan Sound, Dare County, North Carolina.: TIP no. R-2551, NC Dept. of Transportation State Project no. 8.T051401.Google Scholar
Sánchez Goñi, M.F., Eynaud, F., Turon, J.L., and Shackleton, N.J. High resolution palynological record off the Iberian margin: direct land–sea correlation for the Last Interglacial complex. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 171, (1999). 123–137.Google Scholar
Schnitker, D. Distribution of foraminifera on the North Carolina continental shelf. Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology 8, no. 4 (1971). 169–215.Google Scholar
Seidenkrantz, M.S., Bornmalm, L., Johnson, S.J., Knudsen, K.L., Kuijpers, A., Lauritzen, S.E., Leroy, S.A.G., Mergai, I., Schweger, C., and Vliet-Lanoe, B.V. Two-step deglaciation at the oxygen isotope stage 6/5e transition: the Zeifen–Kattegat climate oscillation. Quaternary Science Reviews 15, (1996). 63–75.Google Scholar
Sherman, C.F., Fletcher, C.H. III, and Rubin, K.H. Marine and meteoric diagenesis of Pleistocene carbonates from a nearshore submarine terrace, Oahu, Hawaii. Journal of Sedimentary Research 69, (1999). 1083–1097.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stirling, C.H., Esat, T.M., McColluch, M.T., and Lambeck, K. High-precision U-series dating of corals from Western Australia and implications for the timing and duration of the Last Interglacial. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 135, (1995). 115–130.Google Scholar
Stirling, C.H., Esat, T.M., Lambeck, K., and McCulloch, M.T. Timing and duration of the Last Interglacial: evidence for a restricted interval of widespread coral growth. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 160, (1998). 745–762.Google Scholar
Szabo, B.J. Uranium-series dating of fossil corals from marine sediments of the United States Atlantic Coastal Plain. Geological Society of America Bulletin 96, (1985). 398–406.Google Scholar
Tenore, K.R., (1970). The macrobenthos of the Pamlico River Estuary. North Carolina [Ph.D. Dissertation]: North Carolina State University, Raleigh. 112 pp.Google Scholar
Ward, L.W., and Strickland, G.L. Outline of Tertiary stratigraphy and depositional history of the U.S. Atlantic margin. Poag, C.W. Geologic Evolution of the United States Atlantic Margin. (1985). 125–188. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York Google Scholar
Wehmiller, J.F., and Miller, G.H. Aminostratigraphic dating methods in Quaternary geology. Noller, J.S., Sowers, J.M., and Lettis, W.R. Quaternary Geochronology, Methods, and Applications. American Geophysical Union Reference Shelf vol. 4, (2000). 122–187.Google Scholar
Wehmiller, J.F., Theiler, E.R., Hoffman, C.W., Riggs, S.R., Pellerito, V., York, L.L., Mallinson, D.J., and Culver, S.J. Aminostratigraphy of Quaternary coastal units, North Carolina coastal plain. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 36, 2 (2004). 71 Google Scholar
Wehmiller, J.F., Simmons, K.R., Cheng, H., Edwards, L., Martin-McNaughton, J., York, L.L., Krantz, D.E., and Shen, C. Uranium-series coral ages from the US Atlantic Coastal Plain—The “80 ka problem” revisited. Quaternary International 120, (2004). 3–14.Google Scholar
Wellner, R.W., Ashley, G.M., and Sheridan, R.E. Seismic stratigraphic evidence for a submerged middle Wisconsin barrier: implications for sea-level history. Geology 21, (1993). 109–112.Google Scholar
Wilcoxon, J.A. Distribution of foraminifera off the southern Atlantic coast of the United States. Contributions from the Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research 15, Pt 1 (1964). 1–24.Google Scholar
Workman, S.A., (1981). Foraminiferal assemblages of the nearshore inner continental shelf, Nags Head and Wilmington areas. North Carolina [M.S. Thesis]: Department of Geology, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C., 162 pp.Google Scholar
York, L.L., (1990). Aminostratigraphy of U.S. Atlantic coast Pleistocene deposits: Maryland continental shelf and North and South Carolina coastal plain [Ph.D. Dissertation].: University of Delaware, Newark. 580 pp.Google Scholar
York, L.L., Wehmiller, J.F., Cronin, T.M., and Ager, T.A. Stetson Pit, Dare County, North Carolina: an integrated chronologic, faunal, and floral record of subsurface coastal Quaternary sediments. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology 72, (1989). 115–132.Google Scholar