Geology topics

L. Marincovich

Publications and source records attributed to L. Marincovich.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2016

The first Tertiary (Paleocene) marine mollusks from the Eureka Sound Group, Ellesmere Island, Canada

The gastropod Drepanochilus pervetus (Stanton) and the bivalve Cytrodaria rutupiensis (Morris) occur in the Mount Moore Formation at Strathcona Fiord, west-central Ellesmere Island, northern Canada. They are the first marine mollusks identified from the Eureka Sound Group of the Canadian arctic islands. These mollusks correlate with Paleocene faunas of the Cannonball Formation of North Dakota and South Dakota, the Prince Creek Formation of northern Alaska, the Barentsburg Formation of Svalbard, and the Thanet and Oldhaven Formations of southeastern England. These occurrences imply that the earliest Tertiary Arctic Ocean molluscan fauna was compositionally distinct from coeval faunas of the northern Atlantic Ocean.

Journal of Paleontology↗

USGS1992

Suspension freezing of bottom sediment and biota in the Northwest Passage and implications for Arctic Ocean sedimentation

Ice observations and sediment collected in a summer transit through the Northwest Passage provide insights on suspension freezing, the most important sediment entrainment mechanism for the Arctic Ocean. No evidence was seen for entrainment by bottom adfreezing, bluff slumping, river flooding, dragging ice keels, or significant eolian transport from land to sea. Lack of eolian sediment loading in the Northwest Passage, together with that already reported for northern Alaska, eliminates wind as an important source for fine sediment in the pack of the Beaufort Gyre and related parts of the Transpolar Drift. Muddy sediment with pebbles and cobbles, algae with holdfasts, ostracodes with appendages, and well-preserved mollusks and sea urchins were collected from two sites in a 50 km long stretch of turbid ice. These materials indicate that suspension freezing reaching to a water depth of 25–30 m during the previous fall was responsible for entrainment. This mechanism requires rapid ice formation in open, shallow water during a freezing storm, when the ocean becomes supercooled, and frazil and anchor ice attach to and ultimately lift sediment and living organisms to the sea surface. The mechanism, already known to be important in the Beaufort Sea, probably also affects wide, shallow Siberian shelves and leads to cross-shelf transport of shallow-water organisms and dropstones with "glacial striations" toward deep basins. This makes distinguishing glacial–interglacial cycles more difficult.

Nunavut↗

USGS1985

Early Tertiary marine fossils from northern Alaska: Implications for Arctic Ocean paleogeography and faunal evolution

Marine mollusks and ostracodes indicate a post-Danian Paleocene to early Eocene (Thanetian to Ypresian) age for a fauna from the Prince Creek Formation at Ocean Point, northern Alaska, that also contains genera characteristic of the Cretaceous and Neogene-Quaternary. The life-association of heterochronous taxa at Ocean Point resulted from an unusual paleogeographic setting, the nearly complete isolation of the Arctic Ocean from about the end of the Cretaceous until sometime in the Eocene, in which relict Cretaceous taxa survived into Tertiary time while endemic taxa evolved in situ; these later migrated to the northern mid-latitudes. Paleobiogeographic affinities of the Ocean Point association with mild temperate faunas of the London Basin (England), Denmark, and northern Germany indicate that a shallow, intermittent Paleocene seaway extended through the Norwegian-Greenland Sea to the North Sea Basin. Early Tertiary Arctic Ocean paleogeography deduced from faunal evidence agrees with that inferred from plate-tectonic reconstructions.

Geology↗

USGS1984

Neogene molluscan stages of the West Coast of North America

Neogene marine sediments of the West Coast of North America were deposited in a series of widely spaced basins that extended geographically from the western and northern Gulf of Alaska (60°N) to southern California (33°N). Rich molluscan faunas occur extensively throughout these deposits and form the basis for biostratigraphic schemes that are useful for correlating within and between individual basins. Early biostratigraphic work was concerned with faunas from particular horizons and with the stratigraphic range of diverse taxa, such as Pecten and Turritella , without reference to other fossil groups. Succeeding work increasingly dealt with the relationships of molluscan zones to benthic and, later, planktonic foraminiferal stages. In recent years the age limits of Neogene molluscan stages have become better documented by reference to planktonic microfossils from dated DSDP cores and onshore faunas. Neogene molluscan faunas from California, the Pacific Northwest states (Oregon and Washington), and southern Alaska have been treated separately due to differences in faunal composition and geographic isolation. As a result, a different biostratigraphic sequence has been described for each region. Pacific Northwest stages have been formally named and defined, and their names are also used informally for Alaskan faunas. California Neogene stages were proposed early in this century, are in need of redescription, and their usage is informal. Precise correlations between the three regional sequences have not yet been achieved, due to the low number of co-occurring species and the general lack of planktonic microfossils in these largely shallow-water faunas. The objectives of ongoing research include: fuller documentation of the faunas of California and Pacific Northwest stages; formal description of California stages; improved correlation between regional stage sequences; refinement of age estimates for stage boundaries; and, establishment of Neogene stages for Alaskan faunas.

California, Oregon, Washington↗

USGS1984

An overview of paleogene molluscan biostratigraphy and paleoecology of the Gulf of Alaska region

Paleogene marine strata in the Gulf of Alaska region occur in three geographic areas and may be characterized by their molluscan faunal composition and paleoecology: a western area consisting of the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island, and adjacent islands; a central area encompassing Prince William Sound; and an eastern area extending from the mouth of the Copper River to Icy Point in the Lituya district. Strata in the western area include the Ghost Rocks, Narrow Cape (in part), Sitkalidak, Stepovak, Belkofski, and Tolstoi Formations; in the central area Paleogene strata are assigned entirely to the Orca Group; Paleogene strata in the eastern area include the Kulthieth and Poul Creek Formations and several coeval units. Environments ranging from marginal marine to bathyal and from subtropical to cool-temperate are inferred for the various molluscan faunas. Sediments range from interbedded coal and marine sands to deep-water turbidites. The known Paleogene molluscan faunas of these three southern Alaskan areas permit recognition of biostratigraphic schemes within each area, preliminary correlations between faunas of the three areas, and more general correlations with faunas of the Pacific Northwest, the Far Eastern U.S.S.R., and northern Japan.

Alaska↗