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At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
USGS2012

Early Cretaceous paleolatitude of the Yukon-Koyukuk province, Alaska

We report results from a paleomagnetic study of the Yukon-Koyukuk province, a key region for reconstructing the Cretaceous paleogeography of northern Alaska and northeastern Asia. The province lies between the displaced continental fragment of Arctic Alaska and the accreted terranes of southern Alaska. Although Lower Cretaceous volcanogenic rocks of the Yukon-Koyukuk province preserve primary remanent magnetizations, the primary component is masked by a pervasive overprint. The over-printing magnetization, which has dual polarity, was acquired after a Late Cretaceous orogeny left the region highly deformed. By fitting planes to tilt-corrected thermal demagnetization data and solving for the best intersection of the corresponding remagnetization circles, we separated the primary component, presumably a vestige of the original thermoremanent magnetization, from the overprinting component of the natural remanence. The primary magnetization corresponds to a mean paleopole of Early Cretaceous age at 60.2°N, 159°E. The mean paleolatitude is 69°N with the 95% confidence ellipse ranging from 60° to 75°N. This analysis was successful because the tilt corrections of the sampled strata had sufficient variation to ensure a strong intersection of the remagnetization circles. We infer that Lower Cretaceous rocks of the Brooks Range and the Yukon-Koyukuk province were once separated by a wide ocean basin that was closed by subduction, probably during the Cretaceous. The northern limb of the Angayucham terrane, which lies between the Brooks Range and the Yukon-Koyukuk province, may contain remnants of the now-closed ocean basin.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗
USGS2007

Airborne geophysics as a tool for geoscientific research in Antarctica: some recent examples

The polar regions play an important role in Earth's geodynamic and climatic systems. Modern airborne geophysical surveys combine radio-echo sounding, aeromagnetic and aerogravity methods to explore the geology of these regions. This paper reviews some recent aerogeophysical investigations undertaken by the British Antarctic Survey to: 1) Image subglacial rifts of Jurassic age in western Dronning Maud Land, which were associated with early Gondwana break-up; 2) Investigate crustal growth over the Antarctic Peninsula by Cretaceous arc magmatism and terrane accretion along the paleo-Pacific margin of Gondwana; 3) Analyse geological boundary conditions for presentday ice dynamics over Coats Land.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2003

Late Cretaceous chronology of large, rapid sea-level changes: Glacioeustasy during the greenhouse world

We provide a record of global sea-level (eustatic) variations of the Late Cretaceous (99-65 Ma) greenhouse world. Ocean Drilling Program Leg 174AX provided a record of 11-14 Upper Cretaceous sequences in the New Jersey Coastal Plain that were dated by integrating Sr isotopic stratigraphy and biostratigraphy. Backstripping yielded a Late Cretaceous eustatic estimate for these sequences, taking into account sediment loading, compaction, paleowater depth, and basin subsidence. We show that Late Cretaceous sea-level changes were large (>25 m) and rapid (??? m.y.), suggesting a glacioeustatic control. Three large ??18O increases are linked to sequence boundaries (others lack sufficient ??18O data), consistent with a glacioeustatic cause and with the development of small (<106 km3) ephemeral ice sheets in Antarctica. Our sequence boundaries correlate with sea-level falls recorded by Exxon Production Research and sections from northwest Europe and Russia, indicating a global cause, although the Exxon record differs from backstripped estimates in amplitude and shape.

Geology↗
USGS2011

Beyond Colorado's Front Range - A new look at Laramide basin subsidence, sedimentation, and deformation in north-central Colorado

This field trip highlights recent research into the Laramide uplift, erosion, and sedimentation on the western side of the northern Colorado Front Range. The Laramide history of the North Park-Middle Park basin (designated the Colorado Headwaters Basin in this paper) is distinctly different from that of the Denver basin on the eastern flank of the range. The Denver basin stratigraphy records the transition from Late Cretaceous marine shale to recessional shoreline sandstones to continental, fluvial, marsh, and coal mires environments, followed by orogenic sediments that span the K-T boundary. Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene strata in the Denver basin consist of two mega-fan complexes that are separated by a 9 million-year interval of erosion/non-deposition between about 63 and 54 Ma. In contrast, the marine shale unit on the western flank of the Front Range was deeply eroded over most of the area of the Colorado Headwaters Basin (approximately one km removed) prior to any orogenic sediment accumulation. New 40 Ar- 39 Ar ages indicate the oldest sediments on the western flank of the Front Range were as young as about 61 Ma. They comprise the Windy Gap Volcanic Member of the Middle Park Formation, which consists of coarse, immature volcanic conglomerates derived from nearby alkalic-mafic volcanic edifices that were forming at about 6561 Ma. Clasts of Proterozoic granite, pegmatite, and gneiss (eroded from the uplifted at Laramide basin subsidence, sedimentation, and deformation in north-central Colorado, in Morgan, L.A., and Quane, S.L., eds., Through the Generations: core of the Front Range) seem to arrive in the Colorado Headwaters Basin at different times in different places, but they become dominant in arkosic sandstones and conglomerates about one km above the base of the Colorado Headwaters Basin section. Paleocurrent trends suggest the southern end of the Colorado Headwaters Basin was structurally closed because all fluvial deposits show a northward component of transport. Lacustrine depositional environments are indicated by various sedimentological features in several sections within the >3 km of sediment preserved in the Colorado Headwaters Basin, suggesting this basin may have remained closed throughout the Paleocene and early Eocene. The field trip also addresses middle Eocene(?) folding of the late Laramide basin-fill strata, related to steep reverse faults that offset the Proterozoic crystalline basement. Late Oligocene magmatic activity is indicated by dikes, plugs, and eruptive volcanic rocks in the Rabbit Ears Range and the Never Summer Mountains that span and flank the Colorado Headwaters Basin. These intrusions and eruptions were accompanied by extensional faulting along predominantly northwesterly trends. Erosion accompanied the late Oligocene igneous activity and faulting, leading to deposition of boulder conglomerates and sandstones of the North Park Formation and high-level conglomerates across the landscape that preserve evidence of a paleo-drainage network that drained the volcanic landscape.

Colorado↗
USGS2016

Seismic velocity structure of the crust and shallow mantle of the Central and Eastern United States by seismic surface wave imaging

Seismic surface waves from the Transportable Array of EarthScope's USArray are used to estimate phase velocity structure of 18 to 125 s Rayleigh waves, then inverted to obtain three-dimensional crust and upper mantle structure of the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS) down to &sim;200 km. The obtained lithosphere structure confirms previously imaged CEUS features, e.g., the low seismic-velocity signature of the Cambrian Reelfoot Rift and the very low velocity at >150 km depth below an Eocene volcanic center in northwestern Virginia. New features include high-velocity mantle stretching from the Archean Superior Craton well into the Proterozoic terranes and deep low-velocity zones in central Texas (associated with the late Cretaceous Travis and Uvalde volcanic fields) and beneath the South Georgia Rift (which contains Jurassic basalts). Hot spot tracks may be associated with several imaged low-velocity zones, particularly those close to the former rifted Laurentia margin.

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS2012

Rhyolitic calderas of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane, east central Alaska: volcanic remnants of a mid-Cretaceous magmatic arc

Four large but poorly exposed rhyolitic calderas are present in the Yukon-Tanana terrane (YTT) in east central Alaska. At least two are mid-Cretaceous in age (~93 Ma). Similar volcanic rocks, the South Fork Volcanics, occur northeast of the Tintina fault in Yukon Territory. Evidence for the calderas consists of thick deposits of devitrified crystal- and lithic-rich densely welded tuff, interpreted as caldera fill, associated with lava domes or shallow intrusive rocks. Coeval outflow sheets have been largely stripped by erosion. The calderas are preserved within a northeast trending depression extending across the axis of the elongate mid-Cretaceous plutonic province. Trace element abundances in andesites and rhyolites associated with the caldera structures are similar to those of volcanic and plutonic rocks of subduction-related magmatic arcs developed on continental crust and thus are suggestive of formation in such an environment. Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary igneous rocks in the YTT near the calderas are interpreted to have been emplaced in a more extensional setting when the subduction-related magmatic front was farther oceanward.

Alaska↗
USGS2011

Cover sequences at the northern margin of the Antongil Craton, NE Madagascar

The island of Madagascar is a collage of Precambrian, generally high-grade metamorphic basement domains, that are locally overlain by unmetamorphosed sedimentary rocks and poorly understood low-grade metasediments. In the Antalaha area of NE Madagascar, two distinct cover sequences rest on high-grade metamorphic and igneous basement rocks of the Archaean Antongil craton and the Neoproterozoic Bemarivo belt. The older of these two cover sequences, the Andrarona Group, consists of low-grade metasedimentary rocks. The younger sequence, the newly defined Ampohafana Formation, consists of unmetamorphosed sedimentary rocks. The Andrarona Group rests on Neoarchaean granites and monzogranites of the Antongil craton and consists of a basal metagreywacke, thick quartzites and an upper sequence of sericite-chlorite meta-mudstones, meta-sandstones and a volcaniclastic meta-sandstone. The depositional age of the volcaniclastic meta-sandstone is constrained in age by U–Pb laser-ablation ICP-MS analyses of euhedral zircons to 1875 ± 8 Ma (2σ). Detrital zircons of Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic age represent an input from the Antongil craton and a newly defined Palaeoproterozoic igneous unit, the Masindray tonalite, which underlies the Andrarona Group, and yielded a U–Pb zircon age of 2355 ± 11 Ma (2σ), thus constraining the maximum age of deposition of the basal part of the Andrarona Group. The Andrarona Group shows a low-grade metamorphic overprint in the area near Antalaha; illite crystallinity values scatter around 0.17°Δ2Θ CuKα, which is within the epizone. The Ampohafana Formation consists of undeformed, polymict conglomerate, cross-bedded sandstone, and red mudstone. An illite crystallinity value of >0.25°Δ2Θ CuKα obtained from the rocks is typical of the diagenetic zone. Occurrences of rhyodacite pebbles in the Ampohafana Formation and the intrusion of a basaltic dyke suggest a deposition in a WSW-ENE-trending graben system during the opening of the Indian Ocean in the Upper Cretaceous, that was characterized by extensive rhyolitic to basaltic magmatism along Madagascar's eastern coast.

Antongil Craton↗
USGS1975

The megaspore genus Henrisporites from the Cretaceous of Massachusetts

A new megaspore species belonging to the genus Henrisporites was found in Cretaceous (probably Cenomanian) rocks from Massachusetts. Megaspores of Paxillitriletcs dakotaensis (Hall) Hall and Nicolson were found in the same rocks. This paper discusses the occurrence of these two megaspores in North America and describes Henrisporites angustus n. sp. from Massachusetts.

Massachusetts↗
USGS2012

Carbonate aquifers

Only limited hydrogeological research has been conducted using ichnology in carbonate aquifer characterization. Regardless, important applications of ichnology to carbonate aquifer characterization include its use to distinguish and delineate depositional cycles, correlate mappable biogenically altered surfaces, identify zones of preferential groundwater flow and paleogroundwater flow, and better understand the origin of ichnofabric-related karst features. Three case studies, which include Pleistocene carbonate rocks of the Biscayne aquifer in southern Florida and Cretaceous carbonate strata of the Edwards–Trinity aquifer system in central Texas, demonstrate that (1) there can be a strong relation between ichnofabrics and groundwater flow in carbonate aquifers and (2) ichnology can offer a useful methodology for carbonate aquifer characterization. In these examples, zones of extremely permeable, ichnofabric-related macroporosity are mappable stratiform geobodies and as such can be represented in groundwater flow and transport simulations.

Florida;Texas↗
USGS2012

Paleomagnetism of three upper Jurassic ash-flow sheets in southeastern Arizona: Implications for regional deformation

A sequence of three petrologically distinct Upper Jurassic ash-flow tuffs has been sampled for paleomagnetic analysis in the Huachuca Mountains, Canelo Hills, and Mustang Mountains of southeastern Arizona. Site-mean paleomagnetic directions for these units indicate significant vertical-axis rotations between sampling localities (≃15°–40°), and a comparison of these and previously published data with reference directions from the Colorado Plateau implies that the Jurassic rocks in southeastern Arizona have been rotated in a clockwise sense with respect to stable North America. These new data are consistent with paleomagnetic results showing clockwise rotation of Upper Cretaceous rocks in south central Arizona, and further indicate that studies of North American apparent polar wander based on rocks from southern Arizona could be subject to error. The clockwise rotations in southern Arizona are likely related to Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary strike-slip movement on northwest-trending high-angle faults in the region, and this movement may be linked to an increase in oblique Farallon-North American plate convergence at that time.

Arizona↗
USGS2024

Novel insights about petroleum systems from source and reservoir rock characterization, Cretaceous Deposits, Babouri-Figuil Basin, Northern Cameroon

The Babouri-Figuil Basin (BFB) is a frontier basin for petroleum in Cameroon. It belongs to the series of Cretaceous rift basins of the West and Central Rift System (WCARS), the origin of which is related to the opening of the South Atlantic. Within the same rift system, commercial hydrocarbon accumulations have been discovered in Chad, Sudan, Niger and, more recently, in Nigeria (Gongola Basin). The study of the geology of the BFB just recently received considerable attention, mainly because of its presumed hydrocarbon potential. In the pursuit of researching possible petroleum systems in the BFB, the current study provides a first look into the characterization of source and reservoir rock and its integration into a 2D lithostratigraphic model. The study was solely based on outcrop samples. Black shale and massive claystone are good to excellent hydrocarbon source rocks [e.g., up to 38 wt% total organic carbon (TOC), up to 943 mg/g hydrogen index, up to 85 m thickness, up to 20–30 km lateral extension], with moderate to high values of extractable organic matter (e.g., >10,000 ppm). Calcareous claystone, on the other hand, are poor source rocks [e.g., <0.20 wt% TOC]. The samples are thermally immature, except for those located close to volcanic intrusion at Golombe that have reached the threshold for oil generation (Tmax >435 °C, production index >0.1). The petrographic analysis of sandstone revealed that they are fine-grained to coarse-grained, poorly to moderately sorted, texturally and compositionally immature to submature, subarkosic to arkosic arenites. The main diagenetic processes that affected sandstones are as follows: moderate to intense compaction characterized by the development of long, concavo-convex, and sutured contacts between grains; cementation through calcite, iron oxide, and quartz cements; alteration of mica and feldspar grains; partial to complete dissolution of feldspar, mica, amphibole grains, and calcite cement; and the replacement of feldspar and mica grains by clay minerals. Alteration and dissolution increase the porosity of sandstone through the creation of secondary pores. However, mechanical compaction through the development of a pseudomatrix and cementation as pore-filling materials have significantly reduced the quality of sandstone beds as conventional petroleum reservoirs. Hence, the best reservoir-quality sandstones in the basin are generally located in the upper portion of the basin in terms of its lithostratigraphic model. They are the cleanest sandstones with the smallest amount of cement and the lowest ductile grain content (pseudomatrix), with a thickness that varies from 3 m to 120 m and a lateral extension of 20 km. The lithostratigraphic model of the basin is characterized by an extensive lacustrine environment that provided a thick sequence of organic-rich formations; sand deposited as extensive reservoirs sandwiched between shale/claystone beds; the development of stratigraphic traps through lateral facies change; and the widespread deposition of lacustrine and floodplain claystone that provide regional seals. The similarities between the Babouri-Figuil Basin and proven petroleum systems in other WCARS rift basins suggest that the basin may host at least one petroleum system where actively generating source rocks are present.

Babouri-Figuil Basin↗
USGS2012

Paleomagnetic results from the Lassiter Coast, Antarctica, and a test for oroclinal bending of the Antarctic Peninsula

Paleomagnetic results from 17 magnetically stable units of Upper Cretaceous (‘Andean’) plutons and dikes of the Lassiter Coast, on the southern Antarctic Peninsula, define a mean paleomagnetic pole at 87°S, 131°W (α 95 = 11.5°). This indicates that little latitudinal movement of the southern Antarctic Peninsula has occurred during the past 100 m.y. All magnetically stable intrusives are normally polarized and are believed to have been emplaced during the Late Cretaceous epoch of predominantly normal polarity. There is no evidence of postemplacement remagnetization. The uncertainty in declination at the 95% confidence level is computed for both the Lassiter Coast data and those data available from other Andean sites in the Antarctic Peninsula. Within the limits of uncertainty, data from four localities north of 68°S support the contention of Dalziel et al. (1973) that there has not been any apparent post‐Late‐Cretaceous oroclinal bending in the northern half of the peninsula. For sites to the south in the Lassiter Coast, the uncertainty in declination, due to steep inclinations, is too large to support reliably or deny any large‐scale structural bending.

Antarctic Peninsula, Lassiter Coast↗
USGS1974

Palynology and stratigraphy of Cretaceous strata in Long Island, New York, and Block Island, Rhode Island

Palynologic analysis of core samples from Fire Island well, S21,091T, in southern Long Island and of surface samples from Garvies Point in northern Long Island and from eastern Block Island indicates that the Cretaceous of this region includes Raritan, Magothy, Matawan, and Monmouth (as previously defined) strata, and ranges in age from Cenomanian to Maestrichtian, in agreement with recent studies in New Jersey. In this study, the oldest Cretaceous, which is equivalent to the Woodbridge day Member of the Raritan Formation of New Jersey, occurs just above sea level at Garvies Point, Glen Cove, and in the Port Washington sand pits in northwestern Long Island, whereas sediments from near the base of the Fire Island well arc correlated with the South Amboy Fire Clay Member. The Magothy and Matawan combined in Long Island are about 1,500 ft (457 m) thick, whereas in New Jersey both units rarely exceed a thickness of 500 ft (152 m). Outcropping Cretaceous sediments in Block Island are equivalent to the South Amboy Fire Clay Member rather than the Magothy, as indicated in prior studies. Palynologic zonation of the Late Cretaceous is tentatively extended to Magothy and younger strata on the basis of the appearance and proliferation of the more advanced, angiosperm pollen forms. This study also provides a basis for extending the zonation and hence the correlation to the sediments of the Continental Shelf.

New York, Rhode Island↗
USGS1974

Silicoflagellate zonation of upper Cretaceous to lower Miocene deep-sea sediment

A stratigraphic zonation based on silicoflagellates is proposed for the division of Upper Cretaceous to lower Miocene deep-sea sediments into eight independent zones. The occurrence of silicoflagellate siliceous microfossils from Mesozoic and lower Cenozoic sediment has been poorly known in all but the middle Eocene. The most diagnostic occurrences in deep-sea sediment are here used to define a sequence of zones, which are correlated with the more widely recognizable zonation of coccoliths. The silicoflagellate zones defined include the Lyramula furcula Zone of Late Cretaceous age, the Corbisema hastata Zone of Paleocene age, the Naviculopsis constricta Zone and Dictyocha hexacantha Zone of Eocene age, the Dictyocha deflandrei Zone and Rocella gemma Zone of Oligocene age, and the Naviculopsis quadrata Zone and Distephanus octacanthus Zone of early Miocene age.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS2002

The Sacatosa coalbed methane field: A first For Texas

In 2001, The Exploration Company (TXCO), San Antonio, announced the Sacatosa Coalbed Methane (CBM) Field in Maverick County. This field is the first CBM field in Texas (Fig. 1). The field is producing from bituminous coal in the Cretaceous Olmos Formation that outcrops to the west and dips easterly towards the Gulf Coast. The CBM field was developed in coalbeds whose general structure was known from log top data in pre-existing oil and gas wells drilled throughout the basin (Fig. 2). These preliminary data showed a large area of coal above 2000 ft depth with net coal thicknesses in the 5 to 30 ft range. Subsequently, TXCO and the USGS formed a cooperative research effort to determine the gas in place, rank, quality, extent and thickness of the Olmos coal in order to understand the resource potential of this newly emerging field.

Texas↗
USGS2005

Petroleum system modeling of the western Canada sedimentary basin - isopach grid files

This publication contains zmap-format grid files of isopach intervals that represent strata associated with Devonian to Holocene petroleum systems of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, Canada. Also included is one grid file that represents elevations relative to sea level of the top of the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group. Vertical and lateral scales are in meters. The age range represented by the stratigraphic intervals comprising the grid files is 373 million years ago (Ma) to present day. File names, age ranges, formation intervals, and primary petroleum system elements are listed in table 1. Metadata associated with this publication includes information on the study area and the zmap-format files. The digital files listed in table 1 were compiled as part of the Petroleum Processes Research Project being conducted by the Central Energy Resources Team of the U.S. Geological Survey, which focuses on modeling petroleum generation, 3 migration, and accumulation through time for petroleum systems of the WCSB. Primary purposes of the WCSB study are to Construct the 1-D/2-D/3-D petroleum system models of the WCSB. Actual boundaries of the study area are documented within the metadata; excluded are northern Alberta and eastern Saskatchewan, but fringing areas of the United States are included. Publish results of the research and the grid files generated for use in the 3-D model of the WCSB. Evaluate the use of petroleum system modeling in assessing undiscovered oil and gas resources for geologic provinces across the World.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2006

Introduction to ‘Antarctic climate evolution: View from the margin’

This special issue on “Antarctic Climate Evolution—view from the margin” presents results from modelling studies and reports on geoscience data aimed at improving our understanding of the behaviour of the Antarctic ice sheet and the climate of the region. This research field is of interest because of the sensitivity of the polar regions to global warming, and because of the influence of the Antarctic ice sheet on global sea level and climate through most if not all of the Cenozoic Era. The Antarctic ice sheet both responds to and forces changes on global climate and sea level. We need to be aware of the scale and frequency of these changes if we are to understand past patterns of environmental change elsewhere on earth. It was only three decades ago that we discovered from strata drilled in shelf basins on the Antarctic margin that the Antarctic ice sheet had a history that predated the Quaternary ice ages by over 20 million years ( Hayes et al., 1975 ). Later that year the first interpretation of Antarctic glacial history through the Cenozoic Era from oxygen isotopes, recorded in foraminifera from deep-sea sediment cores, was published ( Shackleton and Kennett, 1975 ). Revisions with a more extensive database have modified the story a little ( Miller et al., 1987 , Zachos et al., 2001 ), and there have been recent attempts to resolve the temperature–ice volume ambiguity ( Lear et al., 2000 ). However, reports on strata drilled on the Antarctic margin have unambiguously shown the character of this huge ice sheet, which was oscillating in the Oligocene ( Barrett et al., 1987 , Barrett, 1999 ) with a period and magnitude comparable with the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets of the Quaternary ( Naish et al., 2001a , Naish et al., 2001b ). In this issue we present further research on the history of the Antarctic ice sheet from Oligocene to recent times, most of them from the Antarctic margin, but with some on the nature of the deep-sea isotope record, and others using recently developed modeling techniques to investigate the influence of atmosphere, ocean and biosphere on past Antarctic climate. This special issue is the third in three years on the theme of Antarctic Climate Evolution. The first followed a workshop in Erice, Sicily, in 2001 to report on results from ANTOSTRAT, a SCAR-sponsored project for gathering and analysing circum-Antarctic seismic data for planning and promoting offshore drilling for climate history. The introduction to that issue (Florindo et al., 2003) provides a review of the recent history of circum-Antarctic drilling by the Ocean Drilling Program (Legs 113, 114, 119, 120, 177, 178, 188 and 189) and the Cape Roberts Project. For a more comprehensive review of earlier drilling in the Ross Sea region (Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 28, Dry Valley Drilling Project, McMurdo Sound Sediment and Tectonic Studies, Cenozoic Investigations in the western Ross Sea) see Hambrey and Barrett (1993). The first of these issues (Florindo et al., 2003) featured a global plate reconstruction of the Southern Hemisphere through Cenozoic time with emphasis on evolution of Cenozoic seaways (Lawver and Gahagan, 2003) along with a study of the inception and early evolution of the EAIS using a new coupled global climate (GCM)–dynamic ice sheet model (DeConto and Pollard, 2003b), as well as data from recent drilling around the margin covering time period from Cretaceous to the present. A second special issue on the same theme (Florindo et al., 2005) also featured a mix of modelling and data papers with a focus on the Eocene–Oligocene boundary and the initiation of ice sheet growth, including a pioneering attempt to evaluate the relative influence of fluvial versus glacial processes in shaping the landscape of the Prydz Bay sector of Antarctica (Jamieson et al., 2005). The remainder of the issue comprised further papers on seismic stratigraphy and reports from drilling around the margin. The papers to be found in this special issue, like the previous two, maintain the mix of modelling- and data-oriented papers that reflect the range of this research.

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology↗
USGS2011

Detailed sections from auger holes in the Elizabethtown 1:100,000-scale quadrangle, North Carolina

The Elizabethtown 1:100,000 quadrangle is in the west-central part of the Coastal Plain of southeastern North Carolina. The Coastal Plain, in this region, consists mostly of unlithified sediments that range in age from Late Cretaceous to Holocene. These sediments lie with profound unconformity on complexly deformed metamorphic and igneous rocks similar to rocks found immediately to the west in the Piedmont province. Coastal Plain sediments generally dip gently to the southeast or south and reach a maximum thickness of about 850 feet (ft) in the extreme southeast part of the map area. The gentle southerly and southeasterly dip is disrupted in several areas by faulting. The U.S. Geological Survey recovered one core and augered 196 research test holes in the Elizabethtown 1:100,000 quadrangle to supplement sparse outcrop data in the map area. The recovered sediments were studied and data from these sediments recorded to determine the lithologic characteristics, spatial distribution, and temporal framework of the represented Coastal Plain stratigraphic units. These test holes were critical for accurately determining the distribution of major geologic units and the position of unit boundaries. The detailed descriptions of the subsurface data can be used by geologists, hydrologists, engineers, and community planners to provide a detailed shallow-subsurface stratigraphic framework for the Elizabethtown map region.

North Carolina↗