The Catahoula Formation (lower Miocene?) in southeastern Mississippi consists of non-marine sands, silts, and clays. In the subsurface, the Catahoula Formation can be divided into three distinct members: 1) an upper, sandy sequence; 2) a middle unit composed mainly of silts and clays (with occasional, discontinuous sand bodies); and 3) a lower sequence comprised of thin sands interbedded with finer sediments. Catahoula Formation sediments were deposited by coalescing fluvial systems, which spread across the entire Gulf Coastal Plain. Specific depositional environments consist of abandoned channel deposits (silt, clay), point bar deposits (sand), overbank deposits (sand, silt, clay), crevasse splay deposits (sand, silt), and channel fill deposits (gravel). The lower member also has distributary bay or bar deposits (sand, silt , clay). The stratigraphic boundaries for the Catahoula Formation are here redefined in part. The lower boundary exists as a disconformable contact between the Catahoula and Bucatunna formations, which indicates a period of nondeposition and/or erosion. This contact exists at the outcrop and is consistent in the subsurface throughout the study area. The upper boundary is found to be the contact between the upper sand and the finer-grained sediments of the Hattiesburg Formation. This contact is prominent in the subsurface. Updip what is currently mapped as "Citronelle" is actually the upper sand member exposed. This misinterpretation is due to formational classification by using sediment color and textural shifts as primary criteria. This is contradictory to the fundamental criteria used to define rock stratigraphic units at the " formational" level.

ABSTRACT This paper provides a preliminary analysis of the PI90 boring that penetrated the entire Holocene valley fill sequence in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. The PI90 boring was acquired as part of the Louisiana Geological Survey -U.S. Geological Survey cooperative research project concerning wetland subsidence in Louisiana. The borehole site is located near Cocodrie, about 19 km inland of Louisiana's coastal barrier islands. A total depth of 65.0 m was reached and recovered, utilizing a combination of wet-rotary drilling and pushcores, 1.5 m in length and 7.62 cm in diameter. From the top of the coarse-grained Pleistocene Substratum (±62.5 m) to the surface, seven coarsening-upward cycles ranging from 3.0 to 12.0 m in thickness were encountered. These coarsening-upward cycles were interpreted by in-situ cone penetrometer and bore-log descriptions. They are indicative of seven separate delta-building episodes during overall regional Holocene transgression.

Impact-glass microspherules occur at numerous localities in rocks that can be dated as late Eocene. There is debate as to whether the discovered microspherule layers are the result of two or three impact events. Standard biostratigraphic techniques have been employed to date the microspherule layers. However, analysis of the available data indicates that zonal biostratigraphy has been insufficient for the task, particularly if practiced with only one taxonomic group. A chronostratigraphic framework model constructed using the Graphic Correlation technique is used with calcareous and siliceous microfossil data to determine the position in time of the microspherule layers. The results indicate that there are not two or three different layers, but at least six and possibly more. There are at least three and probably more eastern American microspherule layers. There are three Indo-Pacific layers that do not seem to correlate with any of the American layers. All of the proven layers (not possibly the result of contamination) are spread out over a one-million-year period in the middle and upper Globigerinatheka semiinvoluta Biochronozone. A chronostratigraphic table contains correlations of various upper Eocene fossil and stratigraphic events.

The scientific controversy over the origin of upper Eocene tektites, microtektites and other microspherules cannot be logically resolved until it is determined just how many events are involved. The microspherule-bearing beds in marine sediments have been dated using standard biozonal techniques. Although a powerful stratigraphic tool, zonal biostratigraph has its limitations. One is that if an event, such as a microspherule occurrence, is observed to occur in a zone at one locality and then a similar event observed in the same zone at another locality, it still may be unwarranted to conclude that these events exactly correlate. To be in a zone a sample only need be between the fossil events that define the zone boundaries. It is often very difficult to accurately determine where within a zone one might be. Further, the zone defining events do not everywhere occur at the same points in time. That is, the ranges of the defining taxa are not always filled. Thus, the length of time represented by a zone (but not, of course, its chronozone) can vary from place to place. These problems can be offset by use of chronostratigraphic modelling techniques such as Graphic Correlation. This technique was used to build a Cretaceous and Cenozoic model containing fossil, magnetopolarity, and other events. The scale of the model can be demonstrated to be linear with time. This model was used to determine the chronostratigraphic position of upper Eocene microspherule layers.

Paleontologic and paleomagnetic investigations were conducted on several hundred Pliocene and Pleistocene marine samples from five regions of the emerged Atlantic Coastal Plain: (1) the Delmarva Peninsula, (2) eastern Virginia, (3) central and northern North Carolina, (4) southern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina, and (5) the Charleston area, South Carolina. Molluscan and ostracode interval and assemblage zonations, which are the primary means of regional correlation, have been calibrated using planktic biochronologic, paleomagnetic, radiometric and amino-acid recemization data. These multiple dating criteria were used to determine the age and, where possible, the duration of marine transgressive/regressive sequences. A correlation chart illustrates the age relationships of 27 formations from five regions. One important conclusion is some of the Yorktown Formation of Virginia and North Carolina (including the “Duplin” Formation), and some of the Raysor of South Carolina are late Pliocene in age. The late Pliocene Chowan River Formation of North Carolina is older than the early Pleistocene Waccamaw Formation of South Carolina, which in turn may be older than the James City Formation of North Carolina. During the last 1.0 million years, multiple marine transgressions occurred in each region, but the age of these middle and late Pleistocene formations often may differ from one area to the next.

Research Article| September 01, 1984 Age of the Comfort Member of the Castle Hayne Formation, North Carolina J. E. HAZEL; J. E. HAZEL 1U.S. Geological Survey, 970 National Center, Reston, Virginia 22092 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar L. M. BYBELL; L. M. BYBELL 1U.S. Geological Survey, 970 National Center, Reston, Virginia 22092 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar L. E. EDWARDS; L. E. EDWARDS 1U.S. Geological Survey, 970 National Center, Reston, Virginia 22092 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar G. D. JONES; G. D. JONES 2Union Oil Company, California, P.O. Box 76, Brea, California 92621 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar L. W. WARD L. W. WARD 1U.S. Geological Survey, 970 National Center, Reston, Virginia 22092 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GSA Bulletin (1984) 95 (9): 1040–1044. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1984)95<1040:AOTCMO>2.0.CO;2 Article history first online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation J. E. HAZEL, L. M. BYBELL, L. E. EDWARDS, G. D. JONES, L. W. WARD; Age of the Comfort Member of the Castle Hayne Formation, North Carolina. GSA Bulletin 1984;; 95 (9): 1040–1044. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1984)95<1040:AOTCMO>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract The biostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic position of the Comfort Member of the Castle Hayne Formation has been the subject of much debate. At the Martin-Marietta Quarry at Castle Hayne, New Hanover County, North Carolina, the planktic foraminifers indicate an assignment within an interval of the uppermost Turborotalia frontosa Zone to the Turborotalia pomeroli Zone. The calcareous nannofossils indicate an assignment to the middle part of the Chiasmolithus solitus Zone. The dinocyst data indicate placement in the upper part of the Kisselovia coleothrypta Zone of Costa and Downie. These zonal units are considered to be within the middle Eocene of international usage, and, on the basis of the time scale used in this paper, the Chiasmolithus solitus Zone represents a time interval of 42.1 to 45.4 megaannums (Ma). This differs significantly from a Rb/Sr glauconite date of 34.8 ± 1.0 Ma previously obtained at the same locality. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

The result of a session at the 1981 AAPG Annual Meeting, this volume attempts to document global age and magnitude of sea-level shifts, and ultimately, the cause of the short-term shifts. Twelve individual papers were published on topics such as: comparative anatomy of cratonic unconformities; relation of unconformities, tectonics, and sea-level change; outcrop features and origin of basin margin unconformities; significant unconformities and the hiatuses represented by them; regional unconformities and depositional cycles; relative sea-level changes during the Middle and Late Cretaceous; Late Oligocene-Pliocene transgressive-regressive cycles of sedimentation; oxygen-isotope record of ice-volume history; oceanic ridge volumes and sea-level change; Jurassic unconformities, chronostratigraphy, and sea-level changes; Cenozoic regional arosion of the Abyssal sea floor; and depositional sequences and stratigraphic gaps on submerged United States Atlantic margin.

Paleontologic and paleomagnetic investigations were conducted on several hundred Pliocene and Pleistocene marine samples from five regions of the emerged Atlantic Coastal Plain: (1) the Delmarva Peninsula, (2) eastern Virginia, (3) central and northern North Carolina, (4) southern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina, and (5) the Charleston area, South Carolina. Molluscan and ostracode interval and assemblage zonations, which are the primary means of regional correlation, have been calibrated using planktic biochronologic, paleomagnetic, radiometric and amino-acid recemization data. These multiple dating criteria were used to determine the age and, where possible, the duration of marine transgressive/regressive sequences. A correlation chart illustrates the age relationships of 27 formations from five regions. One important conclusion is some of the Yorktown Formation of Virginia and North Carolina (including the “Duplin” Formation), and some of the Raysor of South Carolina are late Pliocene in age. The late Pliocene Chowan River Formation of North Carolina is older than the early Pleistocene Waccamaw Formation of South Carolina, which in turn may be older than the James City Formation of North Carolina. During the last 1.0 million years, multiple marine transgressions occurred in each region, but the age of these middle and late Pleistocene formations often may differ from one area to the next. A significant result of the study is the evidence for the lack of time equivalence of formations in the five different regions; that is, the sequence of marine transgressions in one region does not necessarily correspond to that in another. This appears to be the result of differing subsidence and uplift histories, the patchiness of the depositional record, and the limitations of the dating techniques in light of the rapidity and frequency of sea-level fluctuations.

ABSTRACT The paleontology and biostratigraphy of Tertiary, Cretaceous, and Paleozoic rocks in the upper Mississippi embayment are incompletely known because marine fossils are only locally present in these rocks. This study concerns material from two U. S. Geological Survey test holes in New Madrid County, southeastern Missouri. Test hole 1 sampled lower Tertiary strata to a depth of 146 ft; these strata were found to be late Eocene in age on the basis of sporomorphs. Test hole 1-X, 29 ft northwest of hole 1, provided cuttings and cores from lower Tertiary, Upper Cretaceous, and lower Paleozoic rocks to a total depth of 2,316 ft below the Kelly bushing (at an altitude of 288 ft). Sporomorphs show that the base of the Jackson Formation (Jacksonian Stage, upper Eocene) is probably at a depth of about 350 ft in test hole 1-X. Lithologic units of the Claibornian Stage (middle Eocene) here consist of the Cockfield? and Cook Mountain Formations and Memphis Sand, in descending order. The Claibornian in hole 1-X could not be subdivided using sporomorphs from cuttings, but sporomorphs show that the top of the Sabinian Stage (top of the lower Eocene) is at about 1,055 ft; lithologically, the top of the Wilcox Group (top of the Flour Island Formation) is at 1,048 ft. The top of the lower Sabinian (top of the Paleocene) is within the Flour Island Formation at about 1,105 ft. The top of the underlying Fort Pillow Sand is at 1,186 ft. Lithologically, the interval from 1,339 to 1,377 ft may belong to the Old Breastworks Formation; dinoflagellates from cuttings indicate that this interval is likely to be late Midwayan in age and to correlate with the Naheola Formation of the eastern Gulf Coast. The Porters Creek Clay extends from a probable top at 1,377 ft to 1,696 ft, and the base of the underlying Clayton Formation is at 1,704.5 ft. Calcareous nannofossils, dinoflagellates, foraminifers, mollusks, ostracodes, and sporomorphs were examined from the continuously cored Porters Creek and Clayton of hole 1-X. On the basis of these fossils, the upper half of the Porters Creek correlates with the upper part of the same formation or perhaps partly with slightly younger rocks in the eastern Gulf Coast; the lowermost Porters Creek of the test hole seems to correlate with the upper part of the Clayton Formation of the eastern Gulf Coast and with the Kincaid Formation of Texas; and the thin Clayton of the test hole probably correlates with the lower part of the thick Clayton of the eastern Gulf Coast. Sporomorphs from McNairy Sand (Upper Cretaceous) cores from hole 1-x indicate an age of Maestrichtian and perhaps latest Campanian. Lower Paleozoic dolostone from 2,023 ft to total depth at 2,316 ft is barren of identifiable fossils, except for a probable fragment of the fish Anatolepis; the dolostone is probably Late Cambrian in age. The McNairy Sand of New Madrid hole 1-X seems to have formed mainly in nonmarine to marginal marine environments; the Clayton and lower Porters Creek represent an early Paleocene marine transgression followed by a regression lasting through the end of Porters Creek time and perhaps into Naheola (late Midwayan) time; the Sabinian, Claibornian, and Jacksonian strata of test holes 1-X and 1 were deposited mainly or nearly entirely in nonmarine environments. End_of_Record - Last_Page 444-------

Quantitative differences in the shape of two or more objects can be obtained by Orthogonal Mapping provided coincidental or analogous points can be identified on each object. The least-squares difference between each set of analogous points is determined by use of a projective transformation of a set of measured points which involves the rotation, translocation, and scaling of these points relative to a set of fixed points.

Research Article| November 01, 1970 Binary Coefficients and Clustering in Biostratigraphy JOSEPH E HAZEL JOSEPH E HAZEL U.S. Geological Survey, E-501 U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C. 20242 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information JOSEPH E HAZEL U.S. Geological Survey, E-501 U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C. 20242 Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 24 Apr 1970 Revision Received: 25 Jun 1970 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Copyright © 1970, The Geological Society of America, Inc. Copyright is not claimed on any material prepared by U.S. government employees within the scope of their employment. GSA Bulletin (1970) 81 (11): 3237–3252. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1970)81[3237:BCACIB]2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 24 Apr 1970 Revision Received: 25 Jun 1970 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation JOSEPH E HAZEL; Binary Coefficients and Clustering in Biostratigraphy. GSA Bulletin 1970;; 81 (11): 3237–3252. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1970)81[3237:BCACIB]2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract The large data arrays common in biostratigraphy make subjective groupings difficult. Because of this, biostratigraphers have commonly based conclusions on the occurrences of relatively few species. The use of binary similarity coefficients, cluster analysis techniques, and digital computers allows a polythetic approach to biostratigraphy. The approach is free of circular and a priori reasoning in that it is established that assemblage zones (major clusters in a dendrogram) are present before the biostratigraphic utility of various taxa for the recognition of the zones is determined. A measure for determining the biostratigraphic fidelity of a species for established zones is proposed. Published data on the distribution of ostracodes and foraminifers from the Eocene and Oligocene of Mississippi and Alabama are used to demonstrate a method of using coefficients and clustering in establishing a zonation. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

The new genus Repandocosta is described for twelve North American and at least three European ostracode species that have been placed mainly in Trachyleberidea or Cythereis. Cythereis pauca Schmidt, 1948, is designated as the type species. The new genus has a stratigraphic range in North America of Coniacian [Cretaceous] to upper Eocene; in Europe it is known from middle Paleocene to upper Oligocene.

Bowen (1953) selected Cythereis prestwichiana as the type species of his genus Trachyleberidea but had mistakenly taken specimens of C. aranea for C. prestwichiana. Hazel considers these species to represent two separate genera, and concludes that Trachyleberidea is a valid but undiagnosed genus based on C. prestwichiana, and that the diagnosis originally given by Bowen for Trachyleberidea describes another unnamed genus which includes C. aranea and other related species. He presents a diagnosis for the genus Trachyleberidea, and disagrees with Morkhoven9s placement of Trachyleberidea in synonymy with Costa.A Senomian-Paleogene genus has close affinity with Trachyleberidea and consists of such species as Cythereis hannai, C. ivii, and C. pamlicoensis.