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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:prp0609@mail.ecu.edu (P.R. Parham).
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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

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