Late Tertiary paleoclimatic interpretation from lacustrine rhythmites in the Gray Fossil Site,northeastern Tennessee,USA |
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| Authors: | Aaron J Shunk Steven G Driese John A Dunbar |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Geology, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97354, Waco, TX 76798-7354, USA |
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| Abstract: | The Gray Fossil Site (GFS) includes a small (<2 ha) paleosinkhole lake fill with an exceptionally well-preserved record of
sedimentation and fossils from the latest Miocene to earliest Pliocene. The uppermost lacustrine stratigraphy is characterized
by rhythmites that regularly alternate between coarse-grained and organic-rich (A) laminae and fine-grained, silty clay (B)
laminae. Both the A and B components are almost exclusively comprised of exogenic sediment (including organic matter). Periodicities
of 24 and 4.4 are recorded within a continuous 96 interpreted year sequence of rhythmite sediment. In a small lake with a
poorly oxygenated bottom, the presence of laterally continuous laminated sediment that includes well-known periodicities in
rhythmite thickness is interpreted as representing annually generated varves that correspond to seasonal variations in sedimentation.
The distinctly larger fraction of medium sand-size quartz grains present within the A laminae, as well as the abrupt transitions
between A and B components suggest that the rhythmites represent deposition during alternating high-energy and lower-energy
seasons, which is consistent with a monsoonal precipitation pattern. The seasonal climate may relate to changes in the ocean
circulation pattern prior to 4.6 Ma that resulted in an increased temperature and atmospheric pressure gradient between the
east coast of North America and the Atlantic Ocean, but this climate phase seems to be only a temporary condition, as underlying
and overlying sediment are both consistent with drier conditions. The periodicity at 24 interpreted years is consistent with
the well-known Hale solar cycle. The 4.4 interpreted-year periodicity occurs within the ENSO frequency band, and if this documentation
of ENSO-like interannual climate change is correct, then it suggests that ENSO operated at times during the warm Earth conditions
characterizing the late Tertiary. |
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| Keywords: | Lacustrine rhythmites Varves Monsoon ENSO Late Tertiary Periodicity |
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