Absolute Chronology of Deep-sea Sediments and the Deposition of Clay on the Ocean Floor

Abstract

A6stmctAn absolute chronology of deep-sea sediments on thc basis of the accumulation of TiO, presupposes the rate of accumulation of clay to be tolerably constant with regard to timc. It is hcrc asserted that this condition is not fulfilled, becausc I) the supply of fine terrigeneous matter to offshore waters will be appreciably affected by climatic changes, 2) the total amount of fine terrigeneous matter carried in suspension by sea water is deposited in about 300 years, which is a small fraction of a climatic cycle, and, consequently, 3) the amount of tine terrigeneous matter present in the sea is insufficient to act as a buffer against the variations of the supply, on account of which these variations will be reflected by almost equally great variations of the rate of accumulation.

Chemical Composition of the Lunar Surface in Sinus Medii

“…yses as well as final results for the Surveyor V site in Mare Tranquillitatis have been reported (1)(2)(3)(4). The data from Surveyor VI, which landed at another mare site (Sinus Medii), have now been processed more completely.…”

“…After the data were examined for quality, they were used to prepare energy spectra of backscattered alpha particles and protons 23 JANUARY 1970 for each of the phases of the lunar operations. Background subtractions and small corrections to the energy scales of the spectra were made in a manner similar to that in the final Surveyor V report (4). The principal difference between the data presented here and those from the Surveyor V mission was the higher background in the alpha mode and its increase with time as a result of the gradual buildup of the scattering of uncollimated alpha particles from the gold-plated interior of the sensor head (6,7).…”

“…This library was essentially the same as that used in the analysis of terrestrial rocks with the spare instrument and in the final treatment of the Surveyor V data (4).…”

“…The value for each element is shown, together with its associated statistical error (1 a), as determined from the least-squares reduction. The small biases of the method have been subtracted, as in the final Surveyor V analyses (4). In the next to last column of Table 1 are estimates of the errors at the 90 percent confidence level.…”

“…It came from deposits that are at least 72 million years old (4). The piece containing the fossil (Fig.…”