Gulf Stream: Reconstruction of Cenozoic flow patterns over the Blake Plateau

Pinet, Paul R.; Popenoe, Peter; Nelligan, David F.

doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1981)9<266:gsrocf>2.0.co;2

Cited by 45 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…There are only a few intervals during the subsequent middle Miocene during which Poaceae showed slightly higher abundances. The generally rare occurrences of true grasses in the Atlantic coastal plain can be explained with the consistent humid conditions in the catchment area, presumably tied to the presence of the proto-Gulf Stream since at least the early Eocene (Pinet et al, 1981). Generally, the pollen assemblages found in the middle Miocene sediments from Site M0027 (∼ 250 to ∼ 79 mbsf) are very similar to those found in the neighbouring pollen record from the York Quarry (Fig.…”

Section: Early Miocene (Late Burdigalian ∼ 19 To ∼ 165 Ma)supporting

confidence: 64%

“…Although the modern North Atlantic Slope Water mass appears to have originated only ∼ 1.4 Ma (McCarthy et al, 2000), a low salinity (but warmer) precursor to this water mass appears to have been created by abundant fluvial runoff since the Gulf Stream originated, separating northeastern North America from the warm, saline subtropical gyre, and thus resulting in greater seasonality than in the oceanic realm. The time of the origin of the Gulf Stream remains hotly debated, but there is evidence of strong current activity on the Blake Plateau as early as the late Paleocene-early Eocene (Pinet et al, 1981) and it was an intense western boundary current by the latest Miocene, when it experienced its greatest intensification based on deep erosion of the Blake Plateau (Kaneps, 1979). The palaeogeographic reconstructions of Scotese et al (1988) for 20 Ma suggest that the North and South Equatorial currents blown by the easterly trade winds would largely have recirculated northward in the Atlantic rather than continuing to the Pacific Ocean via the highly restricted seaway between the Americas, consistent with the sedimentary evidence from the Blake Plateau (Pinet et al, 1981).…”

Section: Geographical and Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The time of the origin of the Gulf Stream remains hotly debated, but there is evidence of strong current activity on the Blake Plateau as early as the late Paleocene-early Eocene (Pinet et al, 1981) and it was an intense western boundary current by the latest Miocene, when it experienced its greatest intensification based on deep erosion of the Blake Plateau (Kaneps, 1979). The palaeogeographic reconstructions of Scotese et al (1988) for 20 Ma suggest that the North and South Equatorial currents blown by the easterly trade winds would largely have recirculated northward in the Atlantic rather than continuing to the Pacific Ocean via the highly restricted seaway between the Americas, consistent with the sedimentary evidence from the Blake Plateau (Pinet et al, 1981).…”

Section: Geographical and Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Late Eocene to middle Miocene (33 to 13 million years ago) vegetation and climate development on the North American Atlantic Coastal Plain (IODP Expedition 313, Site M0027)

Kotthoff¹,

Greenwood

McCarthy

et al. 2014

Clim. Past

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Abstract.We investigated the palynology of sediment cores from Site M0027 of IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program) Expedition 313 on the New Jersey shallow shelf to examine vegetation and climate dynamics on the east coast of North America between 33 and 13 million years ago and to assess the impact of over-regional climate events on the region. Palynological results are complemented with pollenbased quantitative climate reconstructions. Our results indicate that the hinterland vegetation of the New Jersey shelf was characterized by oak-hickory forests in the lowlands and conifer-dominated vegetation in the highlands from the early Oligocene to the middle Miocene. The Oligocene witnessed several expansions of conifer forest, probably related to cooling events. The pollen-based climate data imply an increase in annual temperatures from ∼ 11.5 • C to more than 16 • C during the Oligocene.The Mi-1 cooling event at the onset of the Miocene is reflected by an expansion of conifers and mean annual temperature decrease of ∼ 4 • C, from ∼ 16 • C to ∼ 12 • C around 23 million years before present. Relatively low annual temperatures are also recorded for several samples during an interval around ∼ 20 million years before present, which may reflect the Mi-1a and the Mi-1aa cooling events. Generally, the Miocene ecosystem and climate conditions were very similar to those of the Oligocene. Miocene grasslands, as known from other areas in the USA during that time period, are not evident for the hinterland of the New Jersey shelf, possibly reflecting moisture from the proto-Gulf Stream.The palaeovegetation data reveal stable conditions during the mid-Miocene climatic optimum at ∼ 15 million years before present, with only a minor increase in deciduousevergreen mixed forest taxa and a decrease in swamp forest taxa. Pollen-based annual temperature reconstructions show average annual temperatures of ∼ 14 • C during the midMiocene climatic optimum, ∼ 2 • C higher than today, but ∼ 1.5 • C lower than preceding and following phases of the Miocene. We conclude that vegetation and regional climate in the hinterland of the New Jersey shelf did not react as sensitively to Oligocene and Miocene climate changes as other regions in North America or Europe due to the moderating effects of the North Atlantic. An additional explanation for the relatively low regional temperatures reconstructed for the mid-Miocene climatic optimum could be an uplift of the Appalachian Mountains during the Miocene, which would also have influenced the catchment area of our pollen record.

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Section: Early Miocene (Late Burdigalian ∼ 19 To ∼ 165 Ma)supporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Geographical and Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geographical and Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Late Eocene to middle Miocene (33 to 13 million years ago) vegetation and climate development on the North American Atlantic Coastal Plain (IODP Expedition 313, Site M0027)

Kotthoff¹,

Greenwood

McCarthy

et al. 2014

Clim. Past

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“…, 1994; Scotese, 1997), probably within the transition zone between tropical and temperate climate belts. This location permitted exposure of the ramp to the northeast‐flowing, warm ancestral Gulf Stream and south‐flowing, cool ancestral Labrador Current systems along the North Carolina shelf during much of the Palaeogene (Pinet et al. , 1981; Popenoe, 1985).…”

Section: Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subtropical to temperate facies from a transition zone, mixed carbonate–siliciclastic system, Palaeogene, North Carolina, USA

Coffey¹,

Read

2006

Sedimentology

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Palaeogene passive margin sediments on the US mid-Atlantic coastal plain provide valuable insight into facies interaction and distribution on mixed carbonate-siliciclastic shelves. This study utilizes well cuttings, outcrop, core, and seismic data to document temporal and spatial variations in admixed bryozoan-rich skeletal carbonates and sandy siliciclastic units that were deposited on a humid passive margin located in the vicinity of a major marine transition zone. This zone was situated between north-flowing, warm waters of the ancestral Gulf Stream (carbonate dominated settings) and south-flowing, cold waters of the ancestral Labrador Current (siliciclastic dominated settings). Some degree of mixing of carbonates and siliciclastics occurs in all facies; however, siliciclastic-prone sediments predominate in nearshore settings, while carbonate-prone sediments are more common in more open marine settings of the inner shelf break and deep shelf. A distinctive dual-break shelf depositional profile originated following a major Late Cretaceous to Palaeocene transgression that drowned the earlier shallow platform. This profile was characterized by prominent mid-shelf break dividing the shallow shelf from the deep shelf and a major continental shelf/slope break. Incomplete filling of available accommodation space during successive buildup of the shallow shelf preserved the topographic break on this passive margin. Storm wave base also contributed to the preservation of the dual-break shelf geometry by beveling shallow shelf sediments and transporting them onto and seaward of the midshelf break. Sediment fines in deep shelf facies were produced in place, transported downdip from the shallow shelf by storm ebb currents and boundary currents, and reworked from adjacent areas of the deep shelf by strike-parallel boundary currents. Regional climate and boundary currents controlled whether carbonate or siliciclastic material was deposited on the shelf, with warmer waters and more humid climates favouring carbonate deposition and cooler, more arid conditions favouring glaucony and siliciclastic dominated deposition. Continuous wave and current sweeping of the shallow shelf favoured deposition of mud-lean facies across much of the shallow shelf. Skeletal components in much of the carbonate-rich strata formed in warm, nutrient-rich subtropical waters, as indicated by widespread occurrences of larger benthic foraminifera and molluscan assemblages. These indicators of warm water deposition within the bryozoan-mollusk-rich carbonate assemblage on this shelf provide an example of a warm water bryomol assemblage; such facies generally are associated with cooler water depositional settings.

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“…Kaneps (1979) also found geological evidence for an increase in the velocity of the Gulf Stream 1.5 Ma, and a change in the path of the Gulf Stream is consistent with the interpretation of breaching of the Hatteras/Gulf Stream Outer Ridge connection by the Western Boundary Undercurrent around this time (Tucholke and Laine, 1982). The glacioeustatic lowstand would also have increased deflection of the Gulf Stream by exposing a large percentage of the eastern U.S. shelf and bathymetric highs like the Charleston Bump (Pinet et al, 1981;Pinet and Popenoe, 1985). Ujiie and Ujiie (1999) report evidence for a similar eastward deflection of the Kuroshio Current off Japan during glacioeustatic lowstands.…”

mentioning

confidence: 91%

Synchronous Palynological Changes in Early Pleistocene Sediments Off New Jersey and Iberia, and a Possible Paleoceanographic Explanation

et al. 2000

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Palynomorphs record the establishment of modern conditions in the subtropical North Atlantic during the early Pleistocene. Prior to ~1.4 Ma, muds on both the New Jersey shelf and the Iberia Abyssal Plain contained relatively few terrestrial palynomorphs, and had a dinocyst flora rich in Operculodinium israelianum and other dinocyst taxa recording warmer surface waters than at present (e.g., Tectatodinium pellitum, Lingulodinium machaerophorum, and Polysphaeridium zoharyi). Over a span of 250 ka, this palynological assemblage was succeeded by one rich in pollen and with a dinocyst flora similar to the "modern" flora, i.e. rich in Operculodinium centrocarpum, Bitectatodinium tepikiense, Spiniferites spp. (predominantly S. ramosus), and Brigantedinium spp. (predominantly B. simplex).

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Gulf Stream: Reconstruction of Cenozoic flow patterns over the Blake Plateau

Cited by 45 publications

References 0 publications

Late Eocene to middle Miocene (33 to 13 million years ago) vegetation and climate development on the North American Atlantic Coastal Plain (IODP Expedition 313, Site M0027)

Late Eocene to middle Miocene (33 to 13 million years ago) vegetation and climate development on the North American Atlantic Coastal Plain (IODP Expedition 313, Site M0027)

Subtropical to temperate facies from a transition zone, mixed carbonate–siliciclastic system, Palaeogene, North Carolina, USA

Synchronous Palynological Changes in Early Pleistocene Sediments Off New Jersey and Iberia, and a Possible Paleoceanographic Explanation

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