Not logged in
PANGAEA.
Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science

Brown, Paul; Kennett, James P; Ingram, B Lynn (1999): Age determination and median grain size of sediment core EN31-PC2 [dataset publication series]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.856719, Supplement to: Brown, P et al. (1999): Marine evidence for episodic Holocene megafloods in North America and the northern Gulf of Mexico. Paleoceanography, 14(4), 498-510, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999PA900017

Always quote citation above when using data! You can download the citation in several formats below.

RIS CitationBibTeX CitationShow MapGoogle Earth

Abstract:
Hemipelagic muds deposited during the past 5.3 cal kyr in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Orca Basin) contain seven intervals punctuated by relatively coarse siliciclastic grain-size peaks, planktonic faunal turnovers, and negative d13C excursions. We believe these episodes represent megaflood deposits reflecting historically unprecedented outfall of North American floodwater and terrigenous mud plumes into the gulf, resulting in collapse of the open-ocean pelagic ecosystem. The deposits record multidecadal episodes of high continental precipitation and large Mississippi River floods at ~4.7, 3.5, 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, 1.2, and 0.3 cal ka (500-1200-year recurrence interval). Variations in tropical plankton frequencies define submillenial warming intervals that culminate in these fluvial episodes. Strengthened tropical currents in the gulf at these times appear to have increased sea surface temperatures and associated flow of moist gulf air to the midwest. Terrestrial paleohydrologic records support the marine evidence for millennial-scale changes in recurrence of large midwest flood episodes.
Coverage:
Latitude: 26.958330 * Longitude: -91.236670
Event(s):
EN31-PC2 * Latitude: 26.958330 * Longitude: -91.236670 * Elevation: -2310.0 m * Recovery: 9.27 m * Location: Orca Basin * Campaign: ENXX * Basis: Endeavor * Method/Device: Piston corer (PC)
Size:
2 datasets

Download Data

Download ZIP file containing all datasets as tab-delimited text — use the following character encoding: