scholarly journals Late Pleistocene marginal marine ostracodes from the southeastern Atlantic coastal plain and their paleoenvironmental implications

2010 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Cronin

Upper Pleistocene deposits from 21 localities in Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and northern Florida yielded 77 ostracode species; virtually all are living today in brackish and marine water. Five late Pleistocene ostracode biofacies signifying lagoonal, oyster bank, estuarine, open sound, and inner sublittoral environments were delineated using Principal Coordinate Analysis. During the late Pleistocene, the Lagoonal and Oyster Bank Biofacies predominated in the Chesapeake Bay area, whereas east-central North Carolina was characterized by an Open Sound Biofacies similar to that in Pamlico Sound today. The Inner Sublittoral Biofacies was present in southeastern Virginia and along the South Carolina coast. The Estuarine Biofacies was found only in the Chesapeake Bay region. Paleoclimates were inferred by a comparison of Holocene and late Pleistocene ostracode zoogeography; apparently the climate during the late Pleistocene was as warm as, and in some areas warmer than at the same latitudes today. Ostracode species are illustrated by scanning electron photomicrographs Cyprideis margarita, Neocaudites atlan-tica, and Microcytherura norfolkensis are described as new species.

1980 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Cronin

AbstractMarine ostracodes from 50 localities were studied to determine the age and elevation of Pleistocene sea levels in the Atlantic coastal plain from Maryland to northern Florida. Using ostracode taxon and concurrent ranges, published planktic biostratigraphic, paleomagnetic, and radiometric data, ostracode assemblage zones representing early (1.8-1.0 my), middle (0.7-0.4 my), and late (0.3-0.01 my) Pleistocene deposition were recognized and used as a basis for correlation. Ostracode biofacies signifying lagoonal, oyster bank, estuarine, open sound, and inner sublittoral environments provided estimated ranges of paleodepths for each locality. From these data the following minimum and maximum Pleistocene sea-level estimates were determined for the southeastern coastal plain: late Pleistocene, 2–10 m from Maryland to northern Florida; middle Pleistocene, 6–15 m in northern South Carolina; early Pleistocene, 4–22 m in central North Carolina, 13–35 m in southern North Carolina, and 6–27 m in South Carolina. Climatically induced glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations adequately account for the late Pleistocene sea-level data, but other factors, possibly differential crustal uplift, may have complicated the early Pleistocene record.


1963 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 687-692
Author(s):  
Gerald R. MacCarthy

Abstract For a given maximum intensity, most earthquakes of the Eastern United States are felt over much wider area than their western counterparts. Several of these eastern shocks, have, because of their relatively low maximum intensities, received little or no attention in seismological literature. Three such earthquakes will be described in terms of contemporary accounts: those of March 9, 1828, April 29, 1852, and of August 31, 1861. In no case did the maximum intensity exceed about VI on the Mercalli Scale, yet each was felt over many thousands of square miles. The 1828 shock affected at least 190,000 square miles, and was reported from Pennsylvania to South Carolina. That of 1852 affected about 187,000 square miles, and was reported from New York to North Carolina. That of 1861 affected at least 280,000 square miles, and was reported from Maryland to the Georgia-Alabama border. All three were felt from the Atlantic Coastal Plain westward into Ohio.


10.1029/ft172 ◽  
1989 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Burleigh Harris ◽  
Vernon J. Hurst ◽  
Paul G. Nystrom ◽  
Lauck W. Ward ◽  
Charles W. Hoffman ◽  
...  

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