Paleoceanographic Model of Neogene Phosphorite Deposition, U.S. Atlantic Continental Margin

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 223; no. 4632; pp. 123 - 131
• Main Author: Riggs, Stanley R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The American Association for the Advancement of Science 13-01-1984; American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Carbonates; Continental margins; Continental shelves; Deposition (Geology); Fluvial deposition; Geology, Stratigraphic; Marine; Miocene; Miocene Epoch; Natural history; Observations; Oceanographic research; Paleoclimatology; Phosphate minerals; Phosphate rock; Phosphates; Sea level; Sediment deposition; Sedimentation and deposition; Sediments; Stratigraphy; Streams; Upwelling water; ASW, USA
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.223.4632.123

The Neogene stratigraphic section of the southeastern U.S. continental shelf-coastal plain system is characterized by (i) a series of major regional phosphogenic episodes; (ii) a strong spatial relationship between the structural or topographic framework and phosphate deposition; and (iii) distinct cyclical and regional patterns of deposition of the terrigenous, carbonate, and phosphate lithofacies. The complex depositional patterns are explained by a paleoceanographic model based upon the interaction of glacial eustatic sea-level fluctuations, associated changes in climate, and the dynamics of the Gulf Stream in response to the bathymetric configurations of the continental margin during the past 20 million years.