Open AccessChanging depth distribution of hiatuses during the Cenozoic
Author(s) -
SpencerCervato Cinzia
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
paleoceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-9186
pISSN - 0883-8305
DOI - 10.1029/97pa03440
Subject(s) - hiatus , geology , cenozoic , neogene , unconformity , paleontology , pleistocene , biostratigraphy , sea level , deposition (geology) , deep sea , paleoceanography , sediment , oceanography , sedimentary rock , structural basin
The differential effects of climate change, sea level, and water mass circulation on deposition/erosion of marine sediments can be constrained from the distribution of unconformities in the world's oceans. I identified temporal and depth patterns of hiatuses (“hiatus events”) from a large and chronologically well constrained stratigraphic database of deep‐sea sediments. The Paleogene is characterized by few, several million year long hiatuses. The most significant Cenozoic hiatus event spans most of the Paleocene. The Neogene is characterized by short, frequent hiatus events nearly synchronous in shallow and deep water sediments. Epoch boundaries are characterized by peaks in deep water hiatuses possibly caused by an increased circulation of corrosive bottom water and sediment dissolution. The Plio‐Pleistocene is characterized by a gradual decrease in the frequency of hiatuses. Future studies will focus on the regional significance of the hiatus events and their possible causes.