TY - JOUR

T1 - Milankovitch cyclicity in the latest Cretaceous of the Gulf Coastal Plain, USA

AU - Naujokaityte, Jone

AU - Garb, Matthew P.

AU - Thibault, Nicolas

AU - Brophy, Shannon K.

AU - Landman, Neil H.

AU - Witts, James D.

AU - Cochran, J. Kirk

AU - Larina, Ekaterina

AU - Phillips, George

AU - Myers, Corinne E.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Upper Cretaceous marine sequences in the Gulf Coastal Plain (USA) span the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) transition, allowing for detailed studies of one of the -most severe extinction events of the Phanerozoic. To improve the temporal resolution of the stratigraphic record that represents environmental change leading up to the K-Pg boundary, we constructed a high-resolution chemostratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy of upper Maastrichtian shallow marine deposits located in the state of Mississippi (USA). Upper Maastrichtian strata in this area consist of alternating decimeter scale chalk and marl rhythmites deposited in a hemipelagic setting. New geochemical proxy records were used to test whether rhythmic sedimentation was driven by Milankovitch cycles. Stable isotopes (delta C-13(carb), delta O-18(carb)), carbonate content (wt% CaCO3), and elemental concentrations (Ti, K, Fe) integrated with microfossil and ammonite biostratigraphy reveal astronomical forcing in the studied record. Spectral estimation suggests that rhythmic bedding was associated with climate change driven by precession (similar to 20 kyr). Obliquity signals are also apparent in our analysis, and short eccentricity (similar to 100 kyr) is inferred from amplitude modulation of precession. Studied sections were correlated at the precession scale with the recently tuned K-Pg succession near Morello, Italy which is stratigraphically equivalent to the well-characterized K-Pg sites in Gubbio, Italy (Bottaccione, Contessa Highway). Additionally, carbon isotope records from the study area exhibit large scale trends throughout the latest Maastrichtian, similar to those observed in the Morello and Bottaccione sections. Thus, we show that Milankovitch-scale climatic signals and low-amplitude carbon isotope shifts (

AB - Upper Cretaceous marine sequences in the Gulf Coastal Plain (USA) span the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) transition, allowing for detailed studies of one of the -most severe extinction events of the Phanerozoic. To improve the temporal resolution of the stratigraphic record that represents environmental change leading up to the K-Pg boundary, we constructed a high-resolution chemostratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy of upper Maastrichtian shallow marine deposits located in the state of Mississippi (USA). Upper Maastrichtian strata in this area consist of alternating decimeter scale chalk and marl rhythmites deposited in a hemipelagic setting. New geochemical proxy records were used to test whether rhythmic sedimentation was driven by Milankovitch cycles. Stable isotopes (delta C-13(carb), delta O-18(carb)), carbonate content (wt% CaCO3), and elemental concentrations (Ti, K, Fe) integrated with microfossil and ammonite biostratigraphy reveal astronomical forcing in the studied record. Spectral estimation suggests that rhythmic bedding was associated with climate change driven by precession (similar to 20 kyr). Obliquity signals are also apparent in our analysis, and short eccentricity (similar to 100 kyr) is inferred from amplitude modulation of precession. Studied sections were correlated at the precession scale with the recently tuned K-Pg succession near Morello, Italy which is stratigraphically equivalent to the well-characterized K-Pg sites in Gubbio, Italy (Bottaccione, Contessa Highway). Additionally, carbon isotope records from the study area exhibit large scale trends throughout the latest Maastrichtian, similar to those observed in the Morello and Bottaccione sections. Thus, we show that Milankovitch-scale climatic signals and low-amplitude carbon isotope shifts (

KW - K-Pg mass extinction

KW - Cyclostratigraphy

KW - Stable isotopes

KW - Orbital cycles

KW - Chemostratigraphy

KW - LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES

KW - STABLE-ISOTOPE RECORDS

KW - MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT

KW - MASS EXTINCTION

KW - ASTEROID IMPACT

KW - CLIMATE-CHANGE

KW - NORTH-AMERICA

KW - STEVNS KLINT

KW - MULTI-PROXY

KW - END

U2 - 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2021.105954

DO - 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2021.105954

M3 - Journal article

VL - 421

JO - Sedimentary Geology

JF - Sedimentary Geology

SN - 0037-0738

M1 - 105954

ER -