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The White Stone Band of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation, an integrated high resolution approach to understanding environmental change

The White Stone Band of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation, an integrated high resolution approach to understanding environmental change
The White Stone Band of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation, an integrated high resolution approach to understanding environmental change
The Kimmeridge Clay is a Jurassic mudrock succession that shows Milankovitch Band climatic cyclicity. A key issue is to determine how the subtle changes that define this cyclicity result from climatic change. Using material from the Natural Environment Research Council Rapid Global Geological Events (RGGE) Kimmeridge Drilling Project boreholes, the White Stone Band was investigated at the lamination scale using backscattered electron imagery and quantitative palynofacies. Fabric analysis shows the lamination to represent successive deposition of coccolith-rich and organic-matter-rich layers. Individual laminae contain unsorted palynological debris with a consistent ratio of marine and terrestrial components. Such mixed organic matter input is interpreted as the result of storm transport. Linking water column processes to laminae deposition suggests seasonal input with a coccolith bloom followed by a more diverse assemblage including dinoflagellates and photosynthetic chlorobiacean bacteria. As the photic zone extended into the euxinic water column organic matter export to the sea bed underwent minimal cycling through oxidation and subsequently became preserved through sulphurization with greatly increased sequestration of carbon. This was significantlyincreased by late season storm-driven mixing of euxinic water into the photic zone. Increased frequency ofstorm systems would therefore dilute the coccolith input to give an oil shale. Hence climatically induced changes in storm frequency would progressively vary the organic content of the sediment and generate the climate cycle signal. Keywords: Milankovitch theory, Kimmeridge Clay, organic matter, high-resolution methods, climate change.
Milankovitch cycles, Kimmeridge Clay, organic matter, high-resolution methods, climatic changes
0016-7649
675-683
Pearson, S.J.
d6b71e15-ce6d-4277-86db-d4535d01e0dc
Marshall, J.E.A.
cba178e3-91aa-49a2-b2ce-4b8d9d870b06
Kemp, A.E.S.
131b479e-c2c4-47ae-abe1-ad968490960e
Pearson, S.J.
d6b71e15-ce6d-4277-86db-d4535d01e0dc
Marshall, J.E.A.
cba178e3-91aa-49a2-b2ce-4b8d9d870b06
Kemp, A.E.S.
131b479e-c2c4-47ae-abe1-ad968490960e

Pearson, S.J., Marshall, J.E.A. and Kemp, A.E.S. (2004) The White Stone Band of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation, an integrated high resolution approach to understanding environmental change. Journal of the Geological Society, 161 (4), 675-683.

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Kimmeridge Clay is a Jurassic mudrock succession that shows Milankovitch Band climatic cyclicity. A key issue is to determine how the subtle changes that define this cyclicity result from climatic change. Using material from the Natural Environment Research Council Rapid Global Geological Events (RGGE) Kimmeridge Drilling Project boreholes, the White Stone Band was investigated at the lamination scale using backscattered electron imagery and quantitative palynofacies. Fabric analysis shows the lamination to represent successive deposition of coccolith-rich and organic-matter-rich layers. Individual laminae contain unsorted palynological debris with a consistent ratio of marine and terrestrial components. Such mixed organic matter input is interpreted as the result of storm transport. Linking water column processes to laminae deposition suggests seasonal input with a coccolith bloom followed by a more diverse assemblage including dinoflagellates and photosynthetic chlorobiacean bacteria. As the photic zone extended into the euxinic water column organic matter export to the sea bed underwent minimal cycling through oxidation and subsequently became preserved through sulphurization with greatly increased sequestration of carbon. This was significantlyincreased by late season storm-driven mixing of euxinic water into the photic zone. Increased frequency ofstorm systems would therefore dilute the coccolith input to give an oil shale. Hence climatically induced changes in storm frequency would progressively vary the organic content of the sediment and generate the climate cycle signal. Keywords: Milankovitch theory, Kimmeridge Clay, organic matter, high-resolution methods, climate change.

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Published date: 2004
Keywords: Milankovitch cycles, Kimmeridge Clay, organic matter, high-resolution methods, climatic changes

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 7809
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/7809
ISSN: 0016-7649
PURE UUID: 5cba75dd-68a4-44e9-b977-266b809447d2
ORCID for J.E.A. Marshall: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9242-3646

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 17 Jun 2004
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:35

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Contributors

Author: S.J. Pearson
Author: J.E.A. Marshall ORCID iD
Author: A.E.S. Kemp

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