Towards a Neogene Palynostratigraphy of the Arctic Ocean
Abstract
The Neogene paleoenvironmental history of the Central Arctic Ocean is largely unknown despite many efforts to recover sequences older than the Pleistocene in the past 40 years. Although a number of studies claimed that some sediment cores comprise the Late Pliocene to Pleistocene, the age control of these sediments remained questionable. On this background, IODP Expedition 302 was a major step forward because sediments of undoubtedly Neogene age were drilled for the first time in the Central Arctic Ocean. In the course of shorebased biostratigraphic work, palynomorphs are studied at a relatively high resolution to establish a biostratigraphic framework for the Neogene of the Central Arctic Ocean. Numerous potentially valuable palynomorph datums have been identified in Hole 2A but comparison with occurrences at other high latitude sites is presently hampered by taxonomically problematic taxa and an inconsistent stratigraphic framework of a number of ODP holes from the Atlantic sector of the high northern latitudes. A number of taxa must be restudied and age models of ODP holes must be revised and adjusted to ATNTS2004 before palynomorph datums can be calibrated and a comprehensive and consistent zonation for the polar domains can be established. These specific problems of high latitude palynostratigraphy are illustrated by describing the biogeographic and stratigraphic distribution of a number of palynomorph taxa and by discussing the implications of revised datums for high latitude chronostratigraphy.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2007
- Bibcode:
- 2007AGUFMPP41D0785M
- Keywords:
-
- 3030 Micropaleontology (0459;
- 4944);
- 3036 Ocean drilling;
- 4944 Micropaleontology (0459;
- 3030);
- 4950 Paleoecology;
- 4952 Palynology