SURFACE TEXTURAL ANALYSIS OF QUARTZ SAND GRAINS FROM ODP SITE-918 OFFTHE SOUTHEAST COAST OF GREENLAND SUGGESTS GLACIATION OF SOUTHERN GREENLAND AT 11 MA
Pe. Helland et Ma. Holmes, SURFACE TEXTURAL ANALYSIS OF QUARTZ SAND GRAINS FROM ODP SITE-918 OFFTHE SOUTHEAST COAST OF GREENLAND SUGGESTS GLACIATION OF SOUTHERN GREENLAND AT 11 MA, Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, 135(1-4), 1997, pp. 109-121
Shipboard analysis of the 1183-m sedimentary section recovered at Site
918 in the Irminger Basin during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 152 revea
led material of glacial origin (diamictons, ice-rafted debris (IRD) an
d dropstones) as deep as 543 m below sea floor (bsf). The sediment con
taining the deepest dropstone was biostratigraphically dated shipboard
as approximately 7 Ma, pushing back the date for the onset of glaciat
ion on southern Greenland by 5 Ma. Thin layers of fine sand were found
as much as 60 m deeper in the core, raising the possibility of an eve
n earlier date for glaciation. To determine the sedimentary history of
these deeper sand layers, the surface textures on quartz grains from
eleven cores bracketing the interval of interest were analyzed by scan
ning electron microscope. The results suggest that the grains in the 6
0-m interval below the deepest dropstone have a glacial history. At th
at level, an Ii-Ma Sr-isotope date was obtained from planktonic forami
nifers. This late Miocene timing is supported biostratigraphically by
both nannofossil and foraminifer assemblages, indicating a new minimum
age for the onset of glaciation on southern Greenland and in the Nort
h Atlantic. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.