Upper Cenozoic Glacial History South of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Author: Piper, David J. W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1975
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Newfoundland; Labrador Sea
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e75-043; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e75-043

A 10 m long piston core from a ridge on the continental rise south of the Grand Banks consists of foram-nanno ooze with several clay rich intervals. Microfossils and magnetic stratigraphy show that the upper part of the sequence is Brunhes in age, and disconformably overlies upper Pliocene sediments. Goethite micronodules are common just above the disconformity. Ice rafted coarse sand and granules are found in small amounts through the whole core, including the Pliocene section, but are more abundant in the Brunhes sequence. Most were derived from Labrador Sea bergs, but two or three red clayey intervals are associated with the advance of ice through the Laurentian Channel. Montmorillonite clays were transported to the area by the Western Boundary Undercurrent, which was also responsible for the early Pleistocene disconformity.