Sedimentary evidence of deglacial megafloods in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Pigmy Basin)

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Montero-Serrano, Jean, Carlos, Bout‑roumazeilles, Viviane, Tribovillard, Nicolas, Sionneau, Thomas, Riboulleau, Armelle, Bory, Aloys, Flower, Benjamin
• Other Authors: Géosystèmes - UMR 8157, Université de Lille, Sciences et Technologies-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 (LOG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Nord ), University of South Florida Tampa (USF)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2009
• Subjects: Gulf of Mexico; Pigmy Basin; Laurentide Ice Sheet; deglaciation; early Holocene; meltwater floods; Mississippi River; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03280613; https://hal.science/hal-03280613/document; https://hal.science/hal-03280613/file/Montero%20et%20al_Deglaciation%20megafloods%20erosion%20GOM%20version1.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.09.011

International audience Cored sediments from the Pigmy Basin, northern Gulf of Mexico, were analyzed in order to better constrain late deglacial and early Holocene paleoenvironmental and sedimentary changes in response to North American climate evolution. Mineralogical and geochemical proxies indicate the succession of two sedimentary regimes: dominantly detrital during the deglaciation (15-12.9 cal ka BP) whereas biogenic contribution relatively increased later on during the Younger Dryas and early Holocene (12.9 and 10 cal ka BP). Geochemical data reveal that the deglacial record mainly reflects variations of terrigenous supply via the Mississippi River rather than modifications of redox conditions in the basin. Specific variations of almost all the parameters measured in this paper are synchronous with the main deglacial meltwater episode (Meltwater Spike) described or modeled in previous marine or continental studies. During this episode, most parameters display ''stair-step-like''-pattern variations highlighting three successive steps within the main meltwater flow. Variations in grain-size and clay mineral assemblage recorded in the Pigmy Basin indicate that the erosional regime was very strong on land during the first part of the Meltwater Spike, and then milder, inducing more subtle modifications in the sedimentary regime in this part of the Gulf. Specific geochemical and mineralogical signatures (notably, clay minerals and trace metal geochemistry) pinpoint a dominant origin from NW North America for detrital particles reflecting meltwater outflow from the southwestern Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) margin during the most intense freshwater discharge. The observed decrease of the sedimentation rate from about 200 to 25 cm/ka at ca 12.9 ka evidenced a drastic decrease of erosional processes during late phase of discharge, consistently with the hypotheses of major reduction of meltwater flow. The major modification at 12.9 cal ka BP is interpreted to result from both modifications of the main Mississippi ...