Cooperative NSF-USGS Drilling in the Delmarva Peninsula: The Effects of Variations in Global Sea-Level Tectonic Subsidence, and Sediment Supply on Sequence Architecture

新泽西海岸平原和近海新泽西州陆架和陆坡的成功钻探提供了：1)晚白垩世-新生代主要层序界面的年龄；2)42-10 Ma之间层序界面形成和冰盖生长之间的因果联系，并暗示这种联系存在于更古老的、假定为“无冰”的世界；3)对全球海平面变化幅度的初步估计；4)层序地层结构、全球海平面变化和边缘演化之间的联系的评估；(5)对地球历史上重大全球事件成因的制约，包括中始新世-最早渐新世全球降温、晚古新世最高温度、K/T界线、早期和晚期马斯特里赫特事件、塞诺马期/图罗尼期碳提取事件。新泽西州的陆上钻探已经达到了基本目标，但也引发了一些根本性问题，这些问题可以通过在德尔马瓦半岛的钻探得到解答。在贝萨尼海滩附近的钻探将提供：1)该地区第一个详细的上中新世-上新世(10-2)Ma层序记录；2)始新世晚期至上新世海平面估计所需的下倾层序；3)始新世晚期切萨皮克湾影响的地层参考剖面。该项目将利用与美国地质勘探局联合资助和合作的机会，在得克萨斯州贝萨尼海滩附近的海岸钻一个钻孔，不仅将产生晚始新世-上新世的海洋层序记录，而且还将提供对大西洋边缘沉降构造变化的关键测试。美国地质勘探局东部地区测绘小组(ERMT)的钻探人员将继续取心1500-1600英尺。作为与罗格斯大学、国家科学基金会及其合作伙伴(新泽西地质调查局、LDEO、USGS水资源公司、法国国家科学研究中心、世界卫生组织、特拉华州和马里兰州地质调查局)发展中的合作项目的一部分。大多数直接钻探成本已经确定(USGS/NJGS/DGS)；该合同只提供科学支持成本和最低限度的钻探成本，用于私家钻探的目的。***

EAR-9909179MillerSuccessful drilling onshore in the New Jersey Coastal Plain and offshore on the NJ shelf and slope has provided: 1) ages for major Late Cretaceous - Cenozoic sequence boundaries; 2) causal links between the formation of sequence boundaries and the growth of ice sheets between 42 and 10 Ma, and hints that such a link exists in the older, supposedly "ice-free" world; 3) preliminary estimates of the amplitudes of global sea - level changes; 4) evaluation of links among sequence stratigraphic architecture, global sea-level variations, and margin evolution; and 5) constraints on the causes of major global events in Earth history, including the middle Eocene-earliest Oligocene global cooling, the late Paleocene thermal maximum, the K/T boundary, early and late Maastrichtian events, and the Cenomanian/Turonian carbon extraction event. Drilling onshore in New Jersey has met fundamental goals, but has also raised fundamental questions that can be answered by drilling in the Delmarva peninsula. Drilling near Bethany Beach, DE will provide: 1) the first detailed record of upper Miocene-Pliocene (10 - 2) Ma sequences in this region; 2) downdip late Eocene to Pliocene sequences needed for eustatic estimates; 3) a stratigraphic reference section for the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact. This project will take advantage of an opportunity for joint funding and collaboration with the USGS by drilling a borehole on the coast near Bethany Beach, DE that will not only yield a late Eocene-Pliocene record of marine sequences, but also will provide a critical test of tectonic changes in subsidence on the Atlantic margin. The USGS Eastern Regional Mapping Team (ERMT) drillers will continuously core a 1500-1600 ft. borehole as part of a developing cooperative project with Rutgers, NSF, and allied partners (New Jersey Geological Survey, LDEO, USGS Water Resources, CNRS (France), WHOI, Delaware and Maryland Geological Surveys). Most direct drilling costs are already secured (USGS/NJGS/DGS); this award only provides science support costs and minimal drilling costs to deepen the hole for the P.I.s purposes. ***