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Paleogene-Early Neogene Palynomorphs from the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic and Southeastern Florida, USA: Biostratigraphy and Paleoenvironmental Implications

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Scholars' Mine Doctoral Dissertations Student Theses and Dissertations Spring 2018 Paleogene-Early Neogene palynomorphs from the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic and Southeastern Florida, USA: Biostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental implications Walaa K. Awad Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations Part of the Geology Commons, and the Geophysics and Seismology Commons Department: Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Recommended Citation Awad, Walaa K., "Paleogene-Early Neogene palynomorphs from the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic and Southeastern Florida, USA: Biostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental implications" (2018). Doctoral Dissertations. 2665. https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/2665 This thesis is brought to you by Scholars' Mine, a service of the Missouri S&T Library and Learning Resources. This work is protected by U. S. Copyright Law. Unauthorized use including reproduction for redistribution requires the permission of the copyright holder. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i PALEOGENE-EARLY NEOGENE PALYNOMORPHS FROM THE EASTERN EQUATORIAL ATLANTIC AND SOUTHEASTERN FLORIDA, USA: BIOSTRATIGRAPHY AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS by WALAA KAMALELDEEN AWAD A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the MISSOURI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in GEOLOGY and GEOPHYSICS 2018 Approved by Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe, Advisor John Hogan David Wronkiewicz Wan Yang Lucy Edwards ii © 2018 Walaa Kamaleldeen Awad All Rights Reserved iii To my daughters, Hala and Sara iv PUBLICATION DISSERTATION OPTION This dissertation consists of the following five articles which have been submitted for publication, or will be submitted for publication as follows: Paper I, pages 3-71 have been accepted by JOURNAL OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENCES. Paper II, pages 72-130 have been accepted by the journal PALAEOGEOGRAPHY, PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY, PALAEOECOLOGY. Paper III, pages 131-181 have been accepted by JOURNAL OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENCES. Paper IV, pages 182-224 have been submitted to the journal MARINE MICROPALEONTOLOGY. Paper V, pages 225-266 are intended for submission to the journal MICROPALEONTOLOGY. v ABSTRACT The transition from greenhouse conditions (Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, PETM) to icehouse conditions (Early Oligocene) is not well documented in tropical- subtropical regions. One hundred and five samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 959 (Hole 959A and Hole 959D) in the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Transform Margin, Alo- 1 Well in the northern Niger Delta (Anambra) Basin, Nigeria, and W-17001 in southeastern Florida were studied for their palynological contents. Dinoflagellate cysts were mainly utilized for age refinement and to detect subtle changes in paleoenvironment and paleoclimate during the Paleocene-Early Eocene (ODP Hole 959D and Alo-1 Well) and Late Eocene-Early Miocene (ODP Hole 959A and W-17001). Palynofacies analysis and lithologic descriptions supplemented palynomorph data for paleoenvironmental reconstructions in ODP Hole 959A and W-17001. In ODP Hole 959D, five biozones were erected, a Late Paleocene hiatus event was identified, four new dinoflagellate cyst species were formally named, and an outer neritic paleoenvironment was inferred. The paleoenvironment was shallower (inner neritic) in the Alo-1 Well which yielded two new species and had four biozones. Five biozones were established for the Late Eocene-Early Miocene interval in ODP Hole 959A, proposed the Late Eocene as a new age assignment for lithologic subunit IIB, noted a hiatus event upsection, and observed new biostratigraphic ranges for two dinoflagellate cyst species. A deep paleoenvironment with relatively cold-water masses during the Early Oligocene and hyperstratified conditions was proposed. Two hiatus events and fluctuations between restricted marine and open marine paleoenvironments were inferred in the W-17001. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank God for all the blessings. I thank my advisor, Dr. Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe, for her support during the last four and half years. There are not enough words to express my deep gratitude to her because this work would not have been achieved without her continuous encouragement and great help. Thank you for teaching me to be strong and self-dependent, for your caring and kindness made this time easier for me. I also extend my appreciation to my committee members for sharing their ideas and suggestions which had a great impact on this work. I acknowledge Drs. Jonathan Obrist- Farner, Mohamed Zobaa, Onema Adojoh, and Yunis Valdon for their useful discussions. Special thanks to all my friends: Olufeyisayo Ilesanmi, Damián Cárdenas, Marissa Spencer, Joel Edegbai, Bin Sun, Xin Zhan, Dongyu Zhang, Dr. Zhixin Li and Dr. Angelica Alvarez. I extend my appreciation to Sharon Lauck for being so nice and helpful to me. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my mother for taking care of my daughters and helping me to stay focused and productive during my study. I also thank my father, sister, brother, my best friend Sara and mother-in-law for their prayers and support. Special thanks to my brother-in-law, Sherif, for standing by me and caring about my study and future career. My daughters, Hala and Sara, thank you for being patient and tolerant throughout my study; I did all of this for you to be proud of me. I thank my husband for being patient and supportive. Your continuous encouragement helped me tremendously. I acknowledge the Missouri S&T Department of Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering for the Alfred Spreng Research Award and for supporting me as a teaching assistant. Finally, I thank all my students for their wonderful support and encouragement. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PUBLICATION DISSERTATION OPTION ................................................................... iv ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................... xiv LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xvii LIST OF PLATES ........................................................................................................... xix SECTION 1. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1 PAPER I. EARLY PALEOGENE DINOFLAGELLATE CYSTS FROM ODP HOLE 959D, CÔTE D'IVOIRE-GHANA TRANSFORM MARGIN, WEST AFRICA: NEW SPECIES, BIOSTRATIGRAPHY AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS .....................................................................................................3 ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................3 1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................4 2. GEOLOGIC SETTING .......................................................................................7 2.1. TECTONICS.........................................................................................7 2.2. LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY ....................................................................8 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS .........................................................................9 4. PREVIOUS BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC STUDIES ...............................................12 5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ......................................................................14 viii 5.1. STRATIGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF DINOFLAGELLATE CYSTS ................................................................................................14 5.2. DINOFLAGELLATE CYST ZONATION ........................................17 5.2.1. Zone 1 ..................................................................................17 5.2.2. Zone 2 ..................................................................................18 5.2.3. Zone 3 ..................................................................................19 5.2.4. Zone 4 ..................................................................................20 5.2.5. Zone 5 ..................................................................................21 5.3. PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION ........................22 5.3.1. Early Paleocene (Danian, 867.60-860.70 mbsf) ..................22 5.3.2. Late Paleocene (Selandian, 851.68-828.72 mbsf) ...............24 5.3.3. Late Paleocene (Thanetian, 822.14-799.88 mbsf) ...............26 5.3.4. Earliest Eocene (Ypresian, 793.35-776.32 mbsf) ................28 6. SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY .................................................................29 7. CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................46 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................47 APPENDICES A. QUANTITATIVE DINOFLAGELLATE CYST DATA FOR ODP HOLE 959D .........................................................................................48 B. LIST OF DINOFLAGELLATE CYST TAXA ....................................53 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................60
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