Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2014 A Biostratigraphic Analysis of the Neogene Section from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 121 Marie L. Peterson Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES A BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF THE NEOGENE SECTION FROM OCEAN DRILLING PROGRAM LEG 121 By MARIE L. PETERSON A Thesis submitted to the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2014 Marie Peterson defended this thesis on November 7, 2014. The members of the supervisory committee were: Sherwood W. Wise, Jr. Professor Directing Thesis William C. Parker Committee Member Yang Wang Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii To my husband, Charlie, for his unwavering love, infinite patience, and unfailing support. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Sherwood W. Wise, Jr. He shared his time, wealth of knowledge and experience. He first helped spark my interest in geology by offering me the opportunity to work in the Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility as an undergraduate, work-study student. My immense thanks go to Dr. James Pospichal for supplying the samples for this thesis. He gave his time in guiding and advising me through my research. I would also like to thank Drs. Yang Wang and William C. Parker for serving on my committee. I would like to thank the Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences department for supplying part of my funding as a teaching assistant and BP Corp. for supplying some of my funding as a research assistant. Many thanks go out to Denise Kulhanek and Stacie Blair for inspiring my interest in micropaleontology and giving me the foundation on which to succeed. I would also like to thank them for all of their advice. I would also like to thank all my fellow students: Nick Myers, Aisha Morris, Mohammed Aljahdali, Jarrett Cruz and Aaron Avery for being there when I needed to just talk through my stumbling blocks. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my chosen family and friends. My husband, Charlie, has been infinitely supportive and patient. My in-laws have been supportive and made furthering my education possible by funding my undergraduate education. I would like to thank my friends, Bekah, Becca, and Laura for being my cheering section and getting me out of the lab and house when I needed a break. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ......................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... vii Abstract ............................................................................................................................... viii 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 What are calcareous nannoplankton? ....................................................................... 1 1.2 Calcareous Nannoplankton as Biostratigraphic Indicators ........................................ 2 1.3 Biogeography ......................................................................................................... 2 1.4 Study Locations ...................................................................................................... 3 1.4.1 Broken Ridge .............................................................................................. 5 1.4.2 Ninetyeast Ridge ......................................................................................... 6 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS ...................................................................................... 7 2.1 Sites ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Method of Study ..................................................................................................... 7 3. BIOSTRATIGRAPHY .................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Broken Ridge – Hole 754A ..................................................................................... 9 3.1.1 Neogene...................................................................................................... 9 3.1.2 Oligocene...................................................................................................10 3.2 Ninetyeast Ridge – Hole 756B ...............................................................................10 3.2.1 Neogene.....................................................................................................10 3.2.2 Oligocene...................................................................................................11 3.3 Ninetyeast Ridge – Hole 757B ...............................................................................11 3.3.1 Neogene.....................................................................................................11 3.3.2 Oligocene...................................................................................................12 3.4 Ninetyeast Ridge – Hole 758A ...............................................................................12 3.4.1 Neogene.....................................................................................................12 3.4.2 Oligocene...................................................................................................13 4. DISCUSSION...............................................................................................................14 5. CONCLUSIONS ..........................................................................................................16 APPENDICES A. SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY................................................................................17 B. RANGE CHARTS..........................................................................................................19 C. FIGURES.......................................................................................................................35 D. PLATES ........................................................................................................................41 REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................47 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH...................................................................................................51 v LIST OF TABLES 1 Broken Ridge, Hole 574A range chart ..........................................................................19 2 Ninetyeast Ridge, Hole 756B range chart .....................................................................23 3 Ninetyeast Ridge, Hole 757B range chart .....................................................................27 4 Ninteyeast Ridge, Hole 758A range chart…………………………………………….....30 vi LIST OF FIGURES 1 (I) Location map of the eastern Indian Ocean showing DSDP and ODP sites plus Broke Ridge, Ninetyeast Ridge, and the Kerguelen Plateau (Shipboard Scientific Party, 1989); (II) Paleopositions of Kerguelen Plateau (A), Broken Ridge (B), and Ninetyeast Ridge (C) (Rea et al., 1990) .................................................................................................... 4 2 Predicted paleolatitudes for ODP Leg 121 sites and nearby ODP sites (Shipboard Scientific Party, 1989) .................................................................................................. 5 3 Correlation of Hole 754A and Hole 756B, adapted from Shipboard Scientific Party (1989b) and (1989c) with nannofossil data from the present study.................................35 4 Correlation of Hole 754A and Hole 757B, adapted from Shipboard Scientific Party (1989b) and (1989c) with nannofossil data from the present study.................................36 5 Correlation of Hole 754A and Hole 758A, adapted from Shipboard Scientific Party (1989b) and (1989c) with nannofossil data from the present study ................................37 6 Correlation of Hole 756B and Hole 757B, adapted from Shipboard Scientific Party (1989b) and (1989c) with nannofossil data from the present study ................................38 7 Correlation of Site Hole B and Hole 758A, adapted from Shipboard Scientific Party (1989b) and (1989c) with nannofossil data from the present study ................................39 8 Correlation of Hole 757B and Hole 758A, adapted from Shipboard Scientific Party (1989b) and (1989c) with nannofossil data from the present study ................................40 vii ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to study spatial and temporal paleontological distributions as they relate to the histories of Ninetyeast Ridge and Broken Ridge from ODP Leg 121. This study is important for establishing connections between different fossil assemblages, especially between those of the high latitudes and those of low latitudes. The assemblages were used to perform biostratigraphic analyses of sequences on Ninetyeast Ridge and Broken Ridge in the Indian Ocean and to compare assemblage changes to position changes of the tectonic