The Caribbean Plateau is an oceanic large igneous province (CLIP). A widely accepted model for LIP petrogenesis proposes that these large bodies of igneous rock are formed by decompression melting associated with upwelling mantle plume heads during the initiation of hotspot activity. According to this classical model, petrogenesis occurs over...
Variability in the terrigenous (land-derived) fraction of marine sediments,
including pollen and rock fragments, reflects the effects of regional climate change on
continentally derived runoff, ice extent, vegetation and ocean circulation. The transport of
this continental material to the seafloor must be understood in order to interpret the
terrigenous sediment...
Marine sediments exceptionally rich in organic carbon, known as black shales, occur globally but intermittently in well correlated Cretaceous successions. The presence of black shales indicates that sporadic, ocean-wide interruption of normal respiration of marine organic matter during oxygen-deficient conditions has occurred. Submarine volcanism on a massive scale, related to...
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Robert A. Duncan
Marine sediments exceptionally rich in organic carbon, known as
The Cretaceous was a period of extreme climatic conditions accompanied
by major perturbations in ocean-atmosphere biogeochemical cycles. One of the
most intriguing features is the sporadic interruption of normal marine pelagic
sediment deposition by organic rich sediments deposited during oxygen-deficient
conditions (ocean anoxic events OAEs). A current model for the...
The Curaçao Lava Formation (CLF) records the magmatic and tectonic processes that formed the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP). A model of the petrogenesis of the CLF was developed using new geochemical and geochronological data. These data include major element compositions obtained using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), trace element concentrations...
Understanding continental crust formation and modification is a fundamental and longstanding geologic problem. Influx of mantle-derived basaltic magma and partial melting of the crust are two ways to drive crustal differentiation. This process results in a low density upper crust and denser, more refractory lower crust, creating significant and vastly...