Megatsunami Deposit in Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary Interval of Southeast Missouri
Abstract
Crowleys Ridge in southeastern Missouri preserves Cretaceous to Eocene marginal marine sediments deposited in the northwestern portion of the Mississippi Embay- ment. Sandwiched between the Paleocene Porters Creek Formation and the uppermost Cretaceous Owl Creek Formation is the Paleocene Clayton Formation. Four trenches were excavated and a complete section of Clayton Formation was sampled at a large strip mine in Stoddard County, Missouri. The Clayton at this location consists of 185 cm of graded deposit, the lower part of which includes large Owl Creek rip-up clasts containing layers of microtektites, invertebrate fossils, and abundant terrestrial and marine palynomorphs. Driller's logs and electric logs covering ~9000 km2 were reviewed. Well data confirm the consistent thickness and lithology of the Clayton Formation in this part of the Mississippi Embayment. Based on sedimentological and palynological data from this study, the Clayton Formation in the northwestern Mississippi Embayment appears to be a megatsunami deposit resulting from post-impact effects (early Paleocene) associated with the Chicxulub impact event.
Recommended Citation
C. E. Campbell et al., "Megatsunami Deposit in Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary Interval of Southeast Missouri," The sedimentary record of meteorite impacts, vol. 437, pp. 189 - 198, Geological Society of America, Jan 2008.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1130/2008.2437(11)
Department(s)
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Clayton Formation; Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary; Megatsunami; Microtektites; Mississippi Embayment; Depositional Sequence; Marine Sediment; Microstructure; Paleogene; Palynomorph; Tektite; Missouri; United States; Invertebrata; Strigiformes; Cryptoexplosion structures; Geology, Stratigraphic; Meteorites; Sedimentary structures
Geographic Coverage
Southeast Missouri
Time Period
Cretaceous
International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
978-0813724379
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0072-1077
Document Type
Book - Chapter
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2008 Geological Society of America, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2008
