Correlation of early quaternary events in the U.S. Gulf Coast

Abstract

A reexamination of the sequences of planktonic foraminifers and calcareous nannoplankton in the Plio-Pleistocene sediments beneath the Louisiana continental shelf has been undertaken in order to modernize correlation schemes that were established 10–20 y.a. As a consequence, it can be shown that (1) a new correlation of marine micropaleontological and continental glacial events is necessary; (2) the Gulf Coast faunal events can be reliably correlated with those in the type Italian Pleistocene section and in the deep-sea cores; (3) it is becoming increasingly evident that it is invalid to correlate the Plio-Pleistocene boundary, as defined by paleontology, with a climatically defined boundary.