Date of Award

Spring 1985

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Ocean & Earth Sciences

Program/Concentration

Geology

Committee Director

Stephen J. Culver

Committee Member

Carl F. Koch

Committee Member

Randall S. Spencer

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.G4G67

Abstract

Sixty-two taxa representing 29 genera from 39 foraminiferal sample pairs have been documented and analyzed in a paleoenvironmental study of the Eastover Formation in southeastern Virginia. The Eastover Formation consists of a lower Claremont Manor Member, a silt fine-grained sand and an upper Cobham Bay Member, a shelly fine grained sand. Planktonic specimens were rare and indicated a late Miocene to early Pliocene age for the Eastover Formation. Benthics were used to interpret paleoenvironments by comparison with data from the distribution of Recent foraminifera, species diversity, planktonic to benthic ratios, and sediment analyses. The foraminifera indicate that the Eastover Formation was deposited in a normal marine environment of a few meters to 60 meters and open ocean circulation.

Cluster analysis defined three groups of samples whose boundaries are independent of the Cobham Bay - Claremont Manor Member boundary. When plotted on a cross-section along the James River, the three groups occurred in a sequential order through the section. Though their relative abundances vary, similar taxa characterize both the groups and the members, indicating similar paleoenvironmental conditions throughout the study area. Varying proportions of species are evidence of minor variations in environment during deposition of the Eastover Formation.

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DOI

10.25777/txf2-z831

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