Eocene paleogeography of the southeastern Caribbean: relations between sedimentation on the Atlantic Abyssal Plain at Site 672 and evolution of the South America Margin

Abstract

A well-recovered Tertiary sedimentary succession was drilled on the Atlantic abyssal plain during ODP Leg 110. The succession includes a conspicuous turbiditic-contouritic series deposited during the middle to late Eocene and the Oligocene. The exotic silty-sandy content of the middle-upper Eocene sequence is compared with the coeval Caratas Fm. of northern Venezuela. The decrease and disappearance of this coarse material at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary is related to the eastward displacement of the Caribbean Plate and the associated removal of previously available sediment. -Authors