Atlantic DSDP Lower Cretaceous Carbonate Geochemistry Data: Readme file
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               World Data Center A- Paleoclimatology
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NOTE: PLEASE CITE CONTRIBUTORS WHEN USING THIS DATA!!!!!


NAME OF DATA SET:  Atlantic DSDP Lower Cretaceous Carbonate Geochemistry Data
LAST UPDATE: 5/1999 (Original Receipt by WDCA Paleo)  
CONTRIBUTOR:  Walter E. Dean, U. S. Geological Survey, Denver 

IGBP PAGES/WDCA CONTRIBUTION SERIES NUMBER: 1999-031

SUGGESTED DATA CITATION: Dean, W.E., 1999, 
Atlantic DSDP Lower Cretaceous Carbonate Geochemistry Data,  
IGBP PAGES/World Data Center-A for Paleoclimatology 
Data Contribution Series # 1999-031.
NOAA/NGDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder CO, USA.

ORIGINAL REFERENCES: 
Dean, W. E. and Arthur, M. A., 1999, 
Sensitivity of the North Atlantic Basin to cyclic climatic forcing during the 
Early Cretaceous: Journal of Foraminiferal Research, V.29, pp. 465-486.

Frank, T. D., Arthur, M. A., and Dean, W. E., 1999, 
Diagenesis of Lower Cretaceous pelagic carbonates, North Atlantic:  
Paleoceanographic signals obscured:  Journal of Foraminiferal Research,
V.29, pp. 340-351.

Dean, W. E., and Gardner, J. V., 1982, 
Origin and geochemistry of redox cycles of Jurassic to Eocene age, 
Cape Verde Basin (DSDP Site 367), continental margin of North-west Africa, 
in Schlanger, S. O., and Cita, M. B. (eds), 
Nature and Origin of Cretaceouus Carbonate-rich Facies:  
Academic Press, New York, p. 55-78.

Dean, W. E., and Arthur, M. A., 1987, 
Inorganic and organic geochemistry of Eocene to Cretaceous strata recovered 
from the lower continental rise, North American Basin, Site 603, Deep Sea 
Drilling Project Leg 93, in van Hinte, J. E., Wise, S. W, Jr., and others, 1987, 
Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project:  U. S. Government Printing Office, 
Washington, v. 93, Pt. 2, p. 1093-1137.


GEOGRAPHIC REGION: North Atlantic Ocean
PERIOD OF RECORD:  142 Ma to 112 Ma (Early Cretaceous, Neocomian)

LIST OF FILES:  Readme.Dean1999.txt (this file), geochemical.methods.txt,
DSDP105.metadata.txt, DSDP105geochem.txt, DSDP105disotopes.txt
DSDP367.metadata.txt, DSDP367geochem.txt, DSDP367del13C.txt, DSDP367isotopes.txt
DSDP387.metadata.txt, DSDP387geochem.txt, DSDP387isotopes.txt
DSDP391C.metadata.txt, DSDP391Cgeochem.txt, 391Cisotopes.txt
DSDP603B.metadata.txt, DSDP603Bgeochem.txt, DSDP603Bisotopes.txt, 
DSDP603B.D&A87.T3.txt, DSDP603B.D&A87.T4.txt.

DESCRIPTION:
Striking cyclic interbeds of laminated dark-olive to black marlstone and bioturbated 
white to light-gray limestone of Neocomian (Early Cretaceous) age, 
the Blake-Bahama Formation, have been recovered at Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) 
sites in the North Atlantic.  The Blake-Bahama Formation is equivalent to the 
Maiolica Formation that outcrops in the Tethyan regions of the Mediterranean 
and to thick limestone sequences of the Vocontian Trough of southern France.  
This lithologic unit marks the widespread deposition of biogenic carbonate over much 
of the North Atlantic and Tethyan seafloor during a time of overall low 
sealevel and a deep carbonate compensation depth. The dark clay-rich interbeds 
typically are rich in organic carbon (OC) with up to 5.5% OC.  

This investigation used measurements of type, abundance, and isotopic composition of 
organic matter, major- and trace-element concentrations, and carbon and oxygen isotopic 
compositions in Neocomian sequences from five DSDP Holes in the eastern and western 
basins of the North Atlantic. This data set contains results of analyses for:  
1. inorganic and organic carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur; 
2.  major, minor, and trace elements; 
3.  isotopic composition of organic carbon; 
4.  carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of whole-rock carbonate; and 
5.  Rock-Eval pyrolysis of organic matter.  

The data set includes tab-delimited ASCII data files and descriptive documentation for 
each of the five DSDP holes.