MAASTRICHTIAN 87SR86SR STRATIGRAPHY AND A WORLDLY (NON-IMPACT) EXPLANATION FOR SOME SLUMPS IN LATE CRETACEOUS SECTIONS FROM THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC
We have used 87Sr/86Sr analyses to test stratigraphic completeness of the Maastrichtian on Blake Nose (western North Atlantic) including study of the detailed record across two slumps (one each at ODP Sites 1050 and 1052). These slumps have been attributed to K/T shaking, but our data suggest they occurred during the Maastrichtian. There is no evidence for repetition of pelagic strata; pelagic chalk below the slumps is older than chalk above the slumps. The difference in 87Sr/86Sr ratios across the slumps indicate ~1 and 1.5 x 106 years of pelagic accumulation are missing at Sites 1050 and 1052, respectively. At a third locality (Site 1049), the interval in which these slumps occur is represented by a hiatus. Slumped material is relatively coarse grained and at least at Site 1052 contains foraminifera older than those in the subjacent chalk. Also at Site 1052 the slumps upper portion is extensively burrowed. Pelagic deposition punctuated by gravity flows provides a simple explanation for these observations whereas an impact based explanation requires a complicated depositional history. Although K/T related slumping seems well supported in some cases, our results demonstrate that not all Maastrichtian slump features can or should be attributed to the K/T boundary event.