LOWER MIOCENE (CA. 20-18 MA) NEW JERSEY SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY: ARCHITECTURE AND ONSHORE-OFFSHORE CORRELATIONS

Using a sequence stratigraphic framework, we investigated lower Miocene Kirkwood Formation sequences Kw1a and Kw1b in onshore New Jersey coastal plain coreholes and their relationship to their coeval offshore sequences m5.8 and m5.7, respectively, on the New Jersey continental shelf. We used corehole and gamma log data from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 150X Cape May and Leg 174AX Ocean View sites to evaluate the anatomy of sequences Kw1a and Kw1b by identifying gamma log stacking patterns, lithologic changes/stacking patterns, Sr-isotope data, chronostratigraphic data, bioturbation, indurated zones, and stratal surfaces (i.e., maximum flooding surfaces [MFS], transgressive surfaces [TS], and sequence boundaries). At Cape May, we found that Kw1a is a composite sequence containing three higher order sequences (Kw1a1, Kw1a2, and Kw1a3), similar to its counterpart at Ocean View. Sequence m5.8 at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 313 Site M27 was reinterpreted by integrating Oc270 line 529 seismic data with core and gamma log data, and two possible interpretations at Site M27 are presented here: 1) m5.8 is a single ~1 Myr scale sequence or 2) m5.8 is a ~1 Myr scale composite sequence containing at least two ~100-400 ka scale higher order sequences. Loop correlations suggest that at the AMCOR 6011 site, sequence m5.8 (Kw1a) is a composite sequence. We integrated seismic, core, and well log data to test the physical correlation between the offshore and onshore sequences in question. We correlated onshore sequences Kw1a and Kw1b using the gamma logs of coastal plain and nearshore sites Cape May, Ocean View, Cape May Zoo, Sea Isle City, Strathmere, Atlantic City, ACOW 1, ACOW 2, and AMCOR 6011. We projected onshore, nearshore, and offshore core and gamma log data onto R/V Cape Hatteras 0698 (CH0698) and R/V Oceanus 270 (Oc270) multichannel seismic (MCS) profile grids and loop correlated seismic sequence boundaries along the seismic profiles and demonstrated that sequences Kw1a and Kw1b physically correlate to m5.8 and m5.7, respectively.