Geology topics

Research about Baltimore Canyon Trough

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Baltimore Canyon Trough.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS1987

Seismic stratigraphy and facies of continental slope and rise seaward of Baltimore Canyon Trough

As part of a survey of the United States continental rise seaward of the northern Baltimore Canyon Trough, four major depositional sequences were mapped on a grid of 2,350 km of multichannel seismic reflection profiles. The sequences, which range in age from Jurassic (?) to Quaternary, record a gradual sedimentary buildup of fine-grained onlapping and slope-front fill. A broad wedge of Jurassic-age (?) sediment up to 5 km thick was deposited seaward of a conspicuous platform. During the Cretaceous, the slope-rise transition became much gentler, and sequences are more blanket-like because the declivity seaward of the platform was smoothed and filled by fine-grained clastic sediments and thin-bedded limestones. The main constructional phase for the continental rise was during the Cenozoic, when a thick (0.1-2.4 km) wedge formed seaward of the shelf edge in response to major fluctuations in sea level and erosion of the gentle, ancestral continental slope. The Cenozoic rise section can be subdivided into two main sequences separated by a conspicuous unconformity. The lower sequence is mostly a blanket (0.2-0.8 km thick) of Paleogene hemipelagic ooze and claystone. The sequence above the unconformity is a complex association of Neogene slump deposits, turbidites, hemipelagic clays, and channel fill that thickens seaward to 2.2 km under the middle continental rise. The final phase of rise construction was caused by widespread fluctuations in coastal onlap. These regressions resulted in deltaic outward-building on the shelf, extensive Pleistocene landward erosion of the slope, and the accumulation of a broad sedimentary apron on the rise.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulle↗

USGS1981

Lithostratigraphy of Shell 272-1 and 273-1 Wells: Implications as to depositional history of the Baltimore Canyon Trough, Mid- Atlantic OCS

Upper Jurassic gray and red-brown shale, sandstone, and coal are the oldest strata penetrated by the Shell 272-1 and 273-1 wells, located approximately 66 mi (106 km) southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the northwest part of the Baltimore Canyon Trough. The Lower Cretaceous section consists of gray shale that is overlain by a sequence of thick-bedded sandstones interbedded with thin-bedded shales. The Upper Cretaceous section is dominated by slightly calcareous mudstone, but also contains a Coniacian to Campanian sandstone. The Cenozoic section is mainly mudstone and overlying unconsolidated sand. Seven major lithologic units were established and correlated to the COST B-2 and B-3 wells. The depositional environments of the Upper Jurassic rocks range from an upper delta plain facies penetrated in the two Shell wells and the B-2 well to a back-reef facies penetrated in the B-3 well. The Lower Cretaceous strata, in a vertical sequence, consist of upper delta plain, lower delta plain, interdistributary bay and/or marginal marine, and distributary-mouth-bar deposits. A Cenomanian sandstone penetrated in the B-3 well is the youngest indicator of deltaic deposition; marine strata dominate the remainder of the Upper Cretaceous and Cenozoic.

Baltimore Canyon Trough↗

USGS1980

Maps showing kinds and sources of environmental geologic and geophysical data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in the Baltimore Canyon trough area

Exploration for petroleum on the Continental Shelf and Slope off the eastern United States has generated great interest in the quantity and quality of data available to evaluate the nature and magnitude of possible geological enveironmental hazards. This set of maps presents a compilation of publicly available geological and geophysical data acquireed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the Baltimore Canyon Trough area of the eastern United States Outer Continental Shelf and Slope. Funding for the collection and analysis of much of the data indicated in this report was provided by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Locations of blocks leased for petroleum development and locations of industry wells terminated or being drilled as of February 1980, as well as several other sampling sites, are included for comparison.

Baltimore Canyon Trough↗

USGS1978

Heavy-mineral variability in the Baltimore Canyon trough area

Petrographic analyses of bottom sediments from 87 stations within a relatively large subarea (1700 square kilometers) define the local variability and the distributional processes of heavy minerals in the Baltimore Canyon Trough area (13500km 2 ). Of the 29 mineral groups that were identified, those most diagnostic of differences between stations were opaque minerals, garnet, hornblende, orthopyroxene, other amphiboles, and staurolite. Some of the common components cannot be used to define areal trends. The association of minerals by their specific gravities reflects the modern reworking and sorting of sediments in this area. The poor correlation between mineral abundance and the ridge-and trough topography suggests either that our analyses and samples did not resolve bathymetrically induced changes or that smaller bed forms (such as ripples) largely control the heavy-mineral distribution. Data from this study provide a baseline for evaluating manmade disturbances of the bottom sediments and show that relatively large changes in the heavy mineral composition can take place over small distances on this part of the Continental Shelf.

Baltimore Canyon Trough↗