Late Cretaceous turmoil in the southern high latitudes – what lessons have we learned from IODP Site U1512 in the Bight Basin

Abstract: Five years ago, the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 369 was in the middle of drilling at hole at Site U1512 in the Great Australian Bight. Despite the recovery of a near-complete 700 m succession of silty claystone, the core yielded few secrets as to what it represented, much to the frustration of everyone on board at the time. The core subsequently lost attention with more impressive results emanating from drill sites in the Mentelle Basin. However, subsequent multi-disciplinary analysis of the core has revealed a rich, comprehensive story of marginal marine settings in the southern high latitudes and the response of the Bight Basin to the Cretaceous Greenhouse. In this talk, I will share the latest findings of the lower Turonian to upper Santonian silty claystone succession, including what it can tell us about environmental instability in the basin and fluctuating sedimentary provenance as Australia slowly broke away from Antarctica. The talk will also explore life on board the JOIDES Resolution during the two-month expedition and the importance of scientific outreach.

Bio: Dr Carmine Wainman holds an MSci in Geology from the University of Southampton, UK and a PhD in Geosciences from the University of Adelaide. He currently works at Geoscience Australia since November 2021 as a Basin Analyst in the Advice, Investment Attraction and Analysis Branch in the Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. Carmine has over nine years of industry and research experience both in Australia and the UK including with the RSK Group, Woodside Energy and the University of Adelaide. He participated on the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 369 in late 2017, investigating Australian Cretaceous climate and tectonics.

geochemistryglobal environmental changegeophysics

Audience: researchers in the discipline

ANU Research School of Earth Sciences school seminar

Series comments: The ANU Research School of Earth Sciences seminar series regularly features academics, students, and researchers from Australia and around the world to present topics covering the entire range of earth sciences.

The seminars are held in the Jaeger 1 Seminar Room at RSES on Thursdays at 3 pm and also broadcast on zoom ( ID: 606-666-0101, lightly protected via a password "jaeger" ). They are open to the ANU community and public. Talks will generally be made available on the RSES Seminar website in the days following the seminar.