Evidence for an old Paraná Delta and Diachroneity in Global Highstands

RODNEY STIEFFEL; JOHN M. HOLBROOK; KRÖHLING, DANIELA M.; ROLDÁN, JIMENA

San Antonio

Congreso; AAPG ACE 2019- Annual Convention & Exhibition; 2019

American Association of Petroleum Geology (APGG)

The highstand deltas of the Holocene tend to each initiate with the peaking of eustaic sea level rise at about 7000 y.b.p. While generally tied to this time, the initiation of highstand shorelines is not necessarily synchronous. Localimpacts on relative sea level can impact this timing. In particular, the Parana Delta, Argentina, appears to have initiated as early as 8600 y.b.p., well before the global sea level peak and potentially before any comparable highstand shorelines. The Parana Delta encompasses an area of ~17,400 km2 enclosed in the Rio de la Plata estuary, growing steadily at a rate of approximately 2 km2 yr-1 for roughly the past 6000 yrs. This deltaic system has shifted from fluvial, to wave-dominated, and then back to its present-day fluvial dominated system. Aerial and satellite imagery, shallow boreholes, radiometric dating of shells and sand, and Ground Penetrating Radar are used to define the distinctive sedimentary features of the delta. New data from the upper part of the delta indicates the Parana Delta initiated well before the 6000 y.b.p. previously reported. Sediment cores collected from across the upper delta are used to identify sedimentary facies and construct a stratigraphic framework. Three OSL samples collected from the oldest set of beach ridges indicate the first ridges formed approximately 8600 years ago. These beach ridges are