Absolute Chronology of Deep-Sea Sediments and the Deposition of Clay on the Ocean Floor

Abstract

An absolute chronology of deep-sea sediments on the basis of the accumulation of TiO2 presupposes the rate of accumulation of clay to be tolerably constant with regard to time. It is here asserted that this condition is not fulfilled, because 1) the supply of fine terrigeneous matter to offshore waters will be appreciably affected by climatic changes, 2) the total amount of fine terrigeneous matter carried in suspension by sea water is deposited in about 300 years, which is a small fraction of a climatic cycle, and, consequently, 3) the amount of fine terrigeneous matter present in the sea is insufficient to act as a buffer against the variations of the supply, on account of which these variations will be reflected by almost equally great variations of the rate of accumulation.