Abstract
SEISMIC profiling has revealed two strongly reflecting layers beneath the floor of the North Atlantic1. The shallower reflector is referred to as “horizon A” and the deeper as “horizon B”; JOIDES drill cores from the eastern and western North Atlantic and the Caribbean show that horizon A consists of a cherty material of Late–Early Eocene to Middle Eocene age2–4. Although the material of these layers is usually described as chert, the mineralogy is variable and the Eocene and Upper Cretaceous layers are composed chiefly of cristobalite rather than quartz, so they are not true cherts5.
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HERMAN, Y. Origin of Deep Sea Cherts in the North Atlantic. Nature 238, 392–393 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/238392a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/238392a0


