Multivariate discriminant analysis of bioclastic turbidites

A piston core from the southern Blake Basin penetrated nine distinct bioclastic carbonate turbidites separated by pelagic terrigenous clay units. X-ray diffraction analysis of the carbonate mineralogy of the graded, laminated, and homogenous units of the individual turbidite units indicated a general loss of unstable carbonates in the homogenous unit beyond that contained in the lower two units. Univariate and multivariate statistical tests were employed to determine the significance of the changes and to determine if different units of a turbidite sequence could be consistently grouped by statistical methods. Principal components, discriminant function, and cluster analysis were used in the multivariate tests. The graded and laminated units were closely related in mineralogy with little significant differences. The mineralogy of the homogenous units was significantly different than that of the other two units except in one example. Cluster analysis generated five groupings of the samples with the end members consisting of graded and laminated units at one end and homogenous units at the other.