Characteristics of depositional sequences, systems tracts and bounding surfaces in Early Ordovician greenhouse passive margin carbonates to Late Ordovician glacio-eustatic influenced foreland basin facies
- Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA (United States). Dept. of Geology
Passive margin, cyclic carbonates of the Early Ordovician Knox Group, Appalachians are dominated by meter scale dolomitized carbonate cycles. These are stacked into 1 to 5 m.y. depositional sequences that appear to be relatively conformable. The sequences are defined by stacking patterns on Fischer plots that graph long term changes in accommodation with thick less dolomitized cycles in the TST, and thin, highly dolomitized cycles in the HST, becoming quartzose in the late HST and LST. Sequence and systems tract boundaries are subtle and typically marked by zones of cycles rather than single discrete surfaces. In contrast, sequences in the later Ordovician foreland basin fill locally show: (1) sequence bounding unconformities on the Knox, the Camp Nelson and on top of the Ordovician, (2) well defined low stand deposits as in the subaerial breccias and detrital dolomite muds veneering the Knox unconformity; redbeds and associated quartz sands and conglomerates with intercalated peritidal carbonate layers and their distal equivalent peritidal laminites; (3) TST's in the lower part of the Middle Ordovician limestones include regionally traceable cyclic peritidal carbonates or in the lower Lexington Limestone, transgressive high energy grainstones; (4) HST's consist of poorly cyclic deeper water up into shallow water grainstone bank and northward prograding peritidal carbonate facies; The ongoing study of detailed logs of outcrop and core should help refine the understanding of the fine scale makeup of sequences developed in these contrasting tectonic and global climatic settings.
- OSTI ID:
- 7060174
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9404221-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 26:4; Conference: 43. annual meeting of the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America, Blacksburg, VA (United States), 7-8 Apr 1994; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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