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The Pennsylvanian Fire Clay Tonstein of the Appalachian Basin— Its Distribution, Biostratigraphy, and Mineralogy: Discussion and Reply

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The Pennsylvanian Fire Clay Tonstein of the Appalachian Basin— Its Distribution, Biostratigraphy, and Mineralogy: Discussion and Reply The Pennsylvanian Fire Clay tonstein of the Appalachian basin— Its distribution, biostratigraphy, and mineralogy: Discussion and reply Discussion William F. Outerbridge 11969 Greywing Court, Reston, Virginia 22091 Rice et al. (1994), in their compendium of their silicate-melt inclusions. The topic is Some other passages that present specific what is known about the Fire Clay tonstein, developed further in Lyons et al. (1993b, problems and the problems associated with omitted a few key references and, as a result, 1994); the latter showed that distinctions them are listed below. repeated some now-abandoned hypotheses. can be made, not only among North Amer- Page 88, column 1, line 7: ‘‘These ton- Their paper asserted that the Fire Clay ton- ican tonsteins and among European ton- steins and several others in the Pennsylva- stein was likely erupted from a source in the steins, but also between the two continental nian of the Appalachian basin have been Piedmont at 310.9 6 0.8 Ma. This age is in groups. catalogued and classified from earlier re- good agreement with the 312 6 1 Ma given Tonsteins can be correlated by elemental ports by Burger and Damberger (1985).’’ in Lyons et al. (1992), which was not refer- compositions of silicate-melt inclusions in This is an example of circular reference. enced by Rice et al. (1994). They correlated their microphenocrysts, making them pow- Burger and Damberger gave their source as the tonstein with a position just below the erful stratigraphic tools. Spears and Lyons Rice, personal communication. In 1985 only top of the Trace Creek Member of the (1995) found them to be so in England. the Fire Clay had been recognized as a Atoka Formation in the North American Lyons et al. (1993a) established a correla- tonstein. Midcontinent. Lyons et al. (1993b) estab- tion between the Appalachian basin and the Page 88, column 1, line 13: ‘‘To date, only lished that the source of the Fire Clay ton- Midcontinent when they found that the the Fire Clay tonstein has proven to be dis- stein was likely an eruption in the Yucatan composition of silicate-melt inclusions in tinctive and continuous enough to be useful block when it was near the present U.S. Gulf quartz microphenocrysts in a bentonite for regional stratigraphic studies.’’ Spencer Coast, and the ash from the eruption fell close to the Morrow-Atoka boundary in Ar- (1964) reported that flint clay in the Princess stratigraphically very near the Morrow- kansas matched the composition of silicate- No. 6 coal zone is distinctive and one of the Atoka boundary. melt inclusions in microphenocrysts in the best stratigraphic markers in the region. Recent work indicates that silicate-melt Fire Clay tonstein. The size of the pheno- Outerbridge et al. (1990) were the first to inclusions are much more important than crysts (coarse sand-size in Arkansas as op- demonstrate that it is also a tonstein. Rice et al. (1994) believed. They stated that posed to silt to medium sand-size in the Ap- Page 89, column 1, line 33: ‘‘. the lack of silicate-melt analysis by electron micro- palachian basin) supports the hypothesis of the Fire Clay tonstein in the type area of the probe allows at least some tonsteins to be a source near Arkansas, likely in the Yuca- Kanawha Formation in West Virginia...’’ distinguished from one another, although tan block, which was adjacent to the North Two of the samples discussed in Lyons et al. they are of generally rhyolitic composition. American plate during Carboniferous time (1992) came from Kanawha County, West In more recent work, Webster et al. (1995) (Lyons et al., 1993b). Virginia, the type area of the Kanawha have found, using both electron microprobe Thus, instead of the hypothetical source Formation. and SIMS microanalysis, that silicate-melt of the Fire Clay tonstein of Hercynian age Page 89, column 2, line 29: ‘‘. surface inclusions in Appalachian basin tonsteins somewhere in the Piedmont that Rice et al. wash of unconsolidated volcanic ash proba- range in composition from high-silica rhyo- (1994) supported, there is strong evidence bly accounts for much of the variations in lite to topaz rhyolite. Congdon et al. (1992) of a source near Arkansas that erupted at thickness of the Fire Clay tonstein.’’ In order showed that the Lawrence, Lower Kittan- the beginning of Atokan time. Biostrati- for it to have been preserved, the Fire Clay ning, Fire Clay, and Upper Banner tonsteins graphic correlation in Rice et al. (1994) peat had to have been covered by more or can be clearly distinguished from each other places the Fire Clay tonstein near the top of less stagnant water, which limited relief and on the basis of elemental compositions of the Trace Creek Member of the Atoka For- reduced the likelihood of any surface wash. mation, but the silicate-melt inclusions in a Lyons et al. (1992) noted that thickness of bentonite at the base of the Atoka Forma- the newly fallen ash was likely about seven The article discussed appeared in Geological tion are of the same composition as those in times the thickness of the present tonstein, Society of America Special Paper 294, p. 87–104. the Fire Clay tonstein. which amounts locally to a loading of2mor GSA Bulletin; January 1996; v. 108; no. 1; p. 120–125; 1 figure. 120 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/108/1/120/3382333/i0016-7606-108-1-120.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 DISCUSSION AND REPLY more of fresh ash into the mire. Local relief microphenocrysts in volcanic ash falls estab- the Stratigraphy and Geology of the Carboniferous and Per- mian: Comptes Rendus, v. 2, p. 469–496. would have been suppressed. Rain falling on lishes that the Fire Clay tonstein likely came Lyons, P. C., Spears, D. A., Outerbridge, W. F., Congdon, R. D., and Evans, H. T., Jr., 1994, Euramerican tonsteins: Over- fresh ash would have been absorbed quickly from a volcanic eruption in the Yucatan view, magmatic origin, and depositional-tectonic implica- until the ash was saturated, at which point block at a time very close to that of the tions: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 106, p. 113–134. some of the ash might have moved, but the beginning of deposition of the Atoka Outerbridge, W. F., Triplehorn, D. M., and Lyons, P. C., 1990, The Princess No. 6 Middle Pennsylvanian volcanic ash fall (ton- effect would have been to reduce relief. Formation. stein), Kentucky and West Virginia, central Appalachian basin: Southeastern Geology, v. 31, no. 2, p. 63–78. Page 90, column 1, line 8: ‘‘Lyons et al. Outerbridge, W. F., Lyons, P. C., and Keiser, A. F., 1991, The ash fall pattern of the Fire Clay tonstein: American Association gave no source of data for construction of REFERENCES CITED of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 75, no. 8, p. 1389. their map, which disagrees with many ton- Rice, C. L., Belkin, H. E., Henry, T. W., Zartman, R. E., and Kunk, Burger, K., and Damberger, H. H., 1985, Tonsteins in the M. J., 1994, The Pennsylvanian Fire Clay tonstein of the stein thicknesses reported in U.S. Geologi- coalfields of Western Europe and North America, in 9th Appalachian basin—Its distribution, biostratigraphy, and cal Survey geologic quadrangle (GQ) maps International Congress of Stratigraphy and Geology of the mineralogy, in Rice, C. L., ed., Elements of Pennsylvanian Carboniferous, Washington, D. C., and Champaign-Ur- stratigraphy, central Appalachian basin: Geological Society in Kentucky.’’ The map is a generalization of bana, Illinois, 1979: Compte Rendu, v. 4, p. 433–448. of America Special Paper 294, p. 87–104. Congdon, R. D., Lyons, P. C., and Outerbridge, W. F., 1992, Use Spears, D. A., and Lyons, P. C., 1995, An update on British ton- one that was first shown in Outerbridge et al. of silicate-melt (glass) inclusions in determining magmatic steins, in Whateley, M. K. G., and Spears, D. A., eds., 1995, (1991), which is tightly constrained by the source of kaolinized volcanic ash beds (tonsteins) in coal European coal geology: Geological Society Special Publi- beds in the Appalachian basin: Geological Society of Amer- cation 82, p. 137–146. GQ data and .100 supplementary spot ica Abstracts with Programs, v. 24, no. 3, p. 13. Spencer, F. D., 1964, Geology of the Boltsfork quadrangle and Lyons, P. C., Outerbridge, W. F., Triplehorn, D. M., Evans, H. T., part of the Burnaugh quadrangle, Kentucky: U.S. Geolog- thickness measurements. Because the map Jr., Congdon, R. D., Capiro, M., Hess, J. C., and Nash, ical Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-316, scale W. F., 1992, An Appalachian isochron: A kaolinized Car- was work in progress at the time, we judged 1:24 000. boniferous air-fall volcanic-ash deposit (tonstein): Geolog- Webster, J. D., Congdon, R. D., and Lyons, P. C., 1995, Deter- that a citation was not appropriate. It is ical Society of America Bulletin, v. 104, p. 1515–1527. mining pre-eruptive compositions of late Paleozoic magma Lyons, P. C., Haley, B., Congdon, R. D., Outerbridge, W. F., from kaolinized volcanic ashes: Analysis of glass inclusions presently making its way through the U.S. Evans, H. T., Jr., and Dulong, F. T., 1993a, A volcanic con- in quartz microphenocrysts from tonsteins: Geochimica et nection between the Pennsylvanian of the Mid-continent Cosmochimica Acta, v. 59, no. 4, p. 711–720. Geological Survey Director’s approval and Appalachian regions: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 25, no. 1, p. 37. process. Lyons, P. C., Outerbridge, W. F., Congdon, R. G., Triplehorn, In summary, the comparison of elemental D. M., Evans, H.
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