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Ohiou1181233653.Pdf (3.86 SEDIMENTOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY OF THE LOWER JURASSIC PORTLAND FORMATION, NEWARK SUPERGROUP, HARTFORD BASIN A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science Simret Ghirmay Zerezghi June 2007 SEDIMENTOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY OF THE LOWER JURASSIC PORTLAND FORMATION, NEWARK SUPERGROUP, HARTFORD BASIN by SIMRET GHIRMAY ZEREZGHI has been approved for the Department of Geological Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences by ____________________________________ Elizabeth H. Gierlowski-Kordesch Associate Professor of Geological Sciences ____________________________________ Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Abstract ZEREZGHI, SIMRET GHIRMAY, June 2007, Geological Sciences SEDIMENTOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY OF THE LOWER JURASSIC PORTLAND FORMATION, NEWARK SUPERGROUP, HARTFORD BASIN (102 pp.) Director of Thesis: Elizabeth H. Gierlowski-Kordesch The Triassic-Jurassic rift system in eastern North America was formed by the breakup of Pangea. The sedimentary fill and lava flows of these rift basins are collectively known as the Newark Supergroup. The Hartford basin is divided into four sedimentary formations interbedded with three basaltic flows. The Portland Formation is the youngest (Sinemurian-Toarcian) and exposed in the eastern half of the basin. Finer- grained facies in the central portion of the basin now can be accessed with cores recovered from the city of Hartford. This study is based on 20 out of 35 drilled cores with approximately 600 m of the lowermost Portland Formation measured and correlated. Facies include: (1) black shale (Fl1), (2) ripple cross-laminated black mudrock (Fr1), (3) disrupted black mudrock (Fm1), (4) stratified red mudrock (Fl2), (5) ripple cross- laminated red mudrock (Fr2), (6) disrupted to massive red mudrock (Fm2), (7) ripple cross-laminated to trough cross-bedded sandstone (Srt), and (8) horizontally bedded sandstone (Sh). Three main depositional settings are interpreted: alluvial plain to sandflat (Fr2, Fm, Sh, Srt), shallow lake to playa (Fl2, Fm), and offshore perennial saline lakes with deltaic sheets (Fl1. Fr1, Fm1, Sh). Fourteen lake cycles were recognized, controlled by both tectonics and climate, influencing the evolution of the lake systems. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Elizabeth H. Gierlowski-Kordeschof Associate Professor of Geological Sciences Acknowledgments I express my sincere thanks and profound gratitude to my advisor Dr. Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch, for her generosity, patience, and support in every step of my work. I am grateful to Dr. Randolph Steinen, Dr. Peter Drzewiecki, Margaret Thomas, Dr. Gregory McHone, Nancy McHone, Allen Dwyer, Tim Mailloux, and other personnel from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection who helped move cores to the new Connecticut State Core Repository, thus making my data collection successful. Thank you to Paula Gural and her husband for their hospitality during field work. Many thanks to Dr. Martin Kordesch and Dr. Aurangzeb Khan for XRD analysis of Portland mudrock samples. I am deeply grateful to my committee members, Dr. David L. Kidder and Dr. Alycia L. Stigall, for their comments as well as the use of their microscopes and photo equipment. Dr. Stigall also identified the conchostracan fossils and Dr. Daniel Hembree analyzed the trace fossils for me. I also wish to thank the Department of Geological Sciences, all my professors, my colleagues, friends, family members, my sister Aster, and my husband Dawit for their encouragement and support. 5 Table of Contents Page Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………… 3 Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………............ 4 List of Figures ……………………….…………………………………………………. 7 List of Tables ………………………………………………………………………….... 8 Chapter One ……………………………………………………………………………. 9 1.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………... 9 1.2 Geologic Setting ………………………………………………………………...... 11 1.3 Previous Work ………………………………………………………………… … 18 1.4 Methodology ……………………………………………………………………... 24 Chapter Two ………………………………………………………………………...… 27 2.1 Lithofacies Descriptions and Paleoenvironmental Interpretations ………………. 27 2.1.1 Black Mudrock ………………………………………………………………. 29 2.1.1.1 Black Shale (Fl1) ……………………………………………………….. 29 2.1.1.2 Ripple Cross-Laminated Black Mudrock (Fr1)…………………………. 34 2.1.1.3 Disrupted Black Mudrock (Fm1) ………………………………………. 37 2.1.2 Red Brown Mudrock ……………………………………………………….. 40 2.1.2.1 Stratified Red Mudrock (Fl2)…………………………………………….40 2.1.2.2 Ripple Cross-Laminated Red Mudrock (Fr2)…………………………… 43 2.1.2.3 Disrupted to Massive Red Mudrock (Fm2)……………………………....47 2.1.3 Sandstone………………………………………………………………………49 2.1.3.1 Horizontal Laminated sandstone (Sh) ……………………………...……50 6 2.1.3.2 Ripple Cross-Laminated to Trough Cross-Bedded Sandstone (Srt)…..... 51 2.2 Petrography and XRD Data ……………………………………………………… 52 2.2.1 Black Mudrock……………………………………………………………….. 53 2.2.1 Red Mudrock ………………………………………………………………… 55 2.2.3 Sandstone …………………………………………………………………….. 58 Chapter Three…………………………………………………………………………. 59 3.1 Stratigraphy ……………………………………………………………………..... 59 3.2.1 Depositional Model ………………………………………………………….. 64 3.2.2 Tectonic and Climatic Controls ……………………………………………… 67 3.2.2.1 Tectonic Control…………………………………………………………69 3.2.2.2 Climatic Control …………………………………………………………73 Chapter Four ………………………………………………………………………….. 77 4.1 Discussion ………………………………………………………………………... 77 4.2 Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………..79 References ………………………………………………………………………………80 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………92 7 List of Figures Fig 1.1 Simplified map of the Hartford basin and location of the study area …………...10 Fig 1.2 Mesozoic rifting within the supercontinent of Pangea on the east coast of North America ………………………………………………………..…………………….12 Fig 1.3 Sedimentary and volcanic deposits of the Newark Supergroup and their paleolatitude ………………………………………………………………………...15 Fig 1.4 Location map of previous study areas in the Portland Formation ………………21 Fig 1.5 Horizontal transect of Park River Tunnel project cores ………………………...25 Fig 2.1 Black mudrock facies ………………………………………………………… ..30 Fig 2.2 Ripple cross-laminated black mudrock (Fr2)………………………………….... 35 Fig 2.3 Textures of disrupted black mudrock (Fm1)…………………………………… 38 Fig 2.4 Stratified red mudrock facies ………………………………………………....... 41 Fig 2.5 Rippled cross-laminated red mudrock (Fr2) ……………………………….…... 45 Fig 2.6 Disrupted to massive red mudrock (Fm2) ………………………………...…..... 47 Fig 2.7 Sandstone subfacies ……………………………………………………….....… 50 Fig 2.8 Thin section photos of black mudrock facies………………………………...….53 Fig 2.9 XRD analysis of black mudrock samples ……………………………………… 56 Fig 2.10 Thin sections of Fr2, Fm2, Fl2, and Sh……………………………………...…. 58 Fig 3.1 Vertical profile of lower Portland Formation from River Park Tunnel Project…60 Fig 3.2 Vertical stacking of the lower Portland Formation cores showing fourteen black mudrock units………………………………………………………………….…… 62 Fig 3.3 Lake basin model showing relationships between accommodation space and climate versus lake type ……………………………………………….………….....65 8 List of Tables Table 1.1 Stratigraphy of the Hartford basin ……………………………………………19 Table 1.2 Interpreted depositional environments for sedimentary rocks of the Portland Formation………………………………………………………………..…………. 22 Table 2.1 Facies list and paleoenvironmental interpretation for the facies of the lowermost Portland Formation ……………………………………………………...28 9 Chapter One 1.1 Introduction Rift basins are very common in the modern and ancient record. They occur on all continents as well as on thin oceanic crust beneath the sea (Einsele, 2000). Many rift basins have been studied in some detail, and it is evident that rift basins have some unique characteristic features that distinguish them from other sedimentary basins. Generally they tend to be deep, narrow, elongated sedimentary basins with numerous normal fault zones (synthetic and anthithetic or listric faults) and volcanism (Lambiase, 1990; Einsele, 2000). The Newark rift system of eastern coast of North America is an example of an ancient rift system that developed in a continental setting (Schlische, 1993; 2003). The Hartford basin (Fig 1.1), part of the Newark rift system, contains Upper Triassic through Lower Jurassic sedimentary and volcanic rocks that are part of the Newark Supergroup. The Newark rift system has been known for two centuries and many studies had been conducted in the Hartford basin (Lorenz, 1988; Schlische, 1993; Gierlowski- Kordesch and Huber, 1995; Olsen, and Kent, 1996; LeTourneau and Olsen, 2003; and many others). The uppermost unit of the Hartford basin, the Portland Formation, crops out in the eastern half of the basin (Fig 1.1). Similar to most Newark rift basins, the Hartford basin has limited exposures, and it has been difficult to determine the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the fine sedimentary rocks of the Portland Formation in the central basin. Most of our knowledge of the Portland Formation comes from the exposed strata along the eastern margin and north central part of the basin (Gilchrist, 10 1979; LeTourneau, 1985). These exposed units are mostly composed of coarse-grained sedimentary rocks, however, and have quite different sedimentologic units than those in Fig 1.1 Simplified map of the Hartford basin and location of the study area (adapted from Gierlowski- Kordesch and Huber, 1995). 11 the central part of the basin. This study investigates the sedimentology and stratigraphy of
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