Sedimentology, Palaeontology and Diagenesis of the Ordovician (Darriwilian) Svartodden Member (Huk Formation), Slemmestad, Oslo Region
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Master Thesis, Department of Geosciences Sedimentology, palaeontology and diagenesis of the Ordovician (Darriwilian) Svartodden Member (Huk Formation), Slemmestad, Oslo Region Julie Guttormsen UiO Naturhistorisk museum Front page photo: The Svartodden Mbr. at the Slemmestad IF arena locality, with the local cement factory seen in the distance. 2 UiO Naturhistorisk museum Sedimentology, palaeontology and diagenesis of the Ordovician (Darriwilian) Svartodden Member (Huk Formation), Slemmestad, Oslo Region Julie Guttormsen Master Thesis in Geosciences Discipline: Geology Department of Geosciences Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences University of Oslo November 1st , 2012 3 © Julie Guttormsen, 2012 This work is published digitally through DUO – Digitale Utgivelser ved UiO http://www.duo.uio.no It is also catalogued in BIBSYS (http://www.bibsys.no/english) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. 4 Acknowledgement I would especially like to thank Professor Hans Arne Nakrem, who offered me a unique master thesis subject, with both elements of palaeontology and sedimentology. Thank you for being an excellent and always positive supervisor! I also greatly appreciate the good help from Dr. Øyvind Hammer and Krzysztof Hryniewicz, during discussions, analyses and feedback. I owe Professor Nils-Martin Hanken a great thank you for teaching me about the petrography of limestones and about diagenetic studies, both in Tromsø and in Oslo. This thesis would not have been what it is if it was not for your help! A special thank you goes to Dr. Björn Kröger, for being a great help in the identification of cephalopods. I would also give a great thank you to Dr. Jan Audun Rasmussen for helping me identify conodonts. To all the crew at NHM, I have very much enjoyed getting to know you and I will miss the good company at the museum. Thank you also for the job position as a museum guide during my studies. To Nina Width, Lene Liebe and Liv Holmesland at the Slemmestad geology center; thank you for giving me the opportunity to convey what I study to the general public, I have very much appreciated it. A great thank you also goes to my friends at Tøyen and Blindern; Geir, Ronny, Katrine, Andreas B., Håkon, Thine, Andreas G., Linn and Aubrey. Thank you for all good laughs and sorrows. I would also like to thank Stine and Linn-Torild for always telling me to „stay strong“. The final thank you goes to my familiy. Thank you for all the support and for making it a joyful time when I come home to take a break. 5 Abstract The Ordovician (Darriwilian) Svartodden Member of the Huk Formation in the village of Slemmestad in the Oslo Region, Norway, is a 2 m thick limestone unit, corresponding to the lower part of the Baltoscandic Orthoceratite Limestone. The unit is characterized by large and abundant orthoconic endocerid cephalopods in which Proterovaginoceras incognitum is the most dominant species recorded. The main part of the fieldwork performed in this study was conducted at the now well- known outcrop near the Slemmestad IF arena, a bedding surface measuring approximately 1300 m2. The Svartodden Mbr. was carefully logged with a particular focus on detecting firm- and hardgrounds. The macrofauna was recorded and cephalopod species were quantified. Current directions based on orientations of cephalopod conchs show a preferential current from a north-eastward direction. Extensive bioturbation can be witnessed from abundant trace fossils on the main bedding surface. Tunneling asaphid trilobites took advantage of the firmgrounds and produced most of the abundant Thalassinoides trace fossils. The main cause for this opportunistic behavior is linked to predation pressure from the abundant omnivorous nautiloid cephalopods. New records and interpretations of firm- and hardgrounds based on field observations and element analysis by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) of the bulk unit are presented. Element concentrations of Fe, S, Mn and P are used to recognize the hardgrounds. The data suggest that firmgrounds evolved in combination with enrichment of phosphorus, which may be linked to cyclicities of upwelling, semi-emergence of the seafloor and a high accumulation of organic material. The Svartodden Mbr. is characterized by several firmgrounds formed as a result of very low net sedimentation rates and by early cementation. During the interpreted hardground period witnessed by the main bedding surface, truncated trilobite tunnels are believed to have been inhabited by microstromatolites, forming microbial linings growing from the tunnel peripheries. The microstromatolites are also present in other areas of the unit, either on cephalopod conchs or merely on the sediment surface. Slabs were dissolved in acetic acid, and the acid resistant residue was analysed with respect to microfossils, authigenic minerals and microtektites. The recorded conodont species Drepanodus arcuatus and Baltoniodus medius are characteristic species of the Eoplacognathus pseudoplanus zone, previously reported from the Svartodden Mbr. Brachiopods belonging to the genera Conotreta and Myotreta, as well as bryozoans of the genera Moyerella, Chasmatopora and Moorephylloporina have also been recorded. Isotopic variations of 13C and 18O has been recorded, however diagenetic alterations by hydrothermal circulating porewater have altered the samples with respects to the 18O isotopes. The diagenetic history of the unit based on studies of cements in cephalopod siphuncles and conchs, involves several stages of precipitation and dissolution of cements most likely caused by increasing burial depth and alternating CO2 content in the pore water. Dolomitization is believed to have formed at different levels of burial, in the shallow and the deep realm. 6 Contents 1. Introduction .....................................................................................................10 1.1 An ecxeptional locality at the Slemmestad IF arena ...............................10 1.2 Purpose of thesis ...................................................................................11 2. Geological framework ......................................................................................12 2.1 Regional Geology .................................................................................12 2.2 Palaeogeography and palaeoclimate ......................................................18 2.3 Tectonics ..............................................................................................20 2.4 The Oslo Region ...................................................................................21 2.5 Local geology in the Slemmestad area ..................................................23 2.6 Lithostratigraphic setting.......................................................................25 2.7 Dating of the Svartodden Mbr. .............................................................28 3. Hardgrounds.....................................................................................................29 3.1 Formation of hardgrounds .....................................................................30 3.2 Hardground identification .....................................................................32 4. Material and methods .......................................................................................36 4.1 Field methods and carbonate classification ............................................36 4.2 Preparation of slabs, core and thin section .............................................40 4.3 Transmitted light microscope ................................................................41 4.4 Microfacies analysis ..............................................................................41 4.5 Staining techniques ...............................................................................41 4.6 Acid processing of samples ...................................................................42 4.7 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) ..................................................43 4.8 Cathodoluminescence (CL) ...................................................................43 4.9 X-ray fluorescence (XRF) .....................................................................44 4.10 Magnetic susceptibility .........................................................................45 4.11 Mass spectrometry (18O and 13C stable isotopes) ...................................45 5. Palaeontology ...................................................................................................46 7 5.1 Previous work .......................................................................................47 5.1.1 Brachiopods ..................................................................................47 5.1.2 Bryozoans .....................................................................................48 5.1.3 Gastropods ....................................................................................49 5.1.4 Cephalopods .................................................................................49 5.1.5 Trilobites ......................................................................................56 5.1.6 Ostracodes ....................................................................................57 5.1.7 Echinoderms .................................................................................57 5.1.8 Conodonts .....................................................................................58