Magnetic Susceptibility of North American Ordovician Epicontinental Seas: Spatial Variability and Sandbian-Katian Boundary Correlation Thomas J
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2015 Magnetic Susceptibility of North American Ordovician Epicontinental Seas: Spatial Variability and Sandbian-Katian Boundary Correlation Thomas J. Schramm Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Earth Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Schramm, Thomas J., "Magnetic Susceptibility of North American Ordovician Epicontinental Seas: Spatial Variability and Sandbian- Katian Boundary Correlation" (2015). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3629. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3629 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY OF NORTH AMERICAN ORDOVICIAN EPICONTINENTAL SEAS: SPATIAL VARIABILITY AND SANDBIAN-KATIAN BOUNDARY CORRELATION A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geology by Thomas J. Schramm B.S., S.U.N.Y. New Paltz, 2009 M.S., University of Cincinnati, 2011 May 2015 © 2015 Thomas J. Schramm All rights reserved ii For the Great Stratigraphers iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this project would not be possible without the help of many people. First, I think my advisor and committee for guiding me throughout this project. The fieldwork for this project would not have been possible without lodging provided by Rebecca Freeman, C.J. Hartwell, and James Thomka. I would like to thank Gordon Baird, Alex Bartholomew, Carlton Brett, Benjamin Dattilo, Jesse Carlucci, Dan Goldman, Warren Huff, and Steve Westrop for their insight into this project, stratigraphy, discussion, and phone calls while in the field. James Thomka, Evan Krekelar, Brooks Ellwood and Sue Ellwood provided assistance in the field: Amber Ellwood and Abigail Heath provided assistance in the lab. I would also like to thank Dr. Hanor, Kathryn Denommee, and Crawford White for assistance in constructing figures. This project would not have been possible without the love and encouragement of my parents. I’ve found completion of this degree to be, at times, discouraging and arduous and thank all of those who encouraged me to continue through this. I would like to thank Hunter’s Run Gun Club, Alliance Auto Paint and Supply, and The Chimes of Highland Road. I would like to thank the LSU Geology Department for financial support as a TA, and scholarship funding from Encana, Devon Energy, the New Orleans Geological Society, Adam Sturlese Memorial Scholarship and the Mary Jo Klosterman Fellowship. Partial funding of field research was provided by the Robey Clark endowed professorship. iv PREFACE Correlating shelf to basin sequences remains one of the most persistent problems in the study of stratigraphy. The difficulty of correlating synchronous horizons across depositional facies has puzzled geologists since the origination of this branch of geology. The naming and description of lithographic units and their correlation represents the first step in stratigraphy. ‘What’s in a name?’ He who names it owns it for eternity, and so much of stratigraphy owes to this principle. The name of a stratigraphic unit assigns a type locality to it and pairs a physical location to this lithology. As geologic environments, or facies, change spatially at any given point in time application of these locality defined names describing lithofacies become limited. A second aspect of stratigraphy does not represent the naming of formations or units, but instead attempts to solve a series of problems, or issues within Earth’s history. These could include, global climate, tectonic, faunal origination, biodiversity, and mass extinctions. The assessment of all of these problems is contingent on the accurate comparison of coeval units and their chronologies. Simply put, without the accurate correlation of stratigraphic units it is not possible to accurately access these ‘second level’ issues. Stratigraphic correlation, the identification of synchrounous horizons, and their correlation both regionally, and globally, is critical to accessing these issues. These physical, stratal problems, based around the correlation of rock based units represent some of the oldest unsolved geologic problems, and many have yet to be solved. In constructing a dissertation, my goal was to solve the biggest, baddest, remaining unsolved rock- based stratigraphic problems. Many geologists are no longer concerned with the assessment of v these insular stratigraphic problems, even though, they are the foundation upon which the geologic timescale, and our knowledge of Earth History has been composed. The Ordovician System has specifically been chosen for the purpose of this investigation because it largely remains understudied. The Ordovician as a system (Lapworth, 1871) represents the final named geologic system in Earth history. Due to poor biostratigraphic resolution and provinciality of faunas its chronostratigraphy remains one of the least understood. A lack of correlatable units generally plagues Ordovician stratigraphy. The level of correlation to access these events within Ordovician strata occurs below the resolution of biostratigraphy, and thus will remain controversial. Simply, higher levels of biostratigraphic resolution within other systems better permit assessment of such problems. In order to solve these correlation issues a somewhat unorthodox study using magnetic susceptibility () based correlation has been conducted. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………………iv PREFACE………………………………………………………………………………………...v ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………....x CHAPTER 1 TESTING THE SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILTY () IN ORDOVICIAN EPICONTINENTAL SEAS……………………………………………...1 ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………….....1 KEYWORDS……………………………………………………………………………………...1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………...2 Spatial Distribution……………………………………………………………………...3 Cincinnatian ……………………………………………………………………………..4 Regional Setting…………………………………………………………………………...4 Meter-Scale Cycles and Depositional Models…………………………………………….9 PREDICTIONS/HYPOTHESES………………………………………………………………...12 METHODS………………………………………………………………………………………13 RESULTS………………………………………………………………………………………..19 Sample Measurement Values…………………………………………………………….19 Lithology Driven Values…………………………………………………………………19 Episodic Starvation………………………………………………………………………21 Spatial Change in Values………………………………………………………………21 Thermomagnetic susceptibility…………………………………………………………..22 DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………………………24 Correlation Potential……………………………………………………………………..24 Stratal Geometry and Sequence Stratigraphic Implications……………………………..25 “Z-Bed” Trough………………………………………………………………………….25 Short Comings…………………………………………………………………………...27 CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………………………………...28 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………..29 CHAPTER 2 MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY - BASED DISSOCIATION OF SANDBIAN- KATIAN BOUNDARY STRATA IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA: A CONDUNDRUM……………………………………………………………..…………………34 ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………...34 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………….35 BACKGROUND………………………………………………………………………………...37 Ordovician Timescale……………………………………………………………………37 Sandbian-Katian Boundary………………………………………………………………38 North American Ordovician Timescale………………………………………………….39 Regions Studied………………………………………………………………………….41 New York Trenton……………………………………………………………….41 Kentucky Lexington……………………………………………………………...43 Appalachian Basin……………………………………………………………….44 vii Oklahoma Ordovician……………………………………………………………44 Taconic Orogeny…………………………………………………………………………45 GICE……………………………………………………………………………………..46 K-Bentonites……………………………………………………………………………..47 METHODS………………………………………………………………………………………49 Stratigraphy of Localities Sampled………………………………………………………49 Ingham Mills, New York…………………………………………………….......49 Frankfort, Kentucky….…………………………………………………………..51 Hagan, Virginia…………………………………………………………………..54 Black Knob Ridge, Oklahoma.……………………………………………..........56 Fittstown, Oklahoma……….…………………………………………………….57 OBSERVATIONS……………………………………………………………………………..59 Ingham Mills, New York.………………………………………………………………..59 Frankfort, Kentucky..…………………………………………………………………….60 Hagan, Virginia………………………………….……………………………………….63 Black Knob Ridge………………………………………………………………………..63 Fittstown, Oklahoma…….……………………………………………………………….65 DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………………………65 Diachronous Conodont and Graptolite Zonation………………………………………...70 Ash Bed Based Black Riverian Correlation…………………………………………...71 Correlation Hypothesis 1: Lower Viola Springs-Curdsville-Logana-Hermitage………..75 Correlation Hypothesis 2: Watertown Shelf Perched Systems Tract……………………78 Applications Summary……………………………..………………………………….81 CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………………………………...82 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………..83 CHAPTER 3 MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY - BASED ANALYSIS OF SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHIC PROFILES IN THE KATIAN STAGE OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA: IS MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY A VIABLE TOOL FOR SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION?........................................................................................................91