Deposition of the Uppermost Cambrian (Croixan) Jordan Sandstone, and the Nature of the Cambrian-Ordovician Boundary in the Upper Mississippi Valley
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Deposition of the uppermost Cambrian (Croixan) Jordan Sandstone, and the nature of the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary in the Upper Mississippi Valley ANTHONY C. RUNKEL Minnesota Geological Survey, 2642 University Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota 55114-1057 ABSTRACT lowest Jordan lithofacies occurred near the cluded only that the Jordan was deposited in Transcontinental Arch on the western margin a "littoral" (for example, Dott, 1978; The Jordan Sandstone, of Late Cambrian of the embayment, and near the Wisconsin Thomas, 1991) or subtidal shelf (Byers and (Croixan) age, is well known as one of several Arch on the eastern margin. This differential others, 1990) environment. Others have sug- cratonic sheet sandstones in the Upper Missis- erosion marks the earliest known tectonic up- gested that the Jordan was deposited during a sippi Valley that are part of the classic Paleo- lift of the basin's margins relative to the center. transgression (Byers, 1978; Byers and others, zoic "orthoquartzite-carbonate suite." Evi- 1990), during a regression (Raasch, 1951; dence that the Jordan is an entirely marine, INTRODUCTION Raasch and Unfer, 1964; Bunker and others, regressive sequence, rather than transgressive 1988), and during both transgression and re- as commonly assumed, provides new insight Paleozoic strata in the Upper Mississippi gression (Odom and Ostrom, 1978). into the origin of cratonic sheet sandstones. Valley region of the North American craton This study concludes that the depositional The lower half of the Jordan Sandstone is were partly the basis for the development of history of the Jordan Sandstone differs sub- composed of two intercalated lithofacies: (1) the concepts of the orthoquartzite-carbonate stantially from that of other cratonic sheet extensively burrowed, very fine grained sand- suite (Pettijohn, 1957) and of unconformity- sandstones in the Upper Mississippi Valley, stone interbedded with hummocky cross-strat- bounded lithologic sequences (Sloss, 1963). and that the geometry and lateral homogene- ified beds deposited on the offshore shelf and These strata consist of laterally extensive car- ity of sheet sandstone units can be produced (2) fine-grained, burrowed, cross-stratified bonate, sandstone, and shale units that were in different depositional settings. The Jordan sandstone deposited on the lower shoreface deposited on the cratonic shelf over an area consists entirely of marine lithofacies depos- during storms. The upper half of the Jordan of tens of thousands of square kilometers. ited during an overall regression as part of a consists of medium- to coarse-grained sand- The Paleozoic sequence is especially well shoreline system that prograded across the stone deposited on the upper shoreface by tidal known for the several units of enigmatic, craton. The base of the Jordan is conformable and storm-generated currents. This lithofacies quartzose sheet sandstone it contains. Sev- with underlying strata, but the top of the Jor- is characterized by abundant scour surfaces, eral studies over the past 20 yr have recon- dan is unconformable with overlying trans- tidal inlet fills, and very large angular intra- structed the depositional history of some of gressive deposits of Early Ordovician age. clasts of sandstone derived from incised beach- the sheet sandstones, such as the Ordovician Recognition of this unconformity as a re- rock on the foreshore. St. Peter Sandstone, and the Cambrian gional feature provides insight into the tec- Lithofacies associations demonstrate that Wonewoc (in Minnesota, the Ironton and tonic history of the craton in this region and the Jordan Sandstone is a regressive sequence Galesville Sandstones) and Mt. Simon For- biostratigraphy across the Cambrian-Ordovi- deposited as part of a shoreline system that mations (Driese and others, 1981; Dott and cian boundary. prograded across the Hollandale embayment, others, 1986; Mossier, 1992). These studies a shallow depression on the cratonic shelf in the concluded that each of these sheet units was STRATIGRAPHY AND STUDY AREA Upper Mississippi Valley region. Progradation deposited during a transgression that fol- was interrupted by transgressive episodes re- lowed an extended period of subaerial ero- This study focused on the Jordan Sand- corded as local tongues of offshore deposits that sion. In general, each consists of fluvial and stone within the Hollandale embayment disconformably overlie shoreface deposits. eolian deposits overlain by strata deposited in (Austin, 1969), a shallow depression that ex- This sedimentologic model contributes to the marine environments. Their sheet geometry tended northward from the Illinois and Ozark evaluation of depositional controls in Late is in part the result of fluvial and eolian proc- basins onto the cratonic shelf in northern Cambrian time, and to solving some long- esses that spread sand across the craton land- Iowa, southeastern Minnesota, and south- standing enigmas associated with cratonic ward of the transgressing sea. western Wisconsin (Bunker and others, sheet sandstones. The Upper Cambrian Jordan Sandstone is 1988). The embayment is bordered on the Contrary to the long-held view that the a cratonic sheet sandstone that has remained north and west by the Transcontinental Arch, Cambrian-Ordovician boundary is conform- poorly understood, in part because its origin and on the east by the Wisconsin Arch and able in this region, sedimentologic evidence in- cannot be explained adequately by existing Dome (Fig. 1). In Late Cambrian time the dicates that a regional unconformity separates sedimentologic models developed for such embayment was also flanked by ridges of the Jordan Sandstone from the Early Ordovi- units. Some previous interpretations, based Sioux Quartzite to the west, by headlands cian Oneota Dolomite. Deep incision into the largely on local outcrop studies, have con- and islands of Middle Proterozoic volcanic Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 106, p. 492-506, 12 figs., April 1994. 492 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/106/4/492/3381867/i0016-7606-106-4-492.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 DEPOSITION OF JORDAN SANDSTONE has the best exposures and a large subsurface data base that includes borehole geophysical logs. Natural gamma logs are especially use- ful in distinguishing lithic attributes of the clastic parts of the Paleozoic section because of the distinctive correlation between grain size and feldspar content (Odom, 1975). For example, feldspathic, very fine grained sand- stone in the Jordan Sandstone is readily dis- tinguishable from the coarser-grained, quartz- ose sandstone (Fig. 2). More than 400 gamma logs and 58 sets of cuttings from boreholes that penetrated at least part of the Jordan Sand- stone were examined. This subsurface infor- mation, together with sedimentologic studies at selected outcrops, provided the basis for detailed analysis of the various lithofacies of the Jordan Sandstone. Most outcrops in Wisconsin and Iowa where a measured section of the Jordan had been published were also examined. These published sections were modified to conform to the lithofacies scheme devised for this study. By including outcrops in these states, it was possible to construct a north-south cross section of the Jordan spanning some 220 km across the Hollandale embayment and a section spanning about 370 km from the Transcontinental Arch to the Wisconsin Figure 1. Early Paleozoic tectonic features of the Upper Mississippi Valley region showing Arch (Fig. 1). location of outcrops and subsurface natural gamma logs used in cross sections and fence diagrams. LITHOFACIES OF THE JORDAN SANDSTONE rocks to the north, and by ridges of the Bara- Adams, 1978; Davis, 1970). Lithostratigraph- Despite its generally homogeneous tex- boo and related quartzites along the Wiscon- ic evidence presented here and in Smith and ture, four distinct lithofacies of the Jordan sin Arch. others (1993) demonstrates that the Coon Sandstone can be recognized: (1) very fine The Jordan Sandstone is as thick as 35 m in Valley lies unconformably upon medium- to grained, hummocky cross-stratified and bur- the Hollandale embayment and consists coarse-grained sandstone of the Jordan and is rowed sandstone; (2) fine-grained, trough mostly of very fine to coarse-grained sand- transitional with the dolostone of the Oneota cross-stratified and burrowed sandstone; stone (Fig. 2). It grades laterally into sandy above. Because of the nature of these con- (3) medium- to coarse-grained, large-scale dolomite in southern Iowa (Horick and Stein- tacts, together with its generally dolomitic cross-stratified sandstone; and (4) hetero- hilber, 1978) and east of the Wisconsin Arch character, the Coon Valley Member is con- lithic, thinly interbedded sandstone, mud- along the western edge of the Michigan basin sidered the basal member of the Oneota Do- stone, and shale. Typical sections of the Jor- (Smith and others, 1993). The Jordan grada- lomite in this paper. dan Sandstone include lithofacies 1,2, and 3 tionally overlies the St. Lawrence Forma- The Jordan Sandstone has been divided (Fig. 2). Lithofacies 4 was found only at a tion, a unit of siltstone and dolostone depos- into members such as the Norwalk (Stauffer, single outcrop near Rushford, Minnesota. ited mostly in an offshore shelf environment 1925), Waukon (Odom and Ostrom, 1978), (Ostrom, 1964; Webbers, 1972). The Jordan Sunset Point (Raasch, 1951), and Van Oser Lithofacies 1—-Very Fine Grained, is overlain by the Coon Valley Member