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Arctic Alaska's Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian and Barremian)

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Arctic Alaska's Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian and Barremian) Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, Volume 15 Arctic Alaska’s Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian and Barremian) Mudstone Succession—Linking Lithofacies, Texture, and Geochemistry to Marine Processes Professional Paper 1814–B U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Keller and Macquaker Figure 2 FRONT COVER Photograph of a very good outcrop of the Lower Cretaceous mudstone succession at Marsh Creek in the northern area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Prominent, blocky, light-colored intervals of carbonate-cement- dominated mudstone are interbedded with predominant, dark-colored lithofacies consisting of silt- and clay-rich mudstones of the pebble shale unit (U.S. Geological Survey photograph by Margaret A. Keller). Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, Volume 15 Arctic Alaska’s Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian and Barremian) Mudstone Succession—Linking Lithofacies, Texture, and Geochemistry to Marine Processes By Margaret A. Keller and Joe H.S. Macquaker Professional Paper 1814–B U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior SALLY JEWELL, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Suzette M. Kimball, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2015 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit http://www.usgs.gov/ or call 1–888–ASK–USGS (1–888–275–8747). For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod/. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Keller, M.A., and Macquaker, J.H.S., 2015, Arctic Alaska’s Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian and Barremian) mudstone succession—Linking lithofacies, texture, and geochemistry to marine processes, in Dumoulin, J.A., ed., Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, vol. 15: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1814–B, 35 p., http://dx.doi. org/10.3133/pp1814B. ISSN 2330-7102 (online) iii Acknowledgments Many colleagues are appreciated for their contributions to these studies, particularly Gil Mull and Ken Bird for generously sharing their knowledge of the North Slope during many helpful discussions and Paul Lillis for assistance with organic geochemistry. David House- knecht, Steve Bergman, Kevin Taylor, Kevin Bohacs, Erik Reimnitz, Larry Phillips, Peta Mudie, Albert Holba, Art Grantz, Tom Moore, and Mike McCormick provided helpful discus- sions and (or) reviews of our earlier work. This manuscript benefited tremendously from the comments/suggestions of reviewers Larry Phillips and Ken Bird, volume editors Julie Dumou- lin and Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, and text editor Jim Hendley. Thanks go to the U.S. Geologi- cal Survey and the University of Manchester for funding this research, Mobil Oil Company (and now Exxon/Mobil) for permission to sample and analyze their core, Michael Mickey and Hideyo Haga for sharing their analysis of the fauna and flora, Mary McGann and Isabella Premoli Silva for identifying calcitic, benthic foraminifera in thin section, and Zenon Valin for graphics advice and assistance. iv Contents Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................iii Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1 Alaska Studies .......................................................................................................................................3 Geologic Background...........................................................................................................................6 Methods, Terminology, and Stratigraphy of Samples ..............................................................................7 Lithofacies and Textures ..............................................................................................................................8 Muddy Sandstones and Sand- and Silt-Bearing Clay-Rich Mudstones .....................................8 Mudstones with Some Mud-Supported Clasts ................................................................................8 Silt-Bearing Clay-Rich Mudstones ..................................................................................................11 Clay-Dominated and Clay-Rich Mudstones ...................................................................................11 Carbonate-Cemented Mudstones ....................................................................................................11 Tuffs..... ..................................................................................................................................................11 Sandstone and Silt-Rich and Silt-Dominated Mudstone in the Orion 1 Well ............................22 Lithofacies, Sequence, and Other Characteristics .......................................................................22 Discussion .....................................................................................................................................................25 Early Cretaceous Arctic Climate ......................................................................................................25 Modern Arctic Process Analogs ......................................................................................................26 Organic Richness—Petroleum Source Rock Potential ................................................................26 Depositional Model for the Lower Cretaceous Succession ........................................................28 Summary and Conclusions .........................................................................................................................29 References Cited..........................................................................................................................................30 v Figures 1. Diagram showing simplified stratigraphy of the central North Slope, Alaska .............................2 2. Photograph of the Lower Cretaceous mudstone succession at Marsh Creek, Alaska .............3 3. Index map of the central North Slope, Alaska ..................................................................................4 4. Diagram of restored cross sections across the Colville Basin, North Slope, Alaska .................5 5. Diagram showing lithofacies and lithostratigraphy of Lower Cretaceous sections, Arctic Alaska .............................................................................................................................................8 6. Photographs of sand- and silt-bearing clay-rich mudstones and muddy sandstone from Arctic Alaska ...............................................................................................................................10 7. Photographs of rare, prominent, mud-supported, isolated, outsized, sand- to pebble-sized clasts representing “dropstones”, and more common, scattered large sand grains in silt-bearing clay-rich mudstones from Arctic Alaska that have thin beds that commonly contain poorly sorted basal silt laminae .................................................................................12 8. Photographs of silt bearing clay-rich mudstones from Arctic Alaska with partial bioturbation and thin relict bedding ...............................................................................................................14 9. Photographs of clay-rich and clay-dominated mudstones from Arctic Alaska with horizontal burrows and partial to pervasive bioturbation ......................................................................16 10. Photographs of clay-bearing carbonate-cement-rich mudstone and carbonate-cement- dominated mudstone from Arctic Alaska showing relict lamination and pelleted fabrics and variable but mainly limited bioturbation ..........................................................................18 11. Photographs of graded tuffs and partially to extensively pyrite-replaced, relict tuffs inter- bedded with pelleted, clay-rich and clay-dominated mudstones from Arctic Alaska ....20 12. Photographs of sandstone and sand-bearing silt-rich mudstones in the Hue Shale of the Orion 1 well in Arctic Alaska .....................................................................................................23 Table 1. Comparison of Rock-Eval pyrolysis data for the Mikkelsen Bay State 1 and Orion 1 wells in Arctic Alaska ...............................................................................................................................27 Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, volume 15 Edited by Julie A. Dumoulin U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1814–B [Also see http://pubs.usgs.gov/AK_studies/] Arctic Alaska’s Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian and Barremian) Mudstone Succession—Linking Lithofacies, Texture, and Geochemistry to Marine Processes By Margaret A. Keller1 and
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