Facets of the Ordovician Geology of the Upper Mississippi Valley Region
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FACETS OF THE ORDOVICIAN GEOLOGY OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY REGION Iowa Geological Survey Guidebook Series No. 24 Guidebook for the 35th Annual Field Conference of the Great Lakes Section, Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) September 23-25, 2005 Iowa Department of Natural Resources Jeffrey R. Vonk, Director September 2005 COVER Palisades of Ordovician Dunleith Formation along the Upper Iowa River near Bluffton in Winneshiek County. Photo by Greg Ludvigson Printed on recycled paper. FACETS OF THE ORDOVICIAN GEOLOGY OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY REGION Iowa Geological Survey Guidebook Series No. 24 Guidebook for the 35th Annual Field Conference of the Great Lakes Section, Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) September 23-25, 2005 Edited by Greg A. Ludvigson and Bill J. Bunker Field Trip Co-led by Greg A. Ludvigson, Iowa Geological Survey & University of Iowa Brian J. Witzke, Iowa Geological Survey & University of Iowa Norlene R. Emerson, University of Wisconsin-Richland Jeffrey A. Dorale, University of Iowa Michael J. Bounk, Iowa Geological Survey Jean N. Young, Luther College With contributions by E.C. Alexander, Jr. S.C. Alexander S.M. Bergström Univ. of Minnesota Univ. of Minnesota Ohio State Univ. S. Beyer M.J. Bounk C.E. Brett Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison Iowa Geological Survey Univ. of Cincinnati S.J. Carpenter L. Chetel J.A. Dorale Univ. of Iowa Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison Univ. of Iowa N.R. Emerson L.A. González J.A. Green Univ. of Wisconsin-Richland Univ. of Kansas Minnesota Dept. Nat. Resources W.D. Huff M.A. Kleffner D.R. Kolata Univ. of Cincinnati Ohio State Univ. at Lima Illinois St. Geological Survey S.A. Leslie R.D. Libra G.A. Ludvigson Univ. of Arkansas at Little Rock Iowa Geological Survey Iowa Geological Survey P. MacKenzie P.I. McLaughlin K.J. McVey Ohio State Univ Univ. of Cincinnati Luther College E. Müftüoglu M.M. Saltzman B. Schmitz Ankara, Turkey Ohio State Univ Lund Univ., Sweden C.L. Schneider T. Simo B. Singer California St. Univ.-Bakersfield Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison M.P. Skopec E.A. Smith B.J. Witzke Iowa Geological Survey Univ. of Michigan Iowa Geological Survey J.N. Young Luther College Iowa Department of Natural Resources Jeffrey R. Vonk, Director September 2005 131 For additional copies contact: Iowa Geological Survey 109 Trowbridge Hall Iowa City, IA 52242-1319 Phone: 319-335-1575 FAX: 319-335-2754 www.igsb.uiowa.edu 132 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreward ......................vii Part I: Contributed Papers .................1 The Ordovician Galena Group in Iowa and its regional stratigraphic relationships B.J. Witzke and G.A. Ludvigson................3 Controls on epeiric sea sedimentation: Evidence from facies stacking patterns, Galena Group, northeast Iowa S. Beyer .....................23 A unified sequence stratigraphic model for foreland basin systems: Insights into the continuity of Upper Ordovician strata in eastern North America P.I. McLaughlin and C.E. Brett ................27 Conodont biostratigraphy across the Turinian-Chatfieldian stage transition (Late Ordovician, Mohawkian) in the Upper Mississippi Valley S.A. Leslie and S.M. Bergström ................31 Biostratigraphic and paleoceanographic relations between the type Richmondian (Upper Ordovician) in the Cincinnati region and the Upper Mississippi Valley succession S.M. Bergström and P. MacKenzie ...............35 Rediscovery of Branson & Mehls classical Ozora, Missouri conodont locality and the morphology of the Upper Ordovician conodont zone index Amorphognathus ordovicicus S.A. Leslie and S.M. Bergström ...............39 Chronostratigraphic and paleoceanographic implications of the discovery of the Hirnantian (Upper Ordovician) δ13C excursion (HICE) in southeastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois S.M. Bergström, M.M. Saltzman, and B. Schmitz ...........43 Revised chronostratigraphy of the Ordovician/Silurian boundary interval in eastern Iowa and northeastern Illinois based on δ13C chemostratigraphy M.A. Kleffner, S.M. Bergström, and B. Schmitz ...........47 Ordovician K-bentonites W.D. Huff.....................51 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the Upper Mississippi Valley, Upper Ordovician Galena Group: Sediment accumulation rates and implications for the history of an epeiric sea L. Chetel, B. Singer, and T. Simo ...............55 Provenance of detrital K-feldspars, Ordovician, Upper Mississippi Valley, a 40Ar/39Ar geochronology perspective L. Chetel, T. Simo, and B. Singer ...............59 133 134 Biotite as a discriminator between the Late Ordovician Deicke, Millbrig, and Kinnekulle K-bentonites W.D. Huff, E. Müftöglu, S.M. Bergström, and D.R. Kolata .........63 The emerging record of Late Ordovician global change G.A. Ludvigson and B.J. Witzke ...............67 Karst mapping in Minnesota E.C. Alexander, S.C. Alexander, J.A. Green, and R.G. Tipping ........73 Paleoclimatologic studies in Cold Water Cave, northeast Iowa J.A. Dorale ....................77 Impacts of agriculture on water quality in the Big Spring Basin, NE Iowa, U.S.A. R.D. Libra .....................83 The role of karst in water quality for the Upper Iowa River M.P. Skopec ....................87 Part II: Roadlog and Descriptions of Field Trip Stops ..........91 Roadlog to Field Trip Stops ..................93 STOP 1 The Breuning Rock Products, Inc. Quarry on Iowa State Hwy 9. N.R. Emerson, G.A. Ludvigson, B.J. Witzke, C.L. Schneider, L.A. González, and S.J Carpenter ...................95 STOP 2 Glenwood Cave. M.J. Bounk ................... 105 STOP 3 Dunnings Spring: A Historical Overview K.J. McVey and J.N. Young ............... 107 STOP 4 The Locust Road Roadcut Section along the south wall of Canoe Creek Valley B.J. Witzke and G.A. Ludvigson .............. 111 STOP 5 The Fred Carlson Co., LLC Locust Quarry west of Locust, Iowa N.R. Emerson, G.A. Ludvigson, B.J. Witzke, E.A. Smith, L.A. González, and S.J. Carpenter .................. 115 STOP 6 The Pole Line Road Roadcut Section B.J. Witzke and G.A. Ludvigson .............. 123 135 136 FORWARD Welcome to Decorah, Iowa and the 35th Annual Fall Field Conference of the Great Lakes Section of SEPM The Society for Sedimentary Geology (GLS-SEPM)! This is the fourth such field conference to be held in the state of Iowa. In 1983, David Delgado at the University of Wisconsin- Madison led a car caravan excursion from Dubuque to Decorah to examine the Ordovician Galena Group. In 1985, Bill Hammer and others at Augustana College led a field trip to examine Paleozoic strata along the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities Illinois-Iowa area. In 1988, I and a host of others led a trip to look at Paleozoic strata along the Plum River Fault Zone in the Upper Mississippi Valley, headquartered in Bellevue, Iowa. Planning for this field conference has been under discussion with the GLS-SEPM Council for a number of years. As you will see, there is substantial interest in the Ordovician geology of the Upper Mississippi Valley region, by a diversity of Earth Scientists with a very wide range of topical interests and scientific applications. I have been impressed by the excitement that has developed over various scientific facets of the Ordovician sedimentary rocks that are so beautifully exposed in this region, often among smaller disciplinary enclaves with only limited broader interdisciplinary contact. If this field conference succeeds in broadening your appreciation of the Ordovician sedimentary strata of the Upper Mississippi Valley, then I and others who contributed to this guidebook, or otherwise helped with the organization of this event have achieved our major aim. A number of acknowledgements are due to colleagues and organizations that aided in this effort. My cohorts on the GLS-SEPM Council, President Joanne Kluessendorf, Secretary Pius Weibel, and Treasurer Annabelle Foos have been active partners in the planning of this event, and their good advice helped me avoid many pitfalls. The co-sponsoring Geological Society of Iowa, especially President Bill Bunker, Treasurer Chad Fields, and Newsletter Editor Ray Anderson have all been extremely helpful throughout the planning for this event. A special note of thanks is due to our long-term colleague Sherman Lundy for his helpful guiding hand behind the scenes in the arrangement of co-sponsoring partnerships. We are grateful to the Iowa Limestone Producers Association and Executive Director Rich White for their financial support. We also thank the Iowa Ground Water Association and Treasurer Paul Van Dorpe for financial and organizational support. Finally, we thank the Central Section of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers and Secretary Janis Treworgy for their financial support. I thank State Geologist Bob Libra and my friends and colleagues at the Iowa Geological Survey for helping me bring this project to fruition. I hope that this product will justify your faith in me. Field and laboratory investigations on the Ordovician geology of the Upper Mississippi Valley over the years have been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, under grant number EAR-0000741, and by the U.S. Geological Survey under cooperative agreement number 04HQAG0067. Colleagues Brian Witzke, Luis González, Scott Carpenter, Chris Schneider, Norlene Emerson, Liz Smith, and Franek Hasiuk were active research partners in the former project, while Stephanie Tassier-Surine, Brian Witzke, Ray Anderson, and Bill Bunker were active research partners in the latter project. One last word of thanks to some colleagues who have shared ideas and time