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The Geological Society of America Special Paper 545 OPEN ACCESS

Arc-to-craton: Devonian air-fall tephras in the eastern United States

C.A. Ver Straeten* New York State Museum & Geological Survey, 3140 Cultural Education Center, Albany, New York 12230, USA

D.J. Over* Department of Geological Sciences, State University of New York–College at Geneseo, Geneseo, New York 14454, USA

G.C. Baird* Department of Geosciences, State University of New York–Fredonia, Fredonia, New York 14063, USA

ABSTRACT

More than 100 air-fall volcanic tephra beds are currently documented from Devonian strata in the eastern United States. These beds act as key sources of vari- ous geological data. These include within-basin to basin-to-basin correlation, glob- ally useful geochronologic age dates, and a relatively detailed, if incomplete, record of Acadian–Neoacadian silicic volcanism. The tephras occur irregularly through the vertical Devonian succession, in clusters of several beds, or scattered as a few to single beds. In this contribution, their vertical and lateral distribution and recent radiometric dates are reviewed. Current unresolved issues include correlation of the classic Eifelian-age (lower Middle Devonian) Tioga tephras and dates related to the age of the Onondaga-Marcellus contact in the Appalachian Basin. Here, we used two approaches to examine the paleovolcanic record of Acadian–Neoacadian silicic magmatism and volcanism. Reexamination of volcanic phenocryst distribution maps from the Tioga tephras indicates not one but four or more volcanic sources along the orogen, between southeastern Pennsylvania and northern North Carolina. Final- ly, radiometric and relative ages of the sedimentary basin tephras are compared and contrasted with current radiometric ages of igneous rocks from New England. Despite data gaps and biases in both records, their comparisons provide insights into Devonian silicic igneous activity in the eastern United States, and into vari- ous issues of recognition, deposition, and preservation of tephras in the sedimentary rock record.

*E-mails: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected].

Ver Straeten, C.A., Over, D.J., and Baird, G.C., 2020, Arc-to-craton: Devonian air-fall tephras in the eastern United States, in Avary, K.L., Hasson, K.O., and Diecchio, R.J., eds., The Appalachian Geology of John M. Dennison: Rocks, People, and a Few Good Restaurants along the Way: Geological Society of America Special Paper 545, p. 35–53, https://doi.org/10.1130/2020.2545(03). © 2020 The Authors. Gold Open Access: This chapter is published under the terms of the CC-BY license and is available open access on www.gsapubs.org.

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Figure 1. Photographs of Devonian air-fall tephra beds, eastern United States. Outcrop views are Devonian air-fall tephras; red arrows point to less obvious tephra beds in photos. (A) “Rickard’s” tephra, Lower Devonian Bald Hill Tephras cluster, Kalkberg (New Scotland?) Formation, Cherry Valley, New York. (B) Close-up of same tephra bed. Note gray color of clay-dominated “K-bentonite”–type tephra. (C) Multiple air-fall tephras of Lower Devonian Sprout Brook Tephras cluster, near Cobleskill, New York. (D) Coarse-grained “tuff” bed from Middle Devonian Tioga Teph- ras cluster, upper Needmore Formation, Massanutten Mountain, Virginia. Note sedimentary structures, indicative of resedimentation of tephra. (E) Belpre Tephra bed in Upper Devonian Rhinestreet Shale, on Lake Erie shore at Sea Scape, New York. (F) Close-up of a thin “gummy bed” tephra, seen as light-tan bedding plane at level of red arrow, to right of hammer. In lower Angola Shale, Point Breeze, near Angola, New York. (G) Four “gummy” tephra beds in upper Angola and lower Pipe Creek shales, south branch of Eighteen Mile Creek at Old Church Road, near Eden, New York.

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INTRODUCTION Various descriptive names are applied to air-fall volcanic tephras in the sedimentary record and scientific literature. These Air-fall volcanic tephra beds in sedimentary successions are sometimes imply grain size (e.g., tuff); often, they reflect the dia- key sources of varied geological information. A product of explo- genetic history of a tephra (e.g., bentonite, K-bentonite, metaben- sive silicic volcanism, tephra is forcefully ejected from an under- tonite, tonstein), or a generic, common name for such layers (e.g., lying magma chamber, thrust upward into the troposphere or even ash). If shown to be of an air-fall volcanic origin, these layers are, the stratosphere, and transported, settling across all environments independent of applied descriptive terms, tephras, i.e., layers of downwind of the source volcano. Dependent on several factors, extruded igneous materials (ash, pumice, phenocrysts, and rock some tephras are deposited across a significant geographic area. fragments). Following the practice of Cenozoic volcanologists, When preserved in strata, they provide key, distinct marker beds and as recommended to Ver Straeten in discussions with Andrei for local to long-distance correlation, and their radiometric dates Sarna-Wojcicki (2007, personal commun.), the term “tephra” is allow for refinement of the geologic time scale. In addition, they utilized throughout this paper, with the other terms retained as comprise a key source of information for reconstructing a history descriptive modifiers. Images of some eastern U.S. Devonian of paleovolcanism, which is especially crucial adjacent to deeply tephra beds are shown in Figure 1. eroded magmatic/volcanic arcs. During the Devonian, large portions of eastern Laurentia Following the settling and deposition of tephra materials (North America) were at times flooded by shallow seas. Sub- (extruded ash, pumice, phenocrysts, and rock fragments) onto duction and collisional tectonic processes resulted in uplift of an land or through water to the sediment floor, a primary tephra layer orogenic belt extending from east Greenland to the southeastern is exposed to various active environmentally dependent processes United States, with widespread deformation, metamorphism, (Ver Straeten, 2004a). Rapid burial under relatively low-energy magmatism, and flexural downwarping of a retroarc foreland and biologically inactive conditions best preserves a primary basin system. The Appalachian Basin region has been variously air-fall tephra. Low sedimentation rates under quiet conditions interpreted to have been located 25°S–40°S of the equator (van may lead to stacking of multiple eruptive event layers. In most der Voo, 1988; Witzke and Heckel, 1988; Scotese and McKer- settings, a range of physical, biological, and chemical processes row, 1990). In this setting, explosive silicic volcanism resulted act on exposed tephra sediments, mixing them with subsequently in deposition of numerous air-fall volcanic tephras in Devonian deposited tephra and/or background sediments, sometimes lead- strata across the region. ing to complete mixing and obliteration of the eruptive event. In this paper, we review the occurrence of known Devonian Studies on the postdepositional history of tephras include Baird air-fall tephras from the eastern United States (Figs. 2 and 3), et al. (1994), Huff et al. (1999), Königer and Stollhofen (2001), followed by a discussion of correlation issues of various Eif- Ver Straeten (2004a, 2008), Benedict (2004), Ver Straeten et al. elian Stage (lower Middle Devonian) Tioga tephras, and dat- (2005), and Püspöki et al. (2005, 2008). ing of the Eifelian Stage base of Marcellus strata. In addition, ­

Figure 2. Study area map of Devonian tephras, eastern United States. Area within thick dark line denotes region of studied tephra beds for this paper, includ- ing maps from Dennison and Textoris (1987). Abbreviations: DE—­Delaware; IA—Iowa; IL—­Illinois; IN—Indiana; KY—Kentucky; MD—­Maryland; MI— Michigan; MO—­Missouri; NC—North Carolina; NJ—New Jersey; NY—New York; OH—Ohio; ONT—Ontario, Cana- da; PA—­Pennsylvania; TN—­Tennessee; VA—Virginia; WI—Wisconsin; WV— West Virginia.

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Figure 3. Devonian air-fall teph- ra beds, eastern United States. Time-distribution of known and possible volcanic air-fall tephra beds is plotted again Devonian time scale of Becker et al. (2012), with age in Ma. Over 100 indi- vidual air-fall tephra beds are now documented from Lower to Upper Devonian strata. Arrows denote major clusters of eight or more tephras. See key for further info on tephra bed–related sym- bols. Some dated tephras disagree with the time scale (circled num- bers 1–3). Circled 1—In New York, the base of the Esopus, and the position of the Sprout Brook Tephras are interpreted to fall at or close to the base of the Emsian Stage, but no biostratigraphic data are available to delineate this well. Circled 2—A new ra- diometric date for a bed in the Belpre cluster is 375.1 Ma, which is different from the Devonian time scale utilized here (Lanik et al., 2016; this paper). Circled 3—The current best date for the Frasnian-Famennian boundary is 371.9 Ma (M. Schmitz, 2014, personal commun.), which is dif- ferent from the Devonian time scale utilized here. Abbrevia- tions: Bsl Marc—basal Marcel- lus; Cash—Cashaqua; Cb—Car- boniferous; Conew.—Conewan- go; Conn.—Conneaut; Fm— Formation; Genes.—Genesee; Grp—Group; Ls—Limestone; Midsx—Middle­sex; Prag.—Pra- gian; Pri—­Pridolian; Sh—Shale; Sil—Silurian; Sn—Sonyea; SS— Sandstone; Tou—Tournaisian. Numbered conodont zones from the Frasnian Stage are “Mon- tagne Noire” or “MN” zones of Klapper and Kirchgasser (2016); Devonian conodont zones are from Becker et al. (2012).

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reexamination of Tioga Tephra phenocryst maps led to reinterpre- dated by Tucker et al. [1998] at 417.6 ± 1.9 Ma) and the apparent tation of Tioga paleovolcanic sources. Finally, we present a first- lower Emsian Stage Sprout Brook K-bentonites of Ver Straeten time comparison of the ages of eastern U.S. Devonian tephras with (2004a, 2004b; dated by Tucker et al. [1998] at 408.3 ± 1.9 Ma). recently dated Devonian igneous rocks in the Appalachians (north- The Bald Hill Tephras cluster (Bald Hill Bentonites of eastern United States). Throughout this paper, Devonian tephra Smith et al., 1988) consists of up to 15 clay-rich K-bentonites dates utilized here are from U-Pb thermal ionization mass spec- distributed through lower to middle Lochkovian strata in the trometry (TIMS) analyses on zircons, which are from the literature Appalachian Basin (Ver Straeten, 2004a). Reported from New cited herein or are more recently determined, except for a monazite York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, they date for the Tioga B Tephra from Roden et al. (1990). variously occur in the Kalkberg and New Scotland formations in the north, and the Corriganville and Mandata formations to the GEOLOGICAL SETTING south. Tucker et al. (1998) reported a zircon TIMS age of 417.6 ± 1.0 Ma for the original tephra layer described from the Bald During the Late Silurian to Early Carboniferous, oblique Hill cluster, an approximately 8-cm-thick bed from Cherry Val- continent-continent collisions of multiple terranes resulted in ley, New York. Key references for the Bald Hill Tephras include uplift of an orogenic belt along the eastern margin of North Smith et al. (1988, 2003), Shaw et al. (1991), Metcalf (1993), America. Commonly known as the Acadian orogeny, it has Hanson (1995), Ver Straeten (2004a), and Benedict (2004). recently been subdivided into separate Acadian and Neoacadian The younger Sprout Brook Tephras cluster has only been orogenies (van Staal 2007; van Staal et al., 2009). Along with documented in the northeastern part of the Appalachian Basin, widespread Acadian–Neoacadian structural and metamorphic in eastern New York (Ver Straeten, 2004a, 2004b). Up to 15 activity, subduction-related melting beneath Laurentian crust led K-bentonite­ layers occur interbedded with cherts, siliceous silt- to extensive plutonic and volcanic activity, much of it silicic in stones, and shales in lower strata of the Esopus Formation (lower composition. Throughout the Devonian Period, a shallow epi- part of the Spawn Hollow Member). Tucker et al. (1998) reported continental sea covered much of eastern North America, spread a mean TIMS age of 408.3 ± 1.9 Ma, based on analyses of zir- across the Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa cratonic basins, as well cons from two altered tephras of the Sprout Brook cluster. These as the larger retroarc Acadian foreland basin system. The Appa- lower Esopus tephras overlie sandstones of the Oriskany Forma- lachian Basin is a preserved, nonmetamorphosed portion of the tion or correlative limestones of the Glenerie Formation. The greater Acadian–Neoacadian foreland basin (Ver Straeten, 2010). base of the Emsian Stage has been tentatively placed at the base Prior to 1960, only a few air-fall tephra beds were known of the Esopus Formation in New York (Rickard, 1975); however, from Devonian sedimentary successions in the eastern United no detailed biostratigraphic data are available to confirm that. States (Fettke, 1952; Oliver, 1954, 1956). John Dennison (1960, The Sprout Brook Tephras cluster has been documented 1961) was the first to document a greater number of Devonian across eastern New York from south of Catskill to at least Cherry tephras within the Middle Devonian Tioga Bentonite interval. Valley, eastern New York, over a distance of ~125 km. The Eso- His efforts, along with those of his collaborator Daniel Textoris pus Formation pinches out at a disconformity 25 km west of and James Conkin, represented the next stage of documenting Cherry Valley. South of the Catskill area in New York, the Sprout Devonian tephras across the region. Beginning in the mid- to late Brook interval is not well documented. The tephra beds were not 1980s, another stage of documentation and interpretation in the recognized in a western New Jersey outcrop or westward into eastern United States began, which continues to the present. central Pennsylvania. Several Sprout Brook beds were found to geochemically correlate between outcrops in the Hudson Valley, DEVONIAN AIR-FALL TEPHRAS, EASTERN but not to the Cherry Valley section to the west (Hanson, 1995; UNITED STATES Ver Straeten et al., 2005). Conkin and Conkin (1979, their fig. 22) reported mixed Over 100 Devonian-age air-fall volcanic tephras are now ­volcanic-detrital strata in the same position near the Virginia– known from the eastern United States. They occur scattered West Virginia border at Williamsville, Virginia. A search for indi- through the succession, sometimes occurring in relatively closely cators of volcanogenic input at this same time-position across spaced clusters of eight or more beds; other tephras occur as more Pennsylvania to Virginia and West Virginia (Ver Straeten, 2004b) isolated beds. Some stratigraphic intervals lack documented indicated mixed volcanogenic-detrital zircons at some, but not tephras altogether (Fig. 3). all, localities beyond eastern New York (Ver Straeten, 2004b). Key references on the Sprout Brook Tephras include Ver Straeten Lower Devonian Air-Fall Tephras, Appalachian Basin (1996a, 2004a, 2004b, 2010), Hanson (1995), Benedict (2004), and Ver Straeten et al. (2005). Two clusters and several stratigraphically isolated, altered Additional Lower Devonian tephra beds, not associated with air-fall volcanic tephra beds are reported from the Lower clusters, occur in the northern Appalachian Basin, in the upper Devonian of the Appalachian Basin. The clusters comprise the Emsian Schoharie Formation of New York (Hanson, 1995; Ver ­Lochkovian-age Bald Hill K-bentonites of Smith et al. (1988; Straeten 2004a; this report). Two of these are associated with

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erosional and/or condensed hiatuses, with a mix of volcanogenic At Williamsville, Bath County, Virginia, Ver Straeten (2007) and detrital grains and authigenic glauconite ± phosphate. These noted a second cluster of tephras above the Middle Coarse two beds occur locally at the base and near the top of the forma- Zone within the greater Tioga interval, a short distance above tion (north of Cherry Valley, New York). At least four additional the change to Marcellus black shales. The same cluster of beds silty micaceous beds of apparent volcanic origin occur within the occurs just above initial black shales and the Middle Coarse Zone upper Emsian Schoharie Formation near Kingston, eastern New at Bluefield, West Virginia, and at Wytheville, Virginia. These York. Forming decimeter-scale recessions, these beds consist of latter occurrences were noted by Dennison and Textoris (1978) micaceous, finely laminated siltstones in their lower portions, to extend as far as Clinch Mountain in northeastern Tennessee capped by typical K-bentonitic–appearing, light-tan, greasy-­ (Dennison and Boucot, 1974). They currently are unknown north feeling clays in their upper parts. Further investigation of these of Williamsville, Virginia, and have not been seen in southern beds is anticipated. Pennsylvania or northernmost West Virginia outcrops. Along the outcrop belt, this “basal Marcellus Tephras” cluster falls within Lower Middle Devonian (Eifelian Stage) Air-Fall Tephras, strata assigned to the Marcellus, Millboro, Chattanooga, and Eastern United States Wildcat Valley formations. Beyond the Appalachian Basin, Tioga-age beds of air-fall James Hall (1843) noted an “unctuous” clay layer in upper volcanic origin from upper Onondaga–correlative strata are strata of the Onondaga Limestone in New York, for which Luther reported from the Michigan and Illinois basins (Meents and (1894) first suggested a volcanic origin. Fettke (in Ebright et al., Swann, 1965; Collinson, 1967; Droste and Vitaliano, 1973; Bal- 1949) and Fettke (1952) first applied the term “Tioga Benton- trusaitis, 1974; Droste and Shaver, 1975). Meents and Swann ite” to a biotite-rich, brown to brownish gray “bentonitic” shale (1965) also reported a Tioga bed from a single outcrop in Iowa. in subsurface well cuttings in Pennsylvania. For several years, Within the greater Tioga Tephras interval of Dennison and only one such altered tephra layer was thought to occur in upper Textoris (1978), numerous tephra beds occur below the Tioga Onondaga and time-equivalent strata (Oliver, 1954, 1956). Middle Coarse Zone, Tioga A–G Tephras, and basal Marcellus John Dennison was the first researcher to focus closely on clusters in eastern U.S. sedimentary strata, chiefly in the Appala- the “Tioga Bentonite” interval. Initially on his own, and later in chian Basin. These include beds both below the Tioga A–G Teph- a long collaboration with Daniel Textoris, they documented mul- ras and below the Middle Coarse Zone in strata correlative with tiple Tioga air-fall volcanic layers within a greater Tioga Ben- the Edgecliff, Nedrow, and lower to middle Moorehouse mem- tonite zone, eventually shown to be up to 61 m thick (Dennison bers of the Onondaga Formation of New York. Several of these and Textoris, 1978). They also addressed the distribution and iso- can be correlated widely along the Appalachian Basin outcrop pach thicknesses, potential volcanic sources, and even Devonian belt, even apparently into the Columbus Formation on the west- paleowind directions based on the Tioga ash-fall record (Den- ern edge of the basin (central Ohio; Conkin and Conkin, 1979, nison, 1960, 1961, 1986; Dennison and Textoris, 1970, 1978, 1984b; Ver Straeten, 2007). 1987). Penecontemporaneous with the later work of Dennison Key references on the Tioga Tephras in the Appalachian and Textoris, microstratigraphic tephra studies by James and Bar- Basin include Dennison (1961, 1983), Dennison and Textoris bara Conkin (Conkin and Conkin, 1979, 1984b; Conkin, 1987) (1970, 1978, 1987), Conkin and Conkin (1979, 1984b), Conkin contributed significantly to Tioga studies, recognizing and corre- (1987), Smith and Way (1983), Way et al. (1986), Waech- lating numerous bentonites in the Tioga interval from New York ter (1993), Brett and Ver Straeten (1994), Ver Straeten (1996a, cratonward into Ohio and Indiana. 1996b, 2004a, 2007, 2010), and Shaw (2003). Within the greater Tioga interval, Dennison and Hasson Above the lowest Marcellus Tioga Tephras, two additional, (1976) proposed a Tioga “Middle Coarse Zone” (Tioga MCZ). It younger tephras were reported from Eifelian strata by Ver occurs as “a bundle of three or four recognizable tuff beds within Straeten (2004a, 2007). The lower of these two tephras occurs a span of usually two feet (0.6 m), coarser than any other portion in the middle of the Union Springs Formation in New York, in of the Tioga tuffaceous material. This … is apparently the portion the lower part of the Marcellus subgroup in New York. Termed of the Tioga which forms the principal marker horizon which can the “mid-Union Springs tephra,” it is widely correlatable within be traced farthest from the volcanic source” (Dennison and Tex- the Appalachian Basin, including into the Delaware Limestone toris, 1978, p. 167). The middle coarse zone thickens eastward to in central Ohio (Ver Straeten, 2007). In intermediate- to shallow- 2.4 m (Dennison and Textoris, 1978, p. 167). depth marine strata, the bed closely underlies a shift to shallower, Subsequent work by Smith and Way (1983) and Way et relatively coarser-grained strata associated with the onset of a al. (1986) correlated seven Tioga Ash Beds (Beds A–G) across falling stage systems tract of sequence stratigraphy, and progra- 280 km of the Valley and Ridge Province in central Pennsylva- dation of coarser, sometimes more calcareous strata. In basinal nia. Their work was subsequently extended into New York by Ver settings, it occurs within distal black to dark-gray shales and Straeten (Brett and Ver Straeten, 1994), and then basinwide, from mudstones (Ver Straeten, 1996a, 1996b, 2004a, 2007). The sec- New York to southwest Virginia and into Ohio (Ver Straeten, ond post–lowest Marcellus tephra bed occurs in two outcrops in 1996a, 1996b, 2004a, 2007; Fig. 4). eastern New York, where it underlies the Cherry Valley Member

Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/chapter-pdf/5177599/spe545-03e.pdf by guest on 26 September 2021 Arc-to-craton: Devonian air-fall tephras in the eastern United States 41 Member; Maryland; Ned—Nedrow; NJ—New Jersey; NY—New York; OH—Ohio; Ont—Ontario, Canada; PA—Pennsylvania; S-e—Seneca Member equivalent; Seq—depositional S-e—Seneca Member equivalent; OH—Ohio; Ont—Ontario, Canada; PA—Pennsylvania; York; NY—New Jersey; NJ—New Maryland; Ned—Nedrow; Figure 4. Correlation model 1 of the Tioga Tephras interval and Onondaga Limestone and equivalent strata, Appalachian Basin, after Ver Straeten (2007). In this figure, the Tioga A–G Tioga Straeten (2007). In this figure, the Ver Appalachian Basin, after strata, Limestone and equivalent and Onondaga interval Tephras Tioga Figure 4. Correlation model 1 of the Bed basinwide. Note Tephra B Tioga Datum is the interpreted position of cluster of this paper. Tephras is correlated with the basal Marcellus York and New cluster of Pennsylvania ­ Mbr.— text; in noted Virginia, West (circled)—Frost, Fr Fm.—Formation; equiv.—equivalent; Ever—Eversole; Eif—Eifelian; Abbreviations: right. lower in bar thickness MD— ­ see key. other abbreviations, For Virginia. WV—West Ven—Venice; VA—Virginia; sequence (of stratigraphy);

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(as defined in New York State) of the coeval Oatka Creek–Mount reported a thin gummy bed from close above the base of the over- Marion formations, in the middle of the Marcellus subgroup (Ver lying Otsego Member from one locality in the Hudson Valley, Straeten, 2004a). eastern New York. Another such bed also occurs in the lower part of the Butternut Member of the Skaneateles Formation south of Upper Middle to Mid–Late Devonian (Givetian–Frasnian Syracuse, central New York. Batt (1996a, 1996b) reported one Stages) Tephra Record distinct clay-rich bed, presumably of volcanic origin, and sug- gested the occurrence of numerous others in the Wanakah Mem- Compared to the Lower and lower Middle Devonian (Eif- ber of the Ludlowville Formation. The gummy bed at the base of elian) strata, tephra beds are less common in the upper Middle the Windom Member in the Genesee River Valley yielded zircon Devonian (Givetian) and Upper Devonian (Frasnian and Famen- phenocrysts, but their origin is uncertain, as this horizon also nian) strata of the Appalachian Basin, likely due to the changes contains phosphate grains and rounded quartz sand, indicative of in Acadian orogenic activity and increased coarse siliciclastic a disconformity (Wilcott and Over, 2005). Several other gummy sedimentation into the basin. The two best-documented, and beds in the Windom Member, when processed, did not yield any only named units, are the Belpre Tephra in the middle Frasnian, phenocrysts. first described from eastern Ohio in the Ohio Shale (Collins, The Belpre Tephra is the lowest prominent volcaniclastic 1979), and the Center Hill Tephra in the uppermost Frasnian, first unit in the Givetian and Upper Devonian of the Appalachian described in central Tennessee by Hass (1948). Other Givetian Basin, originally described and named by Collins (1979) as and Upper Devonian tephra beds have been reported in the East a tephra suite in the Ohio Shale from numerous cores in east- Berne (Gerwitz, 2009), Ludlowville (Batt, 1996a, 1996b), Mos- ern Ohio. This bed is distinct from the Middle Devonian Tioga cow (Wilcott and Over, 2005), Cashaqua, Rhinestreet, Angola, cluster, with speculation that it was equivalent to the Center Hill Pipe Creek, and Hanover (Over et al., 1998; Over at el., 2013), Tephra of Hass (1948) and Conant and Swanson (1961), known and lower Olentangy, upper Olentangy, Chattanooga, Brallier, from the upper Dowelltown Member of the Chattanooga Shale in Foreknobs, and Huron formations, correlated with the Belpre or central Tennessee. Subsequently, the Belpre suite was recognized Center Hill, or considered unnamed (Roen, 1980; Conkin, 1989; in outcrop in the lower Chattanooga Shale in eastern Tennessee Lanik et al., 2016). and western Virginia, including tephra beds initially described by Tephra beds in the Givetian strata of the Appalachian Basin Harris and Miller (1958), and at Little War Gap (identified as are very thin beds to laminae that are recognized by a plastic Tioga) by Dennison and Boucot (1974; see Filer et al., 1996). clay-rich nature that typically weather recessively with an orang- Tephra beds and gummy horizons in the Cashaqua Shale and the ish (rusty) color. These “gummy” horizons are often found at the lower Rhinestreet Shale (West Falls Group) in western New York base of organic-rich shale beds and may not represent a discrete (Levin and Kirchgasser, 1994) have also been associated with volcanic event, but the accumulation of volcanogenic material the Belpre Tephra suite, although conodonts and goniatites in the during intervals of low siliciclastic input, or accumulation on a tephra-bearing strata in New York led to this correlation being disconformity surface or paraconformity in the terminology of questioned (Baird et al., 2006). Lanik et al. (2016) produced Conkin and Conkin (1984a). These thin strata may not be com- stratigraphically consistent dates of 375.55 ± 0.10 Ma from posed of minerals typically associated with altered volcanic ash “tephra 01” and 375.25 ± 0.13 Ma from “tephra 06” at Little War beds—montmorillonite or mixed-layer illite-smectite clays—but Gap, Hancock County, Tennessee. The later date is analytically are often characterized by euhedral crystals of apatite, biotite, identical to 375.14 ± 0.12 Ma from “tephra 7.67” at Eighteenmile muscovite, quartz, sanidine, and zircon, which are less suscep- Creek, Erie County, New York. While the younger two ages pro- tible to alteration or erosion and transport. Conkin and Conkin vide an apparently isochronous marker horizon for stratigraphic (1984b) speculated that diagenetic processes, winnowing, and correlation, the conodont zonation for the two localities is dis- transport of volcanic ash and tuffs in marine settings preferen- junct, although not widely separated, where the younger date is tially removed clay minerals and necessitates recognition of biostratigraphically older. tephra beds by the presence of resistant phenocrysts of the pyro- A decimeter-scale, greenish-gray, micaceous claystone bed clastic material. The interpretation that all of the “gummy” beds occurs in marine strata near a marine to nonmarine transition are of volcanic origin is equivocal, as not all have yielded pheno- southeast of Sydney, Delaware County, New York (D. Bishuk, crysts or clay minerals typical of volcaniclastic origin. 2014, personal commun.; and field study). The bed weathers to a We have noted numerous recessive partings and gummy recessive sticky, greasy clay, in sharp contrast with all surround- beds in the calcareous mudstones and shales of the Hamilton and ing strata. The locality is mapped at a position interpreted to be Genesee groups, most of which have not been investigated in correlative with the contact of the Cashaqua and Rhinestreet for- detail. Of note, a gummy bed in the dark shales of the East Berne mations (Fisher et al., 1970; Rickard, 1975). This correlation is, Member of the Mount Marion Formation—the eastern equiva- however, not well constrained. lent of the Oatka Creek Formation in New York State—was Gummy laminae in the upper Angola and Pipe Creek forma- composed primarily of illite, quartz, and minor pyrite and did tions from New York have been described, but analysis is incom- not yield any phenocrysts (Gerwitz, 2009). Ver Straeten (2004a) plete. The gummy tephra laminae in the middle of the Pipe Creek

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Formation at Eighteenmile Creek is characterized by abundant the late Famennian (Streel et al., 1987; Zagger, 1993). This black fine phyllosilicate grains (Over et al., 2013). It is unclear if this shale unit records largely quiet depositional conditions in an epi- horizon corresponds to the tephra described by Kepferle (1993) continental basin with preservation of fine laminations at many from the basal Pipe Creek Shale in the subsurface of Kentucky, levels. Moreover, the Cleveland Member is particularly distinc- which was tentatively correlated with the stratigraphically higher tive for the occurrence of calcareous cone-in-cone concretions, Center Hill Tephra. which occur at multiple levels within the unit. Although cone-in- The Center Hill Tephra is characterized by a single thin cone concretion formation is probably unrelated to tephra deposi- bed, ~3 cm thick, in Tennessee that contains abundant biotite, tion, per se, it is possible that crystal growth within these tabu- as well as phenocrysts of apatite, sanidine, orthoclase, quartz, lar to lenticular features may occasionally nucleate off of thin, and zircons, which yielded a date of 371.91 ± 0.15 Ma using preexisting tephra layers that may be otherwise cryptic within high-precision chemical abrasion (CA) TIMS U-Pb zircon meth- shale. Thin coarse beds of sand-size sediment that have served ods determined at the facility at Boise State (M. Schmitz, 2014, as planar nucleation surfaces within, or flooring, Pennsylvanian- personal commun.). The tephra was first described by Hass age cone-in-cone concretions have been observed; such occur- (1948) from outcroppings in the central uplift area of Tennes- rences have a curious resemblance to bands of prismatic calcite see from the upper portion of the Dowelltown Member of the flooring tephra layers in the Ordovician Utica Shale, which are a Chattanooga Shale and shown to be very close to the Frasnian- product of structural displacement along the plane of the tephra Famennian boundary (Over, 2007). The Center Hill Tephra thick- band (Ver Straeten et al., 2012; Zambito and Baird, 2006; Zam- ens slightly eastward (Conant and Swanson, 1961) and has been bito et al., 2005). Acid dissolution of certain cone-in-cone beds tentatively identified within the Pound Sandstone Member of the from the Cleveland Member and from underlying Canadaway, Foreknobs Formation in Montgomery County, Virginia (Brame, Conneaut, and Conewango group divisions may prove useful for 1999, personal commun.). The bed thickness has suggested a finding levels of concentrated pyroclastic constituents in the long distant source, and prevailing winds would have been from the Famennian sedimentary succession. southeast. In the upper Hanover Shale in New York State, sev- eral gummy beds are present in the same stratigraphic interval DISCUSSION near the Frasnian-Famennian boundary (Over et al., 1998), nota- bly at the base of the Point Gratiot Bed, which is just below the Correlation Issues for the Tioga Tephra Clusters Frasnian-Famennian boundary, and at several horizons lower and higher in the strata near the boundary. In contrast with Tioga interval tephras in the northern to cen- tral Appalachian basin, Ver Straeten (2004a) distinguished two Upper Upper Devonian (Famennian Stage) Succession clusters bounding the contact of the Needmore-Marcellus and correlative strata along the central to southern Virginia–West Vir- Within the long Famennian succession of the northern Appa- ginia border area. The lower cluster, capped by the Tioga Middle lachian Basin, no purported tephras have been described in the Coarse Zone (Dennison, 1983, 1986; Dennison and Textoris, literature, but little apparent concerted effort has been made to 1970, 1978), occurs in calcareous strata of the upper part of the look for such layers. It is not surprising that tephras have not Needmore Formation and in correlative cherty strata of the upper, been reported from the New York and Pennsylvania region, given post–Bob’s Ridge Sandstone part of the Huntersville Formation, the low number and generally low resolution of reconnaissance northeast to southwest along the outcrop belt (Figs. 3 and 4; stratigraphic studies in this area. With the exception of slope-to- Wytheville, Virginia, section in figs. 3, 8, and 12 of Ver Straeten, basin deposits of the Canadaway Group in western New York, 2007). The upper cluster occurs in lowermost black to dark shales northwest Pennsylvania, and northeast Ohio, as well as parts of variously assigned to the overlying Marcellus, Millboro, Chat- the outer shelf–slope deposits of the Chadakoin Formation in tanooga, and Wildcat Valley Formations between Bath County, northwest Pennsylvania and Ohio, the Famennian succession is Virginia, and Mercer County, West Virginia, to Wythe County, dominated by closely spaced, coarse, tempestitic siltstone and Virginia. Unpublished Tioga cross sections by Dennison, given sandstone beds as well as extensive tracts of nonmarine facies, to Ver Straeten in 2001, show that Dennison documented beds of which render any search for tephras all the more difficult (Caster, the upper cluster in some outcrops in Virginia and West Virginia, 1934; Tesmer, 1963; Baird et al., 2013a, 2013b). More promis- but not in others. Wherever he found beds of the upper cluster ing strata for tephra discoveries are coeval lower slope/ramp and (e.g., Williamsville and Wytheville, Virginia, and other sites), he basin facies in Ohio and Kentucky, which are dominated by finer- included them in his “Tioga Interval.” grained, offshore marine deposits. Ver Straeten (2004a, 2007) correlated the upper cluster The most promising unit to examine for tephras is the with the Tioga A–G zone of Pennsylvania and New York (Fig. Cleveland Member of the Ohio Shale Formation, which occurs 4), based on the following: (1) at study sites such as Williams- immediately below the level of greatest seismic disturbances, and ville and Wytheville, Virginia, and Bluefield, West Virginia, the which includes strata within and above the Palmatolepis gracilis number, thickness, and spacing of the individual beds in the expansa conodont zone and the VH-LN miospore biozones of upper cluster mimicked that of the beds of the Tioga A–G zone

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in Pennsylvania and New York (Wytheville, Virginia, section in within the range of error in Tucker et al.’s date. Overall, these Fig. 3 versus Fig. 4; overall character at Williamsville, Virginia in data supported a possible interpretation of the middle coarse zone Fig. 5); (2) the closely spaced beds of the Tioga Middle Coarse being older than the Tioga A–G zone. The fact that the upper Zone did not match the noted geometry of the Tioga A–G zone cluster occurred in black shale along the Virginia–West Virginia to the north (Wytheville, Virginia, section; Figs. 3 and 4); and border did not seem implausible; in a basinward outcrop of the (3) Tucker et al. (1998) documented a date of 391.4 ± 1.8 Ma Needmore Formation near Frankstown, Pennsylvania, the Tioga for a sample in the Tioga Middle Coarse Zone from Wytheville, A–G zone clearly occurs in black shale well above any carbon- Virginia; this latter point is, however, a weak line of evidence, as ate beds, in upper Selinsgrove Member–/Onondaga Formation– Roden et al.’s (1990) date of 390 ± 0.5 Ma for the Tioga B was equivalent black shale facies. Finally, no similar consistent series

Figure 5. Correlation model 2 of the Tioga Tephras interval and Onondaga Limestone and equivalent strata, Appalachian Basin. Alternate inter- pretation is shown for Tioga A–G correlation with the Tioga Middle Coarse Zone (TI-MCZ) in the southern part of the Appalachian Basin. Datum remains the interpreted position of the Tioga B Tephra, which differs from Figure 4 at two outcrops in western and southwestern Virginia. Note the basal Marcellus Tephra cluster, best developed at Williamsville, Virginia. Tephra beds from Columbus, Ohio, are from Conkin and Conkin (1979, 1984b). Abbreviations are as in Figure 4; defm—deformation.

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of tephra beds that appear to mimic the patterns of the Tioga A–G lying tephras in the southern Appalachian Basin (Fig. 5). This Tephras of Pennsylvania and New York appeared to occur along would agree with older correlations of the Tioga Middle Coarse the Virginia–West Virginia outcrop belt. Zone with the Tioga F bed to the north. However, Ver Straeten’s Nevertheless, additional work through Eifelian strata from (2004a) correlation of the A–G zone with a basal Marcellus central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia and southeastern Tephras cluster (Fig. 4) is not fully discounted. It is suggested West Virginia by Ver Straeten, beginning in 2007, raised ques- that geochemical fingerprinting of phenocrysts from key Tioga tions about his 2004a correlations. Despite the lines of evidence beds, initiated by Waechter (1993), Shaw (2003), and Benedict laid out above, it now also seems plausible that the Tioga A–G (2004), and applied to other non-Devonian tephras (e.g., Sam- zone could correlate with the Tioga Middle Coarse Zone and son et al., 1988; Carey et al., 2009; Sell et al., 2015), should be a few tephras closely below it (see Fig. 5). This would agree applied to test these Tioga Tephras correlations. with previous interpretations by Dennison (unpublished cross sections from 1983), Dennison and Textoris (1970, 1978), and Dating the Base of the Marcellus: Issues Conkin and Conkin (1979), i.e., that the Tioga Middle Coarse Zone is correlative with the Tioga F of Smith and Way (1983), Recent studies by Hayward (2012) and Parrish (2013) have which occurs at the top of the Onondaga Limestone in central dated air-fall tephras in and around the Tioga tephras interval to western New York. This is the same bed termed the “Tioga from cores in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. They interpreted Bentonite (restricted)” of Conkin and Conkin (1979). In some these tephras to fall within the lower part of Marcellus-age black sections along the Virginia–West Virginia borderlands, a second, shales, correlative with the basal Marcellus Tephras cluster dis- lower and relatively thick, clay-rich tephra occurs a short dis- cussed above. These dates for supposed basal Marcellus strata, tance below the Tioga Middle Coarse Zone; this may represent obtained using the less accurate sensitive high-resolution ion the Tioga B bed (e.g., Williamsville section in Fig. 5). The appar- microprobe (SHRIMP) method, range in age from 403.8 ± 4 Ma ent absence of a Tioga B correlative, along with the other, thin- to 380.9 ± 2 Ma from Hayward (2012), and from 394 ± 5 Ma to ner Tioga A–B beds at some localities, may be related to local 389 ± 3 Ma from Parrish (2013). faulting out of these beds, or the lateral tectonic squeezing out of On first reading, these results are anomalous, with most less resistant, more ductile, clay-rich altered tephra material. That lying outside of radiometric ages for their interpreted strata may not explain its absence at all sites, however. Possible A, B, (slightly younger than 391 ± 1.8 Ma—Tucker et al., 1998; 390 C, D, E, and G correlatives may occur at Williamsville, Virginia, ± 0.5 Ma—Roden et al., 1990), and largely outside of the very bounding the Tioga Middle Coarse Zone (Fig. 5). A single thick well-constrained relative age of lower Marcellus strata basin- tephra, apparently the Tioga F/middle coarse zone is underlain by wide (uppermost part of the P. costatus costatus conodont deformed black shales at Hayfield, Virginia (Fig. 5), pointing to zone, middle Eifelian Stage). Biostratigraphic data show that possible absence of the Tioga A through F beds related to struc- the Marcellus Shale in the type area of New York (Danielsen tural causes. At the Wytheville section in southwest Virginia (Fig. et al., 2016) is late Eifelian to early Givetian in age. Using the 5), no deformation was noted between the Bobs Ridge Sandstone time scale from Gradstein et al. (2012), the base of the Marcel- and overlying Tioga Middle Coarse Zone. A centimeter-scale lus, as defined in the type section in New York, is just slightly measured section dug out through deeply weathered strata in that younger than 390 Ma; the top of the Marcellus should fall at ca. interval appeared to indicate an absence of tephras. If the Bobs 388–387 Ma. The older age of 403.8 ± 4 Ma of Hayward (2012) Ridge Sandstone is the correlative of the Edgecliff Member of lies within the upper Lower Devonian, within the Beaverdam the Onondaga Limestone, as projected by Ver Straeten (2007), Member of the Needmore Formation (lower Emsian Stage), Onondaga-age strata would be very highly condensed at the top likely correlative with the middle or upper third-order deposi- of the Huntersville Chert at Wytheville. This is clearly seen in tional sequence of the Esopus Formation of New York (Devo-

the thinning of the post–Bobs Ridge Sandstone strata between nian Sequence Ib2 or 1b3, Quarry Hill or Wiltwyck Member; Ver there and Frost, West Virginia (Fig. 4, “Fr” on map). Under such Straeten, 2007, 2009; Becker et al., 2012). The youngest dated highly condensed sedimentation, the seeming absence of the tephra of Hayward (2012), 380.9 ± 2 Ma, is ~10 m.y. younger Tioga A–F beds may be because they are stacked up in a continu- than lower Marcellus strata. Comparing the SHRIMP date to the ous tephra succession including the middle coarse zone, owing to 2012 Time Scale (Becker et al., 2012), this sample is from strata a lack of background sedimentation in this portion of the basin correlative with lower Upper Devonian Frasnian Stage strata of at this time. This would be analogous to findings of Püspöki conodont FZ zone 4; this would be correlative with the West et al. (2005, 2008) in the Miocene of Hungary, where the only River Formation at the top of the Genesee Group in New York, sediment deposited through multiple small-scale (Milankovitch- well above the classic Tully Limestone of New York and correla- band) cycles was air-fall volcanic tephra. tives. Parrish’s (2013) data and interpretations are more conser- In summary, the Tioga A–G zone of Smith and Way (1983) vative, with dates ranging from 394 ± 5 Ma to 389 ± 3 Ma. These of Pennsylvania and New York (Way et al., 1986; Brett and Ver dates roughly span the latest Emsian Stage through much of the Straeten, 1994; Ver Straeten 2004a, 2007) may now appear to Eifelian Stage (Becker et al., 2012), with the youngest date fall- correlate with the Tioga Middle Coarse Zone and a set of under- ing in lower Marcellus strata, as would be expected.

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From dating results and stratigraphic interpretations, Hay- pumice fragments (7 localities). Dennison and Textoris (1987) ward (2012) and Parrish (2013) interpreted the base of the published these data as a set of palinspastic maps that cover the Marcellus to be diachronous by as much as 23 m.y. (Hayward, extent of Tioga beds across the eastern United States. The three 2012) or 5 m.y. (Parrish, 2013), which is not plausible. It appears maps constructed from the larger data sets, for maximum biotite that, using the SHRIMP dates from tephras deposited in highly diameter, maximum quartz sliver length, and maximum feldspar condensed distal reaches of the basin, the authors dated air-fall diameter, are reproduced here as Figures 6, 7, and 8. tephras from not only basal Marcellus strata, but also from sig- A closer viewing of these maps indicates a more complex nificantly older and younger deposits. Hayward apparently dated distribution of the Tioga Tephras than interpreted by Dennison variously aged black shale facies from the middle Needmore and Textoris (1987). Four or more tongues of relatively coarser Formation up to correlative strata of the lower Trimmers Rock, phenocryst fallout, from northeast to southwest, project rather lower Brallier, middle Harrell, or upper Millboro formations directly outward toward the west-northwest from the Appala- (name dependent on geographic locality from central Pennsylva- chians. The distribution and directional trends of the tongues can- nia to southwestern Virginia and adjacent West Virginia; Patchen not be easily explained by shifts in wind direction during trans- et al., 1985). Parrish’s (2013) SHRIMP ages for lower Marcellus port of the eruption clouds. strata span a shorter interval of time (5 m.y.); her dates lie largely It therefore appears that the four or more prominent tongues between uppermost Lower Devonian strata of the unnamed mid- of phenocrysts in Figures 6–8 point back to multiple volcanic dle member of the Needmore Formation (Ver Straeten, 2007), sources located in southeastern Pennsylvania, Maryland or correlative with the upper sequence of the Schoharie Formation northern Virginia, central Virginia, and northern North Carolina. of New York, to lower Middle Devonian basal Marcellus-age The relatively straight-line projection of these different tongues strata basinwide. argues against a single eruptive center for the Tioga Tephras. What Hayward (2012) and Parrish (2013) do show is that Dennison and Textoris (1987) did not delineate the phe- multiple air-fall volcanic tephras occur in basinward cores nocryst data by individual Tioga beds. The maps lump all beds through the Emsian to Frasnian Stages, including in stratigraphic together, not allowing us to distinguish which layers or set of intervals where we may have no apparent record of them as yet layers were erupted from which source area. Examination of in better-studied, shallower marine deposits. Further searches a series of unpublished Tioga interval cross sections by John in less basinward facies across the basin may yield previously Dennison indicated that discovery and collection of individual undocumented Devonian tephra beds. samples from a variety of apparently discreet Tioga beds were likely inconsistent from outcrop to outcrop. It is likely tephras Tioga Tephras: Apparent Multiple Sources from throughout the greater Tioga Tephras interval, below and above the A–G/middle coarse zone, may have been included in In the various publications of Dennison (1960, 1961, 1986) the data set. and Dennison and Textoris (1970, 1978, 1987), they interpreted Nevertheless, the phenocryst maps in Figures 6–8 clearly a single volcanic source for the Tioga Tephras. Initially, Denni- distinguish multiple sources for the lower Middle Devonian son (1960, 1961) suggested a location slightly east of Lexington (mid–Eifelian Stage) Tioga Tephras interval. The Tioga A–G or Staunton, Virginia. In subsequent studies, the authors inves- cluster, Middle Coarse Zone, and lowest Marcellus air-fall teph- tigated known igneous rock bodies in the central Appalachians ras were erupted from at least four volcanic sources in the central (e.g., felsic rocks near Monterey, western Virginia; Columbia to southern Appalachians. At this time, it is not possible to deter- granodiorite, central Virginia; Berea Pluton, northern Virginia; mine which tephras were erupted from which volcanic center. and the Petersburg granite plutons, southern Virginia; Denni- son and Textoris, 1978, 1987). Subsequent radiometric dates, Comparing Foreland and Hinterland Igneous Data: Ages however, indicated that these were not plausible Tioga sources. of Sedimentary Tephras and New England Igneous Rocks Retaining an interpretation of a single source, Dennison and Tex- toris (1987) settled into an unknown locality in the vicinity of Reconstruction of the history of felsic Devonian paleovolca- Fredericksburg, northern Virginia, buried under Paleozoic crys- nism during the Acadian and Neoacadian orogenies will rely on talline rocks in the Appalachian Mountains or Cretaceous coastal data from both the foreland and hinterland. In the hinterland, recent plain sediments farther east. high-resolution geochronologic dates for an increasing number of During their decades of research, Dennison and Textoris also igneous rock bodies (e.g., Appendix A2 of Bradley et al., 2015) built a large database of Tioga petrology and isopach thickness provide one key line of evidence. In the foreland, stratigraphi- from outcrops and wells spread across New York, Virginia, Illi- cally constrained relative and numerical radiometric ages of air-fall nois, and Michigan. This included data on the distribution and size tephras in sedimentary rocks (this paper) provide another key set of various volcanogenic phenocrysts, apparently from all Tioga of perspectives. There are data gaps, biases, and other issues with interval beds they sampled and analyzed. These included biotite each database. However, their comparisons do provide insights into (data from 82 localities), quartz slivers (68 localities), feldspar Devonian silicic igneous activity in the eastern United States, and (59 localities), zircon (18 localities), apatite (16 localities), and possible gaps in the sedimentary tephra bed record.

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Figure 6. Distribution of maximum diameter of biotite in Tioga Middle Coarse Zone from map of Dennison and Textoris (1987), redrafted with permission from D. Textoris for clarity. Note multiple west-northwest–oriented tongues of coarser biotite phenocrysts from central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia. Map is based on their data from 82 localities in nine states and Ontario, Canada. See Figure 2 for abbreviations.

Figure 7. Distribution of maximum length of quartz slivers in Tioga Middle Coarse Zone from map of Dennison and Textoris (1987), redrafted with permission from D. Textoris for clarity. Note multiple west-northwest–oriented tongues of longer quartz phenocryst slivers from central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia. Map is based on their data from 68 localities in nine states and Ontario, Canada. See Figure 2 for abbreviations.

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Figure 8. Distribution of maximum diameter of feldspar in Tioga Middle Coarse Zone from map of Dennison and Tex- toris (1987), redrafted with permission from D. Textoris for clarity. Note multiple west-northwest–oriented tongues of coarser volcanogenic feldspar phenocrysts from central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia. Map is based on their data from 59 localities in nine states and Ontario, Canada. See Figure 2 for abbreviations.

In the long-eroded Acadian–Neoacadian orogenic belt/mag- townships of Quebec are plotted in Figure 9, against air-fall teph- matic arc, most volcanic rocks are now missing. More commonly ras in the eastern United States (this paper). As previously noted, preserved silicic plutonic rocks yield ages related to cooling, most of the air-fall layers from the foreland have not been radio- coarsely approximating a broad interval of eruptive activity. metrically dated. Relative ages of varying resolution are docu- Preserved air-fall volcanic tephras in adjacent sedimentary mented for them, however, via biostratigraphic and sequence successions provide a more detailed record of individual erup- stratigraphic methods, pending more radiometric age dating. tive events. However, a range of sedimentary and paleobiological The Bradley et al. (2015) compilation of dates provides an processes that act on a primary tephra layer after deposition may overview of igneous activity in New England through the Devo- preserve, alter, or destroy it, leaving behind an incomplete record nian. Potentially biasing issues from the data include the use of (e.g., Ver Straeten, 2004a). varied dating methods and the use of different minerals. However, In this section, we present an initial comparison of foreland with the probable exception of late-stage pegmatites and dates and hinterland records of regional explosive volcanism during the from a small number of mafic ± intermediate igneous rocks, the Devonian Period. To this end, we plot data from this paper and from Bradley et al. (2015) data do provide a coarse overview of felsic Appendix A2 of Bradley et al. (2015) in Figure 9. While using an igneous activity in the region. Not all rocks have been recently obviously incomplete single data source from the orogen, Figure dated in the northeastern region, and, as discussed in the previous 9 outlines these initial results. In doing this, we invite hinterland section, extensive felsic volcanism occurred beyond New Eng- researchers to flesh out and fine tune this comparison with all avail- land in the central to southern Appalachians in the United States, able, reasonably well-constrained silicic igneous rock ages from the and in maritime Canada. U.S. Appalachians, and we invite Canadian researchers to pursue Of the 101 dated igneous rock bodies in New England com- a similar two-pronged study and comparison along the rest of the piled by Bradley et al. (2015), the vast majority (perhaps >85%) Acadian and Neoacadian orogen and foreland. consist of granites and granodiorites, with lesser tonalites, felsic Bradley et al.’s (2015) 101 numerically dated igneous rock tuffs, and rhyolites. These magmas would have been capable of bodies from the New England Appalachians and the southeast Plinian and similar explosive eruptions, potentially resulting in

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Figure 9. Comparison of Devo- nian air-fall tephras and dated igneous rocks (rx), New England, United States. Igneous rock dates are chiefly silicic plutonic and volcanic rocks from the Acadian- Neoacadian orogen in New Eng- land from Appendix 2 of Bradley et al. (2015). Age in Ma. Ab- breviations and circled numbers are as in Figure 3. Note overlaps and gaps between the foreland-­ cratonic sedimentary and hinter- land igneous successions.

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long-distance transport and deposition of tephra across a broad have reversed for several million years, and then reverted back to region. Only a minor number of the dated rocks have an inter- the previous trends. So, it seems that a bias of temporary shift in mediate to mafic composition and would be less likely to gen- prevailing wind direction would not seem to apply to the Appa- erate widespread tephra deposits. Some dated plutons have a lachian basin and the Acadian/Neoacadian orogen. This west- mix of felsic and/or intermediate and/or mafic rocks, and it was directed tephra transport appears to imply that the Appalachian not always clarified which were dated in Bradley et al.’s (2015) Basin and Nevada were apparently within the belt of easterly Appendix A2. Four pegmatites are also included in the database; winds, at or north of 30°S latitude. these may have crystallized and isotopically closed long after the Finally, compositions of the dated hinterland rocks through main phase of volcanic activity, and therefore their dates may not those intervals are also largely silicic, which should lead to be applicable to this comparison. explosive eruptions and tephra deposition. So, is the absence A visual comparison of the two columns shows that the age of foreland tephras through these times due to environmental- of foreland tephras and hinterland igneous rocks are similar in related preservational biases? This seems unlikely, especially in some intervals, such as during deposition of the Lochkovian lower Frasnian deposits in western New York, which represent Bald Hill, approximately Pragian–Emsian Sprout Brook, Fras- relatively offshore, deep-water, low-energy, and often anoxic to nian Belpre clusters of tephra beds and additional lower Eifelian dysoxic settings, which should enhance preservation of air-fall and upper Frasnian tephras in the foreland (for previous approxi- tephra layers. mately Pragian–Emsian­ foreland-hinterland comparisons, see Questions arising from this initial comparison point to new Ver Straeten, 2004b, 2010). In other intervals, there are signifi- research challenges. These include more concentrated field searches cant gaps in the record of foreland tephras, while igneous activ- for additional layers, especially in intervals with hinterland igneous ity continued in New England (e.g., mid-Lochkovian, lower to rocks, yet with few-to-no known tephras. These efforts should also middle Emsian, lower Frasnian, Famennian stages). consider other possible primary or diagenetic lithification modes Some of the mismatches can be related to silicic volcanic beyond that of the typical recessed, easily weathered K-bentonite activity beyond New England at those times. This appears to clay beds. Tephras that are preserved as more resistant phenocryst- strongly apply to the Tioga and basal Marcellus Tephras clus- rich “tuffs,” carbonate-, silica-, or pyrite-cemented beds, and other ters, which, as previously discussed, appear to have been largely less obvious modes of preservation may be less easily recognized, sourced from the central to southern U.S. Appalachians. In other but would still need to be documented. intervals, such as in the Famennian Stage, the foreland strata are less exposed and little examined, and they are geographically ACKNOWLEDGMENTS situated in the foreland further from volcanic sources. A different issue arises in the lower to middle Emsian We would like to thank numerous people for their discus- and lower Frasnian stages, where foreland basin deposits have sions, insights, and other assistance over many years, includ- been reasonably well studied and explored, and few tephras are ing first the late John Dennison. He was the first to document documented. Hypothetical reasons for the apparent absence of many Devonian air-fall tephras and, along with Daniel Textoris, foreland tephras in the northern Appalachian Basin (adjacent to began using the tephra data to reconstruct regional paleovolca- New England) at these times include (1) stronger environmental nism. We would also like to thank James (Jim) Conkin and his biases against tephra layer preservation; (2) less comprehensive wife Barbara, whose great detailing of Devonian air-fall tephras searches of some intervals within in these strata; (3) temporal also led the way for subsequent work. Thanks also go to War- change in wind directions; (4) magmatic sources of a less silicic ren Huff, George Shaw, Carlton Brett, Doug Rankin, and R. composition; or (5) other unrecognized factors. Smith III. Insightful reviews from Warren Huff, Paul Karabi- Out of these possible biasing factors, numbers 2 through 4 nos, David Bailey, and Editor K. Lee Avary strengthened the would not appear to be involved in this apparent volcanogenic paper. Finally, we are grateful to the editors, who invited us to “signal loss.” We have scouted strata of both the lower to upper participate in this volume, dedicated to one of the great “Deans Emsian and Frasnian stages in eastern and western New York, of the Appalachian Basin Devonian,” John Dennison. respectively, and beyond. As to wind direction, a comparison of Through the efforts of Priscilla Dennison, John’s wife, and the occurrences of air-fall tephras between eastern and western Daniel Textoris, Tioga tephras samples collected across the U.S. Devonian strata (Appalachian Basin and Nevada), includ- eastern United States by Dennison and Textoris are reposited in ing by us, shows that while a magmatic arc was located adja- a subcollection of Paleozoic tephra samples, as part of the New cent to the former, and a volcanic island arc was approaching York State Museum’s Sedimentary Rock Collection. the latter, no tephras have been found in Nevada. According to paleogeographic models (e.g., Witzke and Heckel, 1988; Scotese REFERENCES CITED and McKerrow, 1990), both areas were at the same approximate latitude through the Devonian. So it would appear that through Baird, G.C., Brett, C.E., and Hannigan, R.E., 1994, Middle–Late Ordovician K-bentonite stratinomy, Mohawk Valley, New York: Evidence for sedi- the Devonian, winds were west-directed easterlies in both mentary condensation within ash beds: Geological Society of America regions. It seems unlikely that prevailing wind direction would Abstracts with Programs, v. 26, no. 7, p. 432.

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