Eocene Red Beds from NE Iraq: Constraints from Framework Petrography Muatasam M

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Eocene Red Beds from NE Iraq: Constraints from Framework Petrography Muatasam M University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health 2014 Provenance of Paleocene - Eocene red beds from NE Iraq: constraints from framework petrography Muatasam M. Hassan University of Wollongong, [email protected] Brian Jones University of Wollongong, [email protected] Solomon Buckman University of Wollongong, [email protected] Ali Ismael Al-Jubory Mosul University Fahad M. Al Gahtani University of Wollongong, [email protected] Publication Details Hassan, M. Mahmood., Jones, B. G., Buckman, S., Al-Jubory, A. & Al Gahtani, F. Mubarak. (2014). Provenance of Paleocene - Eocene red beds from NE Iraq: constraints from framework petrography. Geological Magazine, 151 (6), 1034-1050. Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Provenance of Paleocene - Eocene red beds from NE Iraq: constraints from framework petrography Abstract The er d-bed deposits in northern Iraq are situated in an active foreland basin adjacent to the Zagros Orogenic Belt, bound to the north by the Iranian plate thrust over the edge of the Arabian plate. The er d-bed successions are composed of alternating red and brown silty mudstones, purplish red calcareous siltstone, fine- ot coarse- grained pebbly sandstone and conglomerate. The er d beds in the current study can be divided into four parts showing a trend of upward coarsening with fine-grained deposits at the top. A detailed petrographic study was carried out on the sandstone units. The clastic rocks consist mainly of calcite cemented litharenite with rock fragments (volcanic, metamorphic and sedimentary), quartz and minor feldspar. The petrographic components reflect the tectonic system in the source area, laterally ranging from a mixed orogenic and magmatic arc in Mawat-Chwarta area to recycled orogenic material rich in sedimentary rock fragments in the Qandel area. The rC etaceous-Palaeogene foreland basin of northern Iraq formed to the southwest of the Zagros Suture Zone and the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone of western Iran. During Palaeogene time deposition of the red beds was caused by renewed shortening in the thrust sheets overlying the Arabian margin with uplift of radiolarites (Qulqula Formation), resulting in an influx of radiolarian debris in addition to continuing ophiolitic detritus. Mixed sources, including metamorphic, volcanic and sedimentary terranes, were present during deposition of the upper part of the red beds. Keywords Palaeogene, palaeogeography, subduction complex, suture zone Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details Hassan, M. Mahmood., Jones, B. G., Buckman, S., Al-Jubory, A. & Al Gahtani, F. Mubarak. (2014). Provenance of Paleocene - Eocene red beds from NE Iraq: constraints from framework petrography. Geological Magazine, 151 (6), 1034-1050. This journal article is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers/2425 Geol. Mag. 151 (6), 2014, pp. 1034–1050. c Cambridge University Press 2014 1034 doi:10.1017/S0016756813001064 Provenance of Paleocene–Eocene red beds from NE Iraq: constraints from framework petrography ∗ ∗ ∗ MUATASAM MAHMOOD HASSAN ‡†, BRIAN G. JONES , SOLOMON BUCKMAN , ∗ ALI ISMAEL AL-JUBORY§ & FAHAD MUBARAK AL GAHTANI ∗ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia ‡Department of Geology, General Commission for Groundwater, Kirkuk, Iraq §Department of Geology, College of Science, Mosul University, Mosul, Iraq (Received 26 June 2013; accepted 26 November 2013; first published online 24 January 2014) Abstract – The red-bed deposits in northern Iraq are situated in an active foreland basin adjacent to the Zagros Orogenic Belt, bound to the north by the Iranian plate thrust over the edge of the Arabian plate. The red-bed successions are composed of alternating red and brown silty mudstones, purplish red calcareous siltstone, fine- to coarse-grained pebbly sandstone and conglomerate. The red beds in the current study can be divided into four parts showing a trend of upward coarsening with fine-grained deposits at the top. A detailed petrographic study was carried out on the sandstone units. The clastic rocks consist mainly of calcite cemented litharenite with rock fragments (volcanic, metamorphic and sedimentary), quartz and minor feldspar. The petrographic components reflect the tectonic system in the source area, laterally ranging from a mixed orogenic and magmatic arc in Mawat–Chwarta area to recycled orogenic material rich in sedimentary rock fragments in the Qandel area. The Cretaceous– Palaeogene foreland basin of northern Iraq formed to the southwest of the Zagros Suture Zone and the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone of western Iran. During Palaeogene time deposition of the red beds was caused by renewed shortening in the thrust sheets overlying the Arabian margin with uplift of radiolarites (Qulqula Formation), resulting in an influx of radiolarian debris in addition to continuing ophiolitic detritus. Mixed sources, including metamorphic, volcanic and sedimentary terranes, were present during deposition of the upper part of the red beds. Keywords: Palaeogene, palaeogeography, subduction complex, suture zone. 1. Introduction ents in the Mawat–Chwarta sections, both laterally and vertically, indicates that the red beds in this part of the A sedimentological investigation of six exposed sec- basin were supplied by more or from different thrust tions through the Iraqi red beds led to the recogni- sheets. In contrast, on other side of the basin towards tion of four main units in the Kurdistan region of the Suwais and Merga sections, the main source was ra- northern Iraq. Four sections were investigated in the diolarian chert minor contributions from volcanic and Mawat–Chwarta area located north of Sulaymaniya metamorphic sources. city, while the Suwais and Merga sections lie in the Petrographic and mineralogical studies show that Qandel area in NW Iraq. The red-bed succession forms source rocks supplied detritus to the red beds, reflecting part of a foreland basin consisting of Mesozoic and uplift of older rocks coupled with intensive orogenic Tertiary rocks thrown into anticline and syncline struc- movements during red-bed deposition. Red beds are tures that are mostly well exposed. The red beds occur divided into two parts: (1) a lower unit is dominated in the imbricated zone of the foreland basin associ- by radiolarian chert detritus with a minor component ated with post-Eocene subduction between the Arabian of ophiolitic detritus; and (2) an upper unit lacks ra- and Iranian plates (Fig. 1). Because of the complexity diolarian chert and has a mixed provenance of volcanic, of the tectonic activities, the red-bed basin is broken metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. into several parts making correlation and palaeogeo- graphic research difficult. The red-bed sandstones show intra-formational variations in framework composition 2. Geological setting caused by changes in provenance. The NE Iraq study area has been subjected to strong tectonic influences – The Zagros Mountains are geologically part of the ex- the Zagros Orogenic Belt was formed by the collision tensive Alpine mountain belt. They form a narrow strip between the Arabian and Iranian–Turkish plates – and along the border between Iraq and Iran and include two hence source rock variability has the greatest influence main zones: the Zagros Simply Folded Belt in the SW on sediment composition. The mineralogical compon- and the Zagros Suture Zone in the NE. These zones are included in the Zagros Orogen. A foreland basin occurs SW of the Zagros Mountains. The tectonic de- †Author for correspondence: [email protected] velopment of the Zagros Mountains indicates that the http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 18 Jan 2015 IP address: 130.130.37.84 NE Iraq Paleocene–Eocene red beds 1035 Figure 1. (Colour online) Location of the study area. foreland basin was initiated during Late Cretaceous division is of Maastrichtian age. The Shiranish Forma- ophiolite obduction along the Zagros Suture Zone fol- tion is overlain to the northeast by the Tanjero Forma- lowed by continental collision of the Arabian Plate with tion. In most areas, the upper contact of the Shiranish Eurasia during Cenozoic time (Alavi, 2004; Agard et al. Formation is conformable with the overlying Tanjero 2011). The deposits of Late Cretaceous and Palaeo- Formation. However, low-angle unconformable con- gene foreland basin have been folded and are therefore tacts between these units have been documented from now part of the Zagros Simply Folded Zone. In NE the Suwais and Do Awan sections in NE Iraq (Karim Iraq, the former Zagros foreland basin includes Creta- et al. 2011; Fig. 3). ceous shallow-marine deposits of the Shiranish and The palaeogeographic distribution and the relation- Tanjero formations overlain by continental deposits of ships of the Shiranish Formation with other rocks indic- the Palaeogene red beds (Fig. 2). In order to clarify the ate that this formation was deposited in an open sea with tectonics of northern Iraq, stratigraphic relationships various littoral and sublittoral clastic deposits and ner- between the Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene succes- itic reef-type and associated limestone. Abdel-Kireem sions and their relationships with equivalent succes- (1983) studied the palaeoecology and bathymetry of sions in Iran are considered.
Recommended publications
  • Revision of the Lower Part of the Tertiary System in the Central and \Vestern Uinta Basin, Utah______
    Revision of the Lower Part of the Tertiary System in the Central and \Vestern Uinta Basin, Utah_____ __________ GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1405G Revision of the Lower Part of the Tertiary System in the Central and \Vfestern Uinta Basin, Utah By THOMAS D. FOUCH CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1405-C Correlation of lower Tertiary stratigraphic units recently penetrated in northeastern Utah UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1976 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR THOMAS S. KLEPPE, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY V. E. McKelvey, Director Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Fouch, Thomas D. Revision of the lower part of the Tertiary system in the central and western Uinta Basin, Utah. (Contributions to stratigraphy) (Geological Survey Bulletin 1405-C) Bibliography: p. Supt. of Docs, no.: I 19.3:1405-C 1. Geology, Stratigraphic Tertiary. 2. Geology, Stratigraphic Nomenclature Utah Uinta Basin. I. Title. II. Series. III. Series: United States Geological Survey Bulletin 1405-C. QE75.B9 No. 1405-C [QE691] 557.3'08s [ 551.7'8'0979221] 75-619374 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D. C. 20402 Stock Number 024-001-02770-4 CONTENTS Page Abstract....................................................................................................................... Cl Introduction................................................................................................................ 1 North Horn Formation .............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Paleosols in an Outcrop of Red Beds from the Upper Cretaceous Yaojia
    Zhang et al. Journal of Palaeogeography (2020) 9:20 https://doi.org/10.1186/s42501-020-00069-7 Journal of Palaeogeography ORIGINAL ARTICLE Open Access Paleosols in an outcrop of red beds from the Upper Cretaceous Yaojia Formation, southern Songliao Basin, Jilin Province, NE China Li Zhang1, Zhi-Dong Bao2*, Chang-Min Zhang1, Lu-Xing Dou2, Ping Fu3, Jia-Hong Zhao3, Wu-Xue Wang3 and Yu Ji3 Abstract Paleosols in an outcrop of fluvial–lacustrine red beds have been recognized in the Upper Cretaceous Yaojia Formation in southern Songliao Basin, Songyuan City, Jilin Province, NE China. They are recognized in the field by pedogenic features, including root traces and burrows, soil horizons and soil structures. Root traces are remnants of small herbaceous plants, elongating and branching downwards in the red paleosols. They are filled by calcite, analcime, and clay minerals in spaces created by the decay of the plant roots. Burrows are found near the root traces with backfilled cells made by soil-dwelling insects. Soil horizons include calcic horizons (Bk horizon) with continuous calcareous layers, argillic horizons (Bt horizon) with clay films and dark brown to black iron-manganese cutans, vertic horizons (Bw horizon) with slickensided claystone, and deformed soil structure and gleyed horizons (Bg horizon) with mottles and reticulate mottles. Soil structures of the paleosols include pseudo-anticlinal structures, subangular blocky structures, and angular blocky structures. The micro-pedogenesis characteristics are also observed, including micrite pedogenic minerals and clay skins. Based on the pedogenic features above, paleosols types including Aridisol, Alfisol, and Vertisol are interpreted in the red beds of the Yaojia Formation.
    [Show full text]
  • Stratigraphical Framework for the Devonian (Old Red Sandstone) Rocks of Scotland South of a Line from Fort William to Aberdeen
    Stratigraphical framework for the Devonian (Old Red Sandstone) rocks of Scotland south of a line from Fort William to Aberdeen Research Report RR/01/04 NAVIGATION HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS DOCUMENT ❑ The general pagination is designed for hard copy use and does not correspond to PDF thumbnail pagination. ❑ The main elements of the table of contents are bookmarked enabling direct links to be followed to the principal section headings and sub-headings, figures, plates and tables irrespective of which part of the document the user is viewing. ❑ In addition, the report contains links: ✤ from the principal section and sub-section headings back to the contents page, ✤ from each reference to a figure, plate or table directly to the corresponding figure, plate or table, ✤ from each figure, plate or table caption to the first place that figure, plate or table is mentioned in the text and ✤ from each page number back to the contents page. Return to contents page NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Research Report RR/01/04 Stratigraphical framework for the Devonian (Old Red Sandstone) rocks of Scotland south of a line from Fort William to Aberdeen Michael A E Browne, Richard A Smith and Andrew M Aitken Contributors: Hugh F Barron, Steve Carroll and Mark T Dean Cover illustration Basal contact of the lowest lava flow of the Crawton Volcanic Formation overlying the Whitehouse Conglomerate Formation, Trollochy, Kincardineshire. BGS Photograph D2459. The National Grid and other Ordnance Survey data are used with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Ordnance Survey licence number GD 272191/2002.
    [Show full text]
  • Classification of Red Beds at Point of Rocks, Morton County, Kansas
    Classifcation of Red Beds at Point of Rocks, Morton County, Kansas: A Historical Review Robert S. Sawin Kansas Geological Survey, 1930 Constant Avenue, Lawrence, Kansas 66047 Abstract The age of red beds exposed below the bluff-capping Ogallala Formation at Point of Rocks in Morton County, Kansas, has been disputed since they were frst recognized in the late 1800s. Over the years, nearly 25 maps and reports have variously classifed the strata as Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, or Permian, creating an inter- esting history of speculation and stratigraphic nomenclature. Many of the interpretations relied on the indirect method of comparing lithologies to similar exposures in surrounding states, but none were in-depth studies. Until recently, the Kansas Geological Survey has considered the rocks to be Jurassic based on Zeller (1968), the currently recognized stratigraphic guide and chart for Kansas. A comprehensive study by Smith et al. (2015)—using outcrop descriptions, subsurface information, and detrital zircon data—constrained the age of the red beds at Point of Rocks, assigning them to the Guadalupian Big Basin Formation, the uppermost Perm- ian unit in Kansas. Introduction fcations associated with what many consider the last contentious Point of Rocks, a well-known landmark along the Santa Fe Trail’s exposure in Kansas. It also documents information pertinent to the Cimarron Cut-off (known as the Dry Route), rises above the Cimar- stratigraphic nomenclature of the Jurassic System in Kansas. ron River valley and is capped by a fat-topped outcrop of Ogallala Formation (Neogene) calcrete (fg. 1). An isolated exposure of older History and Stratigraphic Nomenclature rocks—red and tan beds of sandstone, siltstone, and shale—crops Early Designations (1896–1939) out in a small area below the Ogallala (fgs.
    [Show full text]
  • Triassic-Jurassic 'Red Beds' of the Rocky Mountain Region": a Discussion
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln USGS Staff -- Published Research US Geological Survey 1929 "Triassic-Jurassic 'Red Beds' of the Rocky Mountain Region": A Discussion John B. Reeside Jr. U.S. Geological Survey Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub Part of the Earth Sciences Commons Reeside, John B. Jr., ""Triassic-Jurassic 'Red Beds' of the Rocky Mountain Region": A Discussion" (1929). USGS Staff -- Published Research. 498. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/498 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the US Geological Survey at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in USGS Staff -- Published Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. The Journal of Geology, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Jan. - Feb., 1929), pp. 47-63 "TRIASSIC-JURASSIC 'RED BEDS' OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION": A DISCUSSION' JOHN B. REESIDE, JR. U.S. Geological Survey ABSTRACT The conclusion drawn by Professor E. B. Branson in a recent paper on the "Red Beds" of the Rocky Mountain region that parts of these beds are marine is considered likely. The conclusion that there exists no basis for subdivision of the beds is not accepted, and a division of the Mesozoic part into Lower Triassic, Upper Triassic, and Jurassic units is advocated. The conclusion that no eolian deposits are present likewise is not accepted, and the interpretation of important parts of the Jurassic unit as eolian is advocated. Disagreement is expressed with much of Professor Branson's correlation table, and a substitute is offered.
    [Show full text]
  • Aspects of the Microvertebrate Fauna of the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, Southern England
    ASPECTS OF THE MICROVERTEBRATE FAUNA OF THE EARLY CRETACEOUS (BARREMIAN) WESSEX FORMATION OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT, SOUTHERN ENGLAND By STEVEN CHARLES SWEETMAN M.A. (Oxon.) 1980 F.G.S. A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Portsmouth School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Building, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, PO1 3QL, U.K. April, 2007 0 Disclaimer Whilst registered for this degree, I have not registered for any other award. No part of this work has been submitted for any other academic award. 1 Acknowledgements At inception of this project there was a significant risk that the Wessex Formation would not yield a microvertebrate fauna. I would, therefore, like to express special thanks to Dave Martill (University of Portsmouth) for his initial support and for securing the research scholarship which made this study possible. I would also like to thank him for his supervision, generous support, encouragement and advice thereafter. Special thanks also to Susan Evans (UCL) for her enthusiastic help and advice on all matters relating to microvertebrates in general, and lizards in particular, and to Jerry Hooker (NHM) for everything relating to mammals; also to Brian Gasson for his support in the field and for the generous donation of many exceptional specimens from his private collection. The broad scope of this study has engendered the help, support and advice of many others and I am grateful to all. At the University
    [Show full text]
  • The Geology of the Central Part of the Favant Range, Utah
    THE GEOLOGY OF THE CENTRAL PART OF THE FAVANT RANGE, UTAH DISSERTATION sented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State Univers ity By HERMAN KENNETH LAUTENSCHLAGER, B • A. The Ohio State University 1952 Approved by: Adviser / 4 44 TABES OP CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION .......................... 1 LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY ..................... 2 FIELD WORK AND MAPPING ......................... 4 PREVIOUS WORK .................................... 5 PHYSICAL FEATURES ............................... 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................. 9 STRATIGRAPHY ......................................... 11 SEDIMENTARY R O C K S ........ 11 General Features <>............. 11 Cambrian System ..... 14 Tintic Quartzite 14 D e f i n i t i o n .............. 14 Distribution and 1ithology ....... 14 Stratigraphic relationships ..... 18 Age and correlation ............... 18 Ophir Formation ..... 20 D e f i n i t i o n ......................... 20 Distribution and 1ithology ..... 20 Stratigraphic relationships •••••• 20 Age and c o r r e l a t i o n ........ 21 Teutonic Limestone 21 Definition • . 21 Distribution and 1 ithology ...... 21 Stratigraphic relationships ...... 22 Age and correlation ........ 22 Dagmar Limestone ............ 23 Definition .................... 23 Distribution and 1ithology.*...... 23 Strat igraphie relat ionships ...... 24 Age and correlation ..... 24 i £ 0 9 4 2 8 Page Herkimer Limestone ...... 24 Definition ....................... 24 Distribution
    [Show full text]
  • Taceous Strata Are Overlain by Over 2, 000 Feet of Early Tertiary Non- Marine Sedimentary Rocks and Volcanics.Landslide Deposits Cover Over One-Half of the Area
    AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF John Byron Alexander for the M. S. in Geology (Name) (Degree) Major) Date thesis is presented ! /1) Q TitleSTRATIGRAPHY AND TRUCTURE OF PART OF THE FISH LAKE PLATEAU, SEVIER COUNTY, UTAH Abstract approved Major Pr ofessor) Over 3, 000 feet of nonmarine Late Cretaceous sedimentary rocks are exposed within the northern Fish Lake Plateau. The Cre- taceous strata are overlain by over 2, 000 feet of Early Tertiary non- marine sedimentary rocks and volcanics.Landslide deposits cover over one-half of the area. The Late Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, the oldest forma- tion exposed, was deposited in fluvial, swamp, coastal lagoon, and possibly shallow marine environments during the eastward retreat of the Mancos sea.This formation is overlain disconformably by the Late Cretaceous Price River Formation which is composed largely of quartz arenites derived from Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks exposed to the west.The sediments were carried into the area by streams and were deposited under piedmont and flood plain condi- tions. The Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary North Horn formation conformably overlies the Price River Formation. The lower part is composed largely of fluvial sandstones but, in the upper part, lacus- trine mudstones and siltstones predominate.The latter were deposited in the Uinta Lake which persisted until late middle Eocene. In this lake the Early Tertiary Flagstaff, Colton and Green River For- mations were deposited in succession.After an interval of erosion, the Eocene Gray Gulch Formation was deposited and, later, lavas of Oligocene age. Two periods of folding are reflected by structures within the area.The Early Laramide orogeny caused the disconformity between the Blackhawk and Price River Formations, and a later period of folding, between the late Eocene and Miocene, formed the Wasatch and Gates Creek monoclines.Late Tertiary normal faulting has been superimposed on the earlier structures.
    [Show full text]
  • Reduction Spheroids Preserve a Uranium Isotope Record of the Ancient Deep Continental Biosphere
    ARTICLE DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06974-9 OPEN Reduction spheroids preserve a uranium isotope record of the ancient deep continental biosphere Sean McMahon1,2, Ashleigh v.S. Hood1,3, John Parnell4 & Stephen Bowden4 Life on Earth extends to several kilometres below the land surface and seafloor. This deep biosphere is second only to plants in its total biomass, is metabolically active and diverse, and is likely to have played critical roles over geological time in the evolution of microbial 1234567890():,; diversity, diagenetic processes and biogeochemical cycles. However, these roles are obscured by a paucity of fossil and geochemical evidence. Here we apply the recently developed uranium-isotope proxy for biological uranium reduction to reduction spheroids in continental rocks (red beds). Although these common palaeo-redox features have previously been suggested to reflect deep bacterial activity, unequivocal evidence for biogenicity has been lacking. Our analyses reveal that the uranium present in reduction spheroids is isotopically heavy, which is most parsimoniously explained as a signal of ancient bacterial uranium reduction, revealing a compelling record of Earth’s deep biosphere. 1 Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, P.O. Box 208109, New Haven, CT 06520-8109, USA. 2 UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics of Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, James Clerk Maxwell Building, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, UK. 3 School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. 4 School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to S.M. (email: [email protected]) NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | (2018) 9:4505 | DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06974-9 | www.nature.com/naturecommunications 1 ARTICLE NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06974-9 he subsurface represents a vast habitat containing up to a (1)).
    [Show full text]
  • A Formational Framework for the Mercia Mudstone Group (Triassic) of England and Wales
    A formational framework for the Mercia Mudstone Group (Triassic) of England and Wales National Geoscience Framework Programme A S Howard, G Warrington, K Ambrose and J G Rees HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS DOCUMENT Bookmarks The main elements of the table of contents are bookmarked enabling direct links to be followed to the principal section headings and sub-headings, figures, plates and tables irrespective of which part of the document the user is viewing. In addition, the report contains links: from the principal section and subsection headings back to the contents page, from each reference to a figure, plate or table directly to the corresponding figure, plate or table, from each figure, plate or table caption to the first place that figure, plate or table is mentioned in the text and from each page number back to the contents page. RETURN TO CONTENTS PAGE British Geological Survey Research Report RR/08/04 BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY RESEARCH REPOrt RR/08/04 The National Grid and other Ordnance Survey data are used with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Licence No: 100017897/ 2008. Subject index A formational framework for Geology, stratigraphy, lithostatigraphy, Mercia Mudstone Group, Triassic the Mercia Mudstone Group Front cover (Triassic) of England and Wales Red Mercia Mudstone Group is faulted against Blue Anchor Formation and Rhaetic strata, Blue Anchor, Somerset (P211340). National Geoscience Framework Programme A S Howard, G Warrington, K Ambrose and J G Rees Geographical index England and Wales Bibiographical Reference HOWARD , A S, WARRINGTON , G, AMBRO S E , K, AND REE S , J G.
    [Show full text]
  • Non-Marine Permian Biostratigraphy and Biochronology: an Introduction
    Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 28, 2021 Non-marine Permian biostratigraphy and biochronology: an introduction SPENCER G. LUCAS 1, JOERG W. SCHNEIDER 2 & GIUSSEPE CASSINIS 3 1New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Road N. W., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104-13 Y J, USA (e-mail: [email protected]) 2TU Bergakademie Freiberg, B. v. Cotta-Strasse 2, D-09596 Freiberg, Germany 3pavia University, Earth Science Department, via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy Abstract: The Permian time scale based on marine rocks and fossils is well defined and of global utility, but non-marine Permian biostratigraphy and chronology is in an early phase of development. Non-marine Permian strata are best known from western Europe and the western United States, but significant records are also known from Russia, South Africa, China and Brazil. Global time terms based on non-marine Permian strata, such as Rotliegend, Zechstein, Autunian, Saxonian and Thuringian, are either inadequately defined or poorly characterized and should only be used as lithostratigraphic terms. Macro- and microfloras have long been important in non-marine Permian correlations, but are subject to limitations based on palaeoprovinciality and facies/climatic controls. Charophytes, conchostracans, ostracodes and freshwater bivalves have a potential use in non-marine Permian biostrati- graphy but are limited by their over-split taxonomy and lack of well-established stratigraphic distributions of low-level taxa. Tetrapod footprints provide poor biostratigraphic resolution during the Permian, but tetrapod body fossils and insects provide more detailed biostrati- graphic zonations, especially in the Lower Permian. Numerous radioisotopic ages are available from non-marine Permian sections and need to be more precisely correlated to the global time scale.
    [Show full text]
  • A Case Study from the RKB Core (Permian, Kansas, USA)
    Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) (2015) 104:1589–1603 DOI 10.1007/s00531-014-1070-1 ORIGINAL PAPER The paleoclimatic and geochronologic utility of coring red beds and evaporites: a case study from the RKB core (Permian, Kansas, USA) Gerilyn S. Soreghan · Kathleen C. Benison · Tyler M. Foster · Jay Zambito · Michael J. Soreghan Received: 23 March 2014 / Accepted: 7 August 2014 / Published online: 27 August 2014 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract Drill core is critical for robust and high-res- from coring of deep-time loess strata in particular remains olution reconstructions of Earth’s climate record, as well severely underutilized. demonstrated from both marine successions and modern long-lived lake systems. Deep-time climate reconstructions Keywords Red beds · Core · Paleoclimate · Permian · increasingly require core-based data, but some facies, nota- Loess · Evaporites · Pangaea bly red beds and evaporites, have garnered less attention for both paleoclimatic and geochronologic analyses. Here, we highlight studies from the Rebecca K. Bounds (RKB) Introduction core, a nearly continuous, >1.6 km drill core extending from the Cretaceous to the Mississippian, recovered from Drill core is well recognized as a key data set for recon- the US Midcontinent by Amoco Production Company in structing climate records. Drilling marine sediments has 1988, and serendipitously made available for academic been long exploited to clarify climate dynamics and atmos- research. Recent research conducted on this core illustrates pheric-oceanic linkages, especially for the Neogene, but the potential to recover high-resolution data for geochro- extending even to the Cretaceous (e.g., IODP 2008). Con- nologic and climatic reconstructions from both the fine- tinental climate reconstructions also benefit greatly from grained red bed strata, which largely represent paleo-loess drill core data, and core from modern, long-lived lacustrine deposits, and associated evaporite strata.
    [Show full text]