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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations & Theses in Earth and Atmospheric Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Sciences 10-1971 The ioB stratigraphy of the Delaware Limestone (Middle Devonian) of Southwestern Ontario Robert F. Diffendal University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geoscidiss Diffendal, Robert F., "The iosB tratigraphy of the Delaware Limestone (Middle Devonian) of Southwestern Ontario" (1971). Dissertations & Theses in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. 57. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geoscidiss/57 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Theses in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE DELAWARE LIMESTONE (MIDDLE DEVONIAN) OF SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO by Robert Francis Diffendal, Jr. A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College in the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geology Under the Supervision of Professor J. A. Fagerstrom Lincoln, Nebraska October 1971 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TITLE THE BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE DELAWARE LIMESTONE (MIDDLE DEVONIAN) OF SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO BY Robert F. Diffendal, Jr.________ APPROVED DATE Dr. J. A. Fagerstrom____________ October 19. 1971 Dr. R. B. Nelson October 19, 1971 Prof. T. M. Stout October 19, 1971 Dr. K. 0. Stanley October 19, 1971 Dr. S. B. Treves October 19, 1971 Dr. J. F. Davidson October 19, 1971 SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE GRADUATE COLLEGE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA < i r a d aaooa soo ■••am Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE DELAWARE LIMESTONE (MIDDLE DEVONIAN) OF SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO Robert Francis Diffendal, Jr., Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 1971 Adviser: J. A. Fagerstrom The Delaware Limestone of Middle Devonian age crops out along two belts in southwestern Ontario. All but one of the major outcrops studied occur in the easternmost of these belts. Examination of thin-sections and polished slabs of 254 samples collected at vertical intervals of one foot from 19 localities has led to delineation of four major microfacies within the formation. The basal quartzose microfacies, characteristically containing well-rounded, quartz sand, is present in the basal two to four feet of the formation. In the northwestern part of the eastern outcrop belt the predominant microfacies above the basal quartzose microfacies is partially recrystallized limestone. The primary microfacies to the southeast at St. Mary's, Ontario, is the biomicrite microfacies. The biomicrite microfacies grades vertically and laterally to the southeast into the burrowed biomicrite and biomicrite microfacies. A total of 128 species have been obtained from the Delaware Lime­ stone in Ontario. Of these, one species of charophyte, 10 species of arenaceous foraminifera, and 19 species of fish are reported for the first time from the formation in Ontario. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The characteristic brachiopods, Martiniopsis ? maia (Billings), Brevispirifer lucasensis (Stauffer) and Spinatrypa spinosa (Hall) are discussed in detail. The interiors of M. ? maia and .B. lucasensis are described for the first time. With the exception of Tasmanites sp., Astraeospongium spp., Spinatrypa spinosa, Brevispirifer lucasensis, Polygnathus linguiformis linguiformis, Cheiracanthoides comptus, and Onychodus sigmoides, the taxa of the Delaware Limestone are restricted to one or two of the major microfacies. None of the taxa collected occurs at all of the localities sampled. Three biostratigraphic zones are recognized in the Delaware Lime­ stone of southwestern Ontario. From the base of the formation upward they are the Icriodus latericrescens n. subsp. A Zone, the "lower spore zone", and the "upper spore zone". The two spore zones are informal zones based on the occurrence of two different sizes of spores belonging to the genus Tasmanites. The Icriodus latericrescens n. subsp. A Zone occurs along the eastern outcrop belt from St. Mary's, Ontario, southeastward to Lake Erie. The "lower spore zone" can be recognized along the entire eastern outcrop belt. The "upper spore zone" is found only at St. Mary's, Ontario. Only seven of the 128 species (Icriodus latericrescens n. subsp. A, I_. angustus, Hexagonaria truncata, Martiniopsis ? maia, Brevispirifer lucasensis, Spinatrypa spinosa, and Spinulicosta spinulicosta) collected from the Delaware Limestone are of use in correlation of the formation with other units in adjacent portions of the United States. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. On the basis of the occurrence of one or more of the species mentioned above and the reported presence of the Tioga Bentonite, a key marker bed, in the subsurface of southwestern Ontario, the Delaware Limestone outcrops in Ontario are correlated with the lower portions of the Dundee Limestone of Michigan and Ohio, and the Delaware Limestone of central Ohio. The exposed part of the formation is also correlated with the upper Jeffersonville and lower North Vernon Limestones of Indiana, the upper Grand Tower Limestone and lower Lingle Limestone of Illinois, the Seneca Member of the Onondaga Formation and the lower part of the Cherry Valley Member of the Marcellus Formation in New York. Exact correlation of the upper unexposed portions of the Delaware Limestone in Ontario can not be made at this time because the fossils from these rocks have not been studied adequately. The base of the formation transgresses zonal boundaries along the eastern outcrop belt in a northwesterly direction indicating tentatively that the Delaware Limestone may be a time transgressive formation. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ---------------------------------------------------- i INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------- 1 Purpose of Study ----------------------------------------- 1 Previous W o r k -------------------------------------------- 1 O h i o -------------------------------------------------- 1 Michigan ----------------------------------------------- 2 Ontario ------------------------------------------------ 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -------------------------------------------- 9 STRUCTURE--------------------------------------------------- 12 Structural Features --------------------------------------- 12 Significance of the Structures ---------------------------- 13 STRATIGRAPHY ------------------------------------------------ 14 Units Below the Delaware Limestone in Ontario -------------- 14 Units Above the Delaware Limestone in Ontario -------------- 15 The Base of the Delaware Limestone------------------------ 16 Marker Beds in Other Areas-------------------------------- 16 Tioga Bentonite---------------------------------------- 16 Bone B e d s --------------------------------------------- 17 Location of Outcrops -------------------------------------- 17 Thickness of the Delaware Limestone ----------------------- 21 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Page SEDIMENTARY PETROLOGY -------------------------------------- 24 Previous W o r k ---------------------------------------- 24 Sampling Procedure and Sample Preparation --------------- 24 Description of Microfacies ------------------------------ 26 Basal Quartzose Microfacies -------------------------- 27 Recrystallized Limestone Microfacies ----------------- 27 Biomicrite Microfacies ------------------------------- 28 Burrowed Biomicrite and Biomicrite Microfacies ------- 30 Dolomite Analysis ------------------------------------ 34 Insoluble Residues ----------------------------------- 34 Relationship of Insolubles to Microfacies------------- 35 PALEONTOLOGY ----------------------------------------------- 37 Previous Investigations --------------------------------- 37 Systematic Paleontology --------------------------------- 37 RELATIONSHIP Op FLORA AND FAUNA TO MICROFACIES------------- 74 CORRELATION------------------------------------------------- 79 Fossils Useful for Correlation and Zonation over Large Areas----------------------------------------- 79 Zonation of the Delaware Limestone in O h i o -------------- 81 Zonation of the Delaware Limestone in Ontario ----------- 81 Regional Correlation ------------------------------------ 84 Intercontinental Correlation ---------------------------- 88 POSSIBILITY OF A TRANSGRESSION OF THE DELAWARE LIMESTONE OVER UNDERLYING UNITS — ---------------------- 91 CONCLUSIONS------------------------------------------------ 93 REFERENCES------------------------------------------------- 96 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Page APPENDIX A ----------------------------------------------- 104 APPENDIX B ----------------------------------------------- 146 APPENDIX C ----------------------------------------------- 158

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