University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 1-2014 Application of Detrital Zircon Geochronology to Determine the Sedimentary Provenance of the Middle Bloyd Sandstone, Arkoma Shelf, Northern Arkansas Greg Michael Buratowski University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Geology Commons, and the Sedimentology Commons Recommended Citation Buratowski, Greg Michael, "Application of Detrital Zircon Geochronology to Determine the Sedimentary Provenance of the Middle Bloyd Sandstone, Arkoma Shelf, Northern Arkansas" (2014). Theses and Dissertations. 2367. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2367 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Application of Detrital Zircon Geochronology to Determine the Sedimentary Provenance of the Middle Bloyd Sandstone, Arkoma Shelf, Northern Arkansas Application of Detrital Zircon Geochronology to Determine the Sedimentary Provenance of the Middle Bloyd Sandstone, Arkoma Shelf, Northern Arkansas A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geology by Greg Buratowski University of Arkansas Bachelor of Science in Geology, 2012 May 2014 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. Dr. Walter L. Manger Thesis Director Dr. Xiangyang Xie Dr. Doy Zachry Committee Member Committee Member ABSTRACT The sedimentary provenance of the middle Bloyd sandstone and subsequent sediment transport and dispersal patterns of the Early Pennsylvanian were interpreted by utilizing U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology. Eight middle Bloyd sandstone samples were analyzed. A total of 855 concordant analyses resulted. Peaks occurred at 350-500 Ma, 950-1200 Ma, 1300-1500 Ma, 1800-2300 Ma, and >2500 Ma. These peaks were determined to represent crystalline source rocks on the Laurentian craton from Acadian-Taconic, Grenville, Midcontinent Granite-Rhyolite, Yavapai-Mazatzal, Paleoproterozoic, and Archean Superior Provinces respectively. Grenville age zircons were the most common zircons identified in the middle Bloyd sandstone samples. The Appalachian Mountain region is determined to be the primary source of sediment in the middle Bloyd sandstone as evidenced by the high percentage of grains attributed to the Acadian- Taconic and Grenville age terranes. The moderate presence of Midcontinent Granite-Rhyolite and Yavapai-Mazatzal age zircons in the middle Bloyd sandstone indicates that a secondary source of sediment for the sandstone unit likely originated from north and west of the study area. Sediments were likely transported from both north-northwestern and eastern source regions into a common drainage basin that allowed movement of sediments southward by a substantial fluvial system onto the Arkoma Shelf in northern Arkansas where the deposition of the middle Bloyd sandstone occurred as part of a large scale braided stream system near the Pennsylvanian- Morrowan coast. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my parents, Ed and Sharon Buratowski, and my sister, Sara. I cannot begin to express my heartfelt gratitude for their constant love and support throughout my college career. You were my rock throughout my college years (coming from a Geologist, this seems to have a particularly special meaning). Also, thank you to the rest of my family, in particular, my cousins. If not for them, I may have ended up as an engineer, rather than doing what I love, Geology. Thank you to Dr. Xiangyang Xie for offering me the opportunity to join his ongoing research at the beginning of my graduate career and for serving as my thesis chair for the beginning of my research. A special thank you to Dr. Walter Manger for taking over as my thesis committee chair halfway through my research. The discussion, guidance, and critique provided by Dr. Manger made the completion of my research possible. I also would like to thank Dr. Doy Zachry for serving on my thesis committee and for the advice and discussion provided along the way in addition to the vast amount of Geologic knowledge he imparted on me through my college career. Also, thank you to all my friends. Your constant support has kept me going when I doubted myself along the way. In particular, a special thank you to William Cains. Your advice and our discussions, as well as our joint efforts at the Washington State University Geoanalytical Lab for our zircon analyses, were invaluable to the success of my research. Thank you to the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arkansas for the great education they have provided me. They have done so well to prepare me for my future beyond college. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction…................................................................................................................ 1 A. Project Purpose and Scope.............................................................................................. 1 B. Previous Studies….......................................................................................................... 1 Early Pennsylvanian Sediment Transport of the Central U.S. ....................................... 6 C. Geologic Setting ............................................................................................................. 9 Regional Geology............................................................................................................ 9 Study Area ...................................................................................................................... 12 D. Lithostratigraphy and Depositional Environment .......................................................... 13 II. Project Approach and Methods ...................................................................................... 18 A. U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology ............................................................................ 18 B. Sample Location and Collection .................................................................................... 19 C. Sample Preparation ........................................................................................................ 20 D. Sample Analysis ............................................................................................................ 22 E. Data Reduction ............................................................................................................... 23 III. Results and Interpretations ............................................................................................. 24 A. MB 1-1 ........................................................................................................................... 24 B. MB 1-2 ........................................................................................................................... 25 C. MB 1-3 ........................................................................................................................... 26 D. MB 2-1 ........................................................................................................................... 27 E. MB 2-2 ............................................................................................................................ 28 F. MB 2-3 ........................................................................................................................... 30 G. MB 2-4 ........................................................................................................................... 30 H. MB 2-5 .......................................................................................................................... 31 IV. Potential Source Terranes ............................................................................................. 34 A. Archean Crustal Rocks ................................................................................................. 35 B. Paleoproterozoic Source Terranes ................................................................................ 35 C. Yavapai-Mazatzal Provinces ........................................................................................ 36 D. Midcontinent Crustal Source Rocks ............................................................................. 37 E. Grenville Province ......................................................................................................... 38 F. Iapetan Synrift ............................................................................................................... 39 G. Acadian-Taconic Source Terranes ................................................................................ 40 V. Determining Provenance ............................................................................................... 42 A. Archean and Paleoproterozoic Provenance ................................................................... 45 B. Midcontinent and Yavapai-Mazatzal Provenance ......................................................... 48 C. Appalachian Provenance ................................................................................................ 52 VI. Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 58 VII. Unanswered Questions .................................................................................................