GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 822 Paleoclimate and Mineral Deposits Paleoclimate and Mineral Deposits Edited by Thomas M. Cronin, William F. Cannon, and Richard Z. Poore GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 822 1983 United States Department of the Interior JAMES G. WATT, Secretary Geological Survey Dallas L. Peck, Director Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title Paleoclimate and mineral deposits (Geological Survey Circular; 822) Bibliography: p. 49 1. Paleoclimatology-United States. 2. Mines and mineral resources-United States. I. Cronin, Thomas II{. II. Cannon, William F. Ill. Poore, Richard Z. IV. Series QE75.C5 no. 822 [QC884] 557.3s [553.1] 83--000159 Free on application to Distribution Branch, Text Products Section, U. S. Geological Survey, 604 South Pickett Street, Alexandria, VA 22304 PREFACE Earth climate obviously plays an important role These new sources of data and resulting in our daily lives through its effects on agriculture, concepts about Earth history have given geohgists a floods, droughts, energy use, and other areas. Further, new perspective from which to study the ge""esis of predicting or forecasting future climatic trends has economically important commodities such as oil, properly been given high priority in national research natural gas, coal, phosphate, metals, b"UXites, programs because of the expected increase of. global manganese, sulfides, iron, uranium, and others. temperatures over the next 100 years owmg to Understanding the processes and boundary co'lditions increasing atmospheric co2. Perhaps as important, of the formation and preservation of these however, is the increasing realization by geologists commodities is a prerequisite for developing pr~~dictive that past climates have played a primary role in the models to guide future exploration. A recent report by genesis of economic and strategic fuel an_d n?nfuel the National Academy of Sciences (Be~er and minerals. Imbrie {1982) refers to the apphcahon of Crowell, 1982) notes that our ability to locate new our knowledge of the geologic record of the Earth's deposits of several important minerals will be climate as "hindcasting." More specifically, predicting improved by increased understanding of climates the occurrence and distribution of a particular mineral throughout Earth history. on a global or local scale can be significantly enhanced The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is actively if geologists understand the particular environmental involved with paleoclimatic research and, conditions under which that mineral forms and is consequently, with linking patterns of past climatic preserved and how the distribution of these change to mineral deposits. Because paleoclin'lltology environments has changed through time. In many involves almost the entire spectrum of the marine and continental sedimentary deposits, climatic geosciences, a 2-day workshop (September 23-24, 1?82) conditions had a major effect on the physical, was convened to bring together geochemists, chemical, and biological conditions during _d~position sedimentologists, paleontologists, hydrologists, marine and diagenesis. In some cases, global conditions at a geologists, mineralogists, and other specialis~s to specific time in Earth history caused the widespread provide a forum for interchange of data and Ideas. formation of a mineral; a good example is the This circular contains expanded abstra~ts of formation, during middle to Late Cretaceous time, of presentations made during the workshop. The wide major oilfields and gasfields that were caused by warm variety of topics addressed demonstrates the brea~th global climates and relatively high sea levels. of expertise, interest, and ongoing research concermng Conversely, local conditions superimposed on broader climates and mineralization that exists in the USGS. climatic trends, such as the formation of major The common thread uniting all of the: papers phosphate deposits at regions of upwelling of cool presented below is that paleoclimatology is a nutrient-rich water along continental margins, also can multidisciplinary field that requires coordination and be important. interchange of ideas and data among sc~~ntists. Several major advances have brought Further, it is clear that the deeper we inves":igate a paleoclimatology to the forefront as a major discipline sedimentary mineral, the more relevant the that unites many previously disjunct areas of paleoenvironmental conditions during deposition and geoscience. Among these advances, the success of the diagenesis become to understanding its formaH'>n. As a Deep Sea Drilling Project in determining the history of corollary, we must seek improved sedin~~ntary, the modern ocean basins {Society of Economic geochemical, and paleontologic tools to identify Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication paleoenvironments, and we must test these too1s in the No. 32) has given geologists a relatively continuous field. view of the last 150 m.y. The availability of accurate Assessing the Nation's mineral and energy paleogeographic maos for the Phanerozoic (Ziegler and resources is a primary and congressionally mllndated others, 1979; Scotese, 1979) has provided boundary function of the USGS. We anticipate that future conditions for paleoclimate reconstructions. The research and advances in understanding paleoclimates publication of the global "sea-level" curve (Vail and and the effects of climate on the origin and others, 1977) has provided a model for eustatic sea­ distribution of resource-bearing sedimentary ro~ks will level events and a framework for examining specific aid the USGS in fulfilling its mission to produce a climatic events. Research on Quaternary climates better inventory of the Nation's known and p')tential done primarily by the National Science Foundation's mineral resources. CLIMAP Program over the last 10 years has established the key role played by deterministic causes Thomas M. Cronin of climatic change, such as the correlation of William F. Cannon Milankovitch astronomical cycles with Pleistocene Richard Z. Poore glacial-interglacial cycles. Editors III Page Preface--------------------------------------------------------------------------------III Cbntinental aluminous weathering sequences and their climatic irrplications in the Uhited States, by Harry A. Tourtelot--------------------------------------------------1 Effect of sea-level fluctuations on porosity and mineralogic changes in coastal aquifers, by William Back and Bruce B. Hanshaw----------------------------------------6 Pliocene and Pleistocene calcitic veins as indicators of paleohydrologic, paleo­ climatologic, and neotectonic events, southern Great Basin: An initial appraisal, by Isaac J. Winograd, Barney Szabo, Tyler B. Cbplen, and Gene C. Doty----------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 The oxygen minimum zone of continental margins, by Thomas M. Cronin---------------------10 r~nozoic paleoceanography, by Richard Z. Poore------------------------------------------13 The U.S. Atlantic Cbntinental Margin: Eustasy, paleoceanography, and mineral deposits, by John S. Schlee----------------------------------------------------------16 Building a biostratigraphic framework around an anoxic-kenoxic event, by Joseph E. Hazel----------------------------------------------------------------------18 Inorganic geochemistry of deep-sea black shales, by Walter E. ~an----------------------19 Same climatic and oceanographic controls on the time and place of mineralization, by W. F. CRnnon----------------------------------------------------------------------24 Influences of ocean anoxic events on manganese deposition and ophiolite-hosted sulfide preservation, by Eric R. Force, W. F. cannon, Randolph A. Koski, Keith T. Passmore, and Bruce R. Doe--------------------------------------------------26 Late Cretaceous and Paleogene nonmarine climates in North America, by Jack A. Wolfe---------------------------------------------------------------------30 Volcanic manganese deposits in the Western Cbrdillera: Lithologic associations and paleoceanographic settings and economic deposits associated with biogenic siliceous rocks, by James R. Hein and Randolph A. Koski------------------------------32 ~ganic carbon, sulfur, and iron relationships as an aid to understanding depositional environments and syngenetic metals in recent and ancient sediments, by Joel S. Leventhal------------------------------------------------------34 Paleozoic atmospheric circulation and oceanic upwelling, by Judith Totman Parrish-------37 Paleoclimatic controls on the occurrence and quality of coal, by C. B. cecil, R. W. Stanton, S. G. Neuzil, F. T. Dulong, and L. F. Ruppert-------------------------40 v carbon dioxide, geochemical modeling, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions, by Eric T. Sundquist-----------------------------------------------------------------43 Isotopic research, climate, and the genesis of mineral deposits, by Bruce R. Doe--------44 References------------------------------------------------------------------------------49 I Il1JS'IRATI CNS Page FIGURE 1. Map showing selected aluminous weathering sequences in the Uhited States------------------------------------------------------- 2 2. Graph showing inferred temperatures for Tertiary time------------------ 4 3. Diagram showing interface between freshwater and seawater flow systems that fo~ zone of dispersion--------------------------------------- 6 4. Graph showing upward concavity of activity coefficientYi as a