Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2016 High-Resolution Correlation Using Geophysical and Geochemical Methods on Three Cambrian Drumian Marine Sedimentary Successions in The House Range Embayment, Western Laurentia Emad I. Elfar Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Earth Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Elfar, Emad I., "High-Resolution Correlation Using Geophysical and Geochemical Methods on Three Cambrian Drumian Marine Sedimentary Successions in The ousH e Range Embayment, Western Laurentia" (2016). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 620. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/620 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. HIGH-RESOLUTION CORRELATION USING GEOPHYSICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL METHODS ON THREE CAMBRIAN DRUMIAN MARINE SEDIMENTARY SUCCESSIONS IN THE HOUSE RANGE EMBAYMENT, WESTERN LAURENTIA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geology and Geophysics by Emad Ismail Elfar B.S., Tanta University, 2002 M.S., Tanta University, 2009 August 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS After having my master degree from Tanta University, I got a full funded PhD mission from the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education in a competitive funding opportunity in 2011. I did not hesitate to contact the soon-to-be my advisor, Dr. Brooks Ellwood, who I worked with in collecting two Paleocene/Eocene boundary sections in Upper Egypt in 2004. I am deeply thankful to him for his continuous support, guidance and advice during the progress of this project. He was extremely helpful from day one when he picked me up from Baton Rouge airport and assisted me settle down, through helping during multiple field trips that were funded from the Robey Clark endowment at Louisiana State University, to reviewing multiple manuscripts. I would like also to thank Suzanne Ellwood, Eman Eldakkak, Jennifer Kenyon, and Minhee Chou for their kind assistance during the field work and sample collection. I am greatly indebted to Amber Ellwood for her help during samples preparation and measurement for magnetic susceptibility and carbonate contents, and for running selected samples for carbon and oxygen isotopes. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my committee members, Dr. Samuel Bentley, Dr. Sophie Warny, and Dr. Wei-Hsung Wang for their valuable discussions and suggestions that helped me to expand my expertise over the course of this research. Finally, this appreciation is extended to my wife, Eman Eldakkak, for her unlimited encouragement and incredible help in so many different ways that can never be repaid. ii PREFACE The goal of this research is to trace and constrain not only the base of the Drumian stage but also the LOOP/FAD of P. atavus and the DICE in the HRE. Accounting for lithologic complexity among the three studied sections is a prerequisite for such study. Therefore, this dissertation is divided into three chapters. Each chapter is a stand-alone paper for publication. Chapter one represents high-resolution lithostratigraphic correlation among the three studied sections based mainly on detailed detrital/carbonate investigations. This paper is the product of research that had four goals. First, to investigate the complex lithological variations and their causes in the HRE among the Drum Mountains GSSP (UT), House Range Marjum Pass (UT), and Snake Range Packrat (NV) sections. Second, to interpret from these data climatic and sea level fluctuations that have caused the lithologic complexities. Third, to determine and refine the depositional setting represented by each section. Fourth, to identify, trace and interpret some of the numerous storm-event layers identified within the HRE. Chapter two aims to identify lithostratigraphic marker (s) that might be used to trace important surfaces such as the base of the Drumian Stage and the FAD/LOOP of P. atavus from the GSSP through the Marjum Pass and into the Packrat section. It also aims to test the synchronicity of P. atavus within the HRE, and investigate the reliability of P. atavus as biostratigraphic marker for high resolution studies. Chapter three provides high resolution chemostratigraphic correlation among three slope and basinal sections where hundreds of samples have been analyzed to test DICE synchronicity regionally within the HRE across the base of the Drumian Stage. In addition, iii this test is extended to three southern carbonate platform sections (Wah Wah, Panaca Hills and Desert Range). Their published chemostratigraphic data sets (Howley, 2010; Howley and Jiang, 2010) were used. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... ii PREFACE..... ............................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ……. ...................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I: SEA LEVEL AND CLIMATIC-INDUCED FACIES VARIATIONS IN THE MIDDLE-CAMBRIAN HOUSE RANGE EMBAYMENT, WESTERN LAURENTIA .................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Methods… ....................................................................................................... 5 1.2.1. Sampling and field observations ............................................................... 5 1.2.2. Mass specific magnetic susceptibility (휒) .................................................. 6 1.2.3. Percent carbonate (CaCO3%) determined using carbonate digestion ...... 7 1.3. Results….. ....................................................................................................... 7 1.4. Correlation ..................................................................................................... 15 1.5. Interpretation ................................................................................................. 17 1.5.1. Drumian Stage GSSP Section ................................................................ 18 1.5.2. Marjum Pass Section .............................................................................. 20 1.5.3. Packrat Section ....................................................................................... 20 1.5.4. Integration of Sections and Facies Interpretation .................................... 22 1.6. Discussion ..................................................................................................... 28 1.7. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 31 1.8. References .................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER II: TRACING THE BASE OF THE DRUMIAN STAGE: TESTING THE SYNCHRONICITY OF THE FAD/LOOP OF PTYCHAGNOSTUS ATAVUS WITHIN THE HOUSE RANGE EMBAYMENT, WESTERN LAURENTIA ...... 37 2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 38 2.2. Geological background .................................................................................. 42 2.3. Methods ......................................................................................................... 43 2.4. Results and Interpretations ............................................................................ 44 2.5. Discussion ..................................................................................................... 47 2.5.1 The base of the Drumian Stage .............................................................. 47 2.5.2 The FAD/LOOP of Ptychagnostus atavus ............................................... 49 2.5.3 A Drumian GSSP alternative .................................................................. 52 2.5.4 Global occurrence of P. atavus ............................................................... 54 2.6. Conclusions ................................................................................................... 55 2.7. References .................................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER III: HIGH-RESOLUTION STABLE ISOTOPE (13C AND 18O) CORRELATION AMONG THE HOUSE RANGE EMBAYMENT AND PLATFORM SECTIONS ACROSS THE BASE OF THE CAMBRIAN DRUMIAN STAGE, WESTERN LAURENTIA ................................................ 60 3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 61 3.2. Geological background .................................................................................. 63 3.3. Methods ......................................................................................................... 65 3.4. DICE results and Interpretation for HRE sections .......................................... 66 3.5. Discussion ....................................................................................................