MIOSPORE BIOSTRATIGRAPHY, SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY, AND GLACIO-EUSTATIC RESPONSE OF THE BORDEN DELTA (OSAGEAN; TOURNAISIAN-VISEAN) OF KENTUCKY AND INDIANA, U.S.A. DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jeffery G. Richardson, M.S. ***** The Ohio State University 2003 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor W. I. Ausich, Adviser Professor L. A. Krissek ________________________ Professor D. E. Pride Adviser Department of Geological Sciences Professor M. R. Saltzman ABSTRACT The Borden Delta (Osagean; Tournaisian-Visean) represents a classic siliciclastic basin filling succession. Historically, the Borden Delta was thought to be deposited in response to tectonic activity centered around a peripheral bulge associated with the newly formed Acadian Highlands in the east. As the highlands eroded, the sediments were transported and deposited in the basin. This report proposes that the sea level fluctuations recorded in the Borden Delta rocks were formed in response to Gondwanan glaciations. Lithologic data from South America and chemostratigraphic data from numerous localities globally support this idea. The rocks in the study area were subdivided into three Primary Depositional Centers (PDC-I, II, III) based on lithologic and stratigraphic characteristics. The rocks in PDC-I (northeastern Kentucky) were deposited during the lowstand systems tract and the transgressive systems tract of the Vanceburg Sequence. Palynologically, the rocks in PDC-I belong to the PC Biozone of Higgs et al. (1988). The rocks in PDC-II (south-central Kentucky) represent parts of two different third order sequences (Vanceburg and Cumberland Sequences). In the eastern part of PDC-II, the Borden succession is represented only by the Nancy Member. With the ii continued deltaic processes, the Borden Delta migrated out of the area, leaving space for the deposition of the Cumberland Sequence during the Visean sea level rise, consisting of the Fort Payne Formation (west) and the Muldraugh Member (east). Palynologically, the eastern part of PDC-II contains the PC Biozone – CM Biozone boundary. This boundary is also coeval with the Tn3b-Tn3c boundary (middle Osagean). The Borden Delta in PDC-III is vastly different than the other parts of the study area. The Borden rocks in PDC-III are represented by parts of two third order sequences, the New Providence Sequence and the Millport Knob Sequence. Most of the sediments in this part of the Borden succession were deposited during a sea level rise in the early Visean. Palynologically, the Borden rocks in PDC-III are do not correlate with the previously established biozones of western Europe. The rocks in PDC-III are part of the Scopfites claviger Assemblage, the Tumulispora sp. B Assemblage, the Tricidarisporites sp. A – Dictylotriletes sp. B Assembalge, and the Pu Biozone (western Europe). iii Dedicated to my parents and to Sara, my wife iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my adviser, Dr. W. I. Ausich for having the confidence to accept me as a doctoral student. I would also like to thank him for his endless hours of valuable insight, enthusiasm, and patience. Also, the days were made easier by the daily football and basketball conversations. I would like to thank Dr. S. R. Jacobson, for sharing his insight on sequence stratigraphy and Paleozoic palynology. This project would have not been viable without his insight. The deepest thanks go out to my committee members, Dr. M. R. Saltzman, Dr. L. A. Krissek, and Dr. D. E. Pride, for comments, and discussion on various subjects. A debt of gratitude is extended to Dr. Pride for his many discussions over morning coffee. I also need to thank Dr. R. Askin for her hours of help in the laboratory and in allowing the use of the lab. Her help was very important in the completion of this project. Mr. Ernie Slucher deserves a special thank you for the numerous discussions on Carboniferous stratigraphy and the many excellent field trips. Finally, a thank you to my wife, for putting up with the long days and short temper associated with the completion of this project. Without you Sara, this project would have not been completed. v VITA June 29, 1971………………………….Born-Wheeling, West Virginia 1993……………………………………B.A., Geology, Denison University 1998……………………………………M.S., Geology, The Ohio State University 1995-1997……………………………..Graduate Assistant The Ohio State University (M.S.) 1998-2002……………………………..Graduate Assistant The Ohio State University (Ph.D.) 2000……………………………………Instructor, Sabbatical Replacement Denison University 2002……………………………………Research Assistant The Ohio State University 2002-2003……………………………..Assistant Professor Columbus State Community College PUBLICATIONS Research Publications. Richardson, J.G., 2002. “Really, how old are you?” – The enigma of the age and biostratigraphic correlations of the New Providence Shale (Lower Carboniferous; Osagean) and its relations to the remainder of the Lower Mississippian clastic succession of southeastern Indiana, U.S.A. Abstracts with Programs, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting,. V. 34, no. 6. vi Richardson, J.G., and Babcock, L.E., 2002. Weird things interpreted as conulariid fragments; Journal of Paleontology, 76(2): 391-393. Richardson, J.G., 2001. Miospore biostratigraphy and allostratigraphic relations of the Borden Delta Complex (Lower Carboniferous; Tournaisian-Visean) in Kentucky and Indiana; 34th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists, Program with Abstracts, San Antonio, Texas. [Awarded Best Paper] Richardson, J.G., 2001. Palynostratigraphy of the Borden Delta Complex, Kentucky and Indiana, U.S.A.; Abstracts with Programs, First Meeting of the Subcommission of Spores and Pollen, Commission Internationale de Microflore du Paleozoique; Cork, Ireland. Richardson, J.G., 2000. Miospore biozonation, total organic carbon, and sequence stratigraphy of the Borden Formation, in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois; Geological Society of America & American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists, Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, no. 7. Richardson, J.G., 2000. Conodont biostratigraphy and facies relations of the Trenton Limestone (Middle Ordovician) of Indiana and Ohio; Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, no. 4. Richardson, J.G. and Bergström, S.M., 1999. Conodont biostratigraphy and subsurface correlations of the Trenton Limestone (Middle Ordovician) in Ohio and Indiana; Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 31, no. 4. vii FIELD OF STUDY Major Field of Study: Geological Sciences viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………....ii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..v Vita………………………………………………………………………………………..vi List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………..xi List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………xii List of Plates…………………………………………………………………………….xvi Chapters: 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………..1 2. History of study…………………………………………………………………...9 3. Laboratory procedures…………………………………………………………...19 4. Miospore biostratigraphy and stratigraphic correlation………………………….25 5. Sedimentology, glacio-euatasy, and sequence stratigraphy……………………...50 6. Microfloral provinces and associated paleoecological interpretation…………..117 7. Global correlation………………………………………………………………128 8. Discussion and conclusions…………………………………………………….140 9. Systematic palynology………………………………………………………….149 References cited………………………………………………………………………...186 ix Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………..210 Appendix B……………………………………………………………………………..233 Appendix C……………………………………………………………………………..236 Appendix D……………………………………………………………………………..239 x LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 List of miospore taxa at each locality. The locality descriptions can be found in Appendix A……………………………...234 2 List of miospore taxa at each locality. The locality descriptions can be found in Appendix A……………………………...235 3 Statistical listing of taxa used to calculate macrofloral composition for the succession of the Nancy Member in PDC-I, northeastern Kentucky…………………………………………………237 4 Statistical listing of taxa used to calculate macrofloral composition for the succession of the Spickert Knob Formation at Millport Knob, in PDC-III, southeastern Indiana………………………………………238 xi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Paleogeographic reconstruction of the Early Missisippian. The Black dot indicates location of study area (from McKerrow and Scotese, 1990)…………………………...…………2 2 North American depositional environments during the Early Mississippian (Tournaisian) (modified from Gutschick and Sandberg, 1983)…………….…………….3 3 Carbon stable isotope record for Carboniferous of Arrow Canyon, Nevada, U.S.A. (from Saltzman, 2003)………………………….7 4 Flow chart summarizing the preparation techniques for palynomorphs……………………………………………….………..20 5 Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) miospore biozones of western Europe. (modified from Higgs et al., 1988)………………….27 6 Correlation chart showing relationship between North America, Europe, conodonts, and miospores, based on the author’s Interpretation…………………………………………………..…………28 7 Miospore biostratigraphy for northeastern Kentucky. The black dots indicate collected samples……..………………………...30 8 Conodont zonation of the “Maury Shale” near Burkesville, Kentucky (modified from Leslie et al., 1996)………………………………………35 9 Miospore biostratigraphy of the type section of the Nancy Member, south-central Kentucky. The black dots represent samples