We describe two Early Devonian occurrences of coaly shale composed mainly of the compacted remains of early plants, such that they resemble coal. Among the earliest thick phytodebris accumulations known, the occurrences lie within Pragian strata of the Val d'Amour Formation and Emsian strata of the Campbellton Formation of northern New Brunswick, and were deposited in low-energy wetlands where they were rapidly buried. Although the coaly shales did not yield recognizable plant taxa, numerous taxa are present in adjacent beds. Petrographic analysis revealed an average of 80.7% vitrinite (predominantly telovitrinite) and 18.7% liptinite (predominantly sporinite) on a mineral-matter-free basis, with a higher vitrinite content than most Devonian coals. Low sulfur content and atomic C/N ratios that vary from 44.3 to 82.1 in organicrich samples indicate terrestrial derivation. Vitrinite reflectance in organic-rich samples (21.4-35.6 wt % total organic carbon) ranges from 0.48 to 1.00, indicating a low degree of thermal alteration that is supported by cross-polarization spectra from studies of 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance; two carbon-poor samples were thermally altered to anthracitic rank adjacent to an intrusive body. Although plants at this time were still comparatively primitive, the presence at both sites of specimens with recognizable lignified cellular structures in vitrinite and particularly thick and resistant cuticle may represent an important step in peat development. In these Early Devonian formations, diverse assemblages of small vascular plants are present in a range of environments, and the plants were sufficiently abundant to form coal-like accumulations under suitable burial conditions, serving as a proxy for plant biomass and vegetation cover in the early stages of terrestrial colonization.

Strata of the Campbellton Formation, nearly 1 km-thick and known for its diverse fossil assemblage of early plants, arthropods, and fish, can be divided into six facies associations: (1) restricted lacustrine, (2) marginal lacustrine, (3) near-shore lacustrine, (4) coastal-deltaic, (5) sandy to gravelly alluvial plain, and (6) gravelly proximal alluvial environments. Lacustrine deposits with restricted circulation, due to depth or stagnation, are fine-grained with preserved organic material. The marginal lacustrine association consists of massive siltstone and very fine sandstone, interbedded with conglomerate. The latter are interpreted to have shed from older volcanic units forming the basin walls. The near-shore lacustrine association is characterized by rippled sandstone with microbialites. Alluvial strata include interbedded imbricate to nonimbricate conglomerate, trough cross-stratified sandstone, and barren to plant-bearing siltstone. Rare exposures of thickly bedded imbricate to weakly imbricated cobble-boulder conglomerate with sandy plant-bearing lenses are interpreted as products of hyperconcentrated debris flows. In the western belt, a braided-fluvial system had paleocurrents flowing WNW. Coastal-deltaic deposits west of the fluvial outcrops, containing aquatic vertebrates and invertebrates, had paleocurrents flowing ESE, suggesting a confined body of fresh or brackish water. In lower parts of the eastern belt, lacustrine facies are prevalent, representing a large open lake. Alluvial facies dominate upper parts of the formation, representing an eastward-flowing axial braided river system, with proximal alluvium shed transversely from the basin margins. Although most strata have a volcanic provenance, only one outcrop in the lacustrine beds shows evidence of active volcanism during deposition of the Campbellton Formation.Résumé : D'une épaisseur d'environ 1 km, les strates de la Formation de Campbellton sont connues pour ses assemblages diversifiés de fossiles d'anciennes plantes, d'arthropodes et de poissons; elles peuvent être divisées en six associations de faciès : (1) lacustre restreinte, (2) lacustre de bordure, (3) lacustre près d'un rivage, (4) côtier-deltaïque, (5) plaine alluviale de sable à gravier et (6) environnements proximaux de gravier alluvionnaire. En raison de la profondeur ou de stagnation, les dépôts lacustres avec circulation réduite sont à grain fin et contiennent de la matière organique préservée. L'association lacustre de bordure comprend des siltstones massifs et des grès très fins, interlités avec des conglomérats. Ces derniers proviendraient d'anciennes unités volcaniques qui forment les parois du bassin. L'association près du rivage est caractérisée par des grès ridés contenant des microbialites. Les strates alluvionnaires comprennent un conglomérat imbriqué à non imbriqué, des grès de fosse à stratification croisée et des siltstones stériles à contenant des plantes. De rares affleurements de conglomérats imbriqués à lits épais à des conglomérats de cailloux à blocs faiblem...

The Kingston Peak Formation of the Pahrump Group in the Death Valley region of the Basin and Range Province, USA, is the thick (over 3 km) mixed siliciclastic-carbonate fill of a long-lived structurally-complex Neoproterozoic rift basin and is recognized by some as a key 'climatostratigraphic' succession recording panglacial Snowball Earth events. A facies analysis of the Kingston Peak Formation shows it to be largely composed of 'tectonofacies' which are subaqueous mass flow deposits recording cannibalization of older Pahrump carbonate strata exposed by local faulting. Facies include siltstone, sandstone and conglomerate turbidites, carbonate megabreccias (olistoliths) and related breccias, and interbedded debrites. Secondary facies are thin carbonates and pillowed basalts. Four distinct associations of tectonofacies ('base-of-scarp'; FA1, 'mid-slope'; FA2, 'base-of-slope'; FA3, and a 'carbonate margin' association; FA4) reflect the initiation and progradation of deep water clastic wedges at the foot of fault scarps. 'Tectonosequences' record episodes of fault reactivation resulting in substantial increases in accommodation space and water depths, the collapse of fault scarps and consequent downslope mass flow events. Carbonates of FA4 record the cessation of tectonic activity and resulting sediment starvation ending the growth of clastic wedges. Tectonosequences are nested within regionally-extensive tectonostratigraphic units of earlier workers that are hundreds to thousands of metres in thickness, recording the long-term evolution of the rifted Laurentian continental margin during the protracted breakup of Rodinia. Debrite facies of the Kingston Peak Formation are classically described as ice-contact glacial deposits recording globally-correlative panglacials but they result from partial to complete subaqueous mixing of fault-generated coarse-grained debris and fine-grained distal sediment on a slope conditioned by tectonic activity. The sedimentology (tectonofacies) and stratigraphy (tectonosequences) of the Kingston Peak Formation reflect a fundamental control on local sedimentation in the basin by faulting and likely earthquake activity, not by any global glacial climate.

No abstract

The Kamoa sub‐basin, in the south‐eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a rift basin that hosts a world‐class stratiform copper deposit at the base of a very thick (1·8 km) succession of matrix‐supported conglomerates (diamictite) (Grand Conglomérat Formation) that has been interpreted by some as the product of deposition in the aftermath of a planet‐wide glaciation. Newly available subsurface data consisting of more than 300 km of drill core throws new light on the origin of diamictite and associated facies types, and their tectonic, basinal and palaeoclimatic setting. Initiation of rifting is recorded by a lowermost subaqueous succession of fault‐related mass flow conglomerates and breccias (the ‘Poudingue’) with interdigitating coeval and succeeding sandstone turbidites (Mwashya Subgroup). Overlying diamictites of the Grand Conglomérat were deposited as subaqueous debrites produced by mixing and homogenization of antecedent breccias and gravel from the Poudingue and Mwashya sediments with basinal muds. Failure of over‐steepened basin margins and debris flow was likely to be triggered by faulting and seismic activity, and was accompanied by syn‐depositional subaqueous basaltic magmatism recorded by peperites and pillow lavas within diamictites. The thickness of diamictites reflects recurring phases of faulting, volcanism and rapid subsidence allowing continued accommodation of rapidly deposited resedimented facies well below wave base. A distal or indirect, glacial influence in the form of rare dropstones and striated clasts is evident, but tectonically‐driven mass flow destroyed any primary record of glacial climate originally present in basin margin sediments. Such basin margin settings were common during Rodinia rifting and their stratigraphy and facies record a dominant tectonic, rather than climatic, control on sedimentation. Deposition occurred on tectonic timescales inconsistent with a Snowball Earth model for Neoproterozoic diamictites involving a direct glacial contribution to deposition.

No abstract

Very thick (> 1 km) successions of matrix-supported conglomerates (diamictites) are a very distinctive component of many Neoproterozoic basins. Classically interpreted as glacially deposited sedimentary rocks, their thickness has been seen as requiring exceptional depositional conditions such as world-wide “panglacial” climates. The Neoproterozoic Grand Conglomérat Formation (GC) of Katanga Province, southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is a 1.8-km-thick diamictite succession hosting one of the world's largest stratiform copper deposits. Examination of more than 300 km of recently acquired large diameter (up to 4 inches, 10.2 cm) core identifies the diamictites of the GC as debrites that accumulated as part of a deep-water “mass-transport complex” in a tectonically active and volcanically influenced anoxic rift basin. Detailed sedimentological descriptions of debrite facies and their lateral and vertical variability permits new insights into processes of debris-flow formation and transport, and their wider paleoenvironmental and paleotectonic significance. A genetic model is herein presented that highlights the importance of slumping and subaqueous downslope mixing of basin-margin fan-delta gravels, fault breccias, volcanic debris from contemporaneous basaltic fissure eruptions with basinal muds, and the downslope ponding of flows in narrow fault-bounded depocenters. Preservation of such an exceptionally thick subaqueously deposited debrite-dominated mass transport complex lacking any evidence of shallow-water deposition, requires rapid subsidence. Any direct sedimentary evidence of a glacial influence on sedimentation in the wider basin hinterland (if present) has been destroyed and homogenized by mass flow. Indirect evidence of a cold-climate setting is possibly expressed as lonestones in laminated turbidite facies dropped by either glacial or seasonal ice, and by exceptionally rare scratched clasts that may have been striated subglacially. Descriptions and interpretations presented here provide clues to the origin of other unusually thick debrite and turbidite successions elsewhere in other Neoproterozoic basins; their primary paleoenvironmental significance is that they appear to record ponding and focusing of mass flows in narrow, rapidly subsiding fault-bounded depocenters, rather than any unique glacial paleoclimate.

No abstract