Eustatic and Tectonic Control of Deposition of the Lower and Middle Pennsylvanian Strata of the Central Appalachian Basin

Chesnut, Donald R.

doi:10.2110/csp.94.04.0051

Cited by 34 publications

(56 citation statements)

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“…15B), which are up to several tens of metres in thickness and are made up of: (i) shales to marls (Facies 13); (ii) siltstones and fine-grained calclithites and litharenites forming tabular beds with parallel and current ripple-cross lamination (Facies 12 and 8); (iii) coarse-to finegrained calclithites and litharenites in tabular and wedge-shaped amalgamated beds, which are cross-stratified (Facies 10); and (iv) coarse-to finegrained calclithites to quartz arenites, locally with scattered pebbles, forming lenticular beds which are massive or trough cross-stratified (Facies 7 and 9, respectively). These deposits are similar to the delta mouth-bar deposits described by Coleman & Wright (1975) and Reading & Collinson (1996).…”

Section: Mouth-bar Depositssupporting

confidence: 86%

Facies Architecture and Cyclicity of an Upper Carboniferous Carbonate Ramp Developed in a Variscan Piggy‐Back Basin (Cantabrian Mountains, Northwest Spain)

Merino-Tomé

Bahamonde

Fernández

et al. 2007

Sedimentary Processes, Environments and Basins

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The latest Moscovian (late Myachkovsky) to Gzhelian succession in the northern sector of the Picos de Europa Province (Cantabrian Mountains, northwest Spain) was deposited in a rapidly subsiding piggy-back basin. The succession has been subdivided into 11 mappable depositional sequences (3rd-4th order), which have in turn been grouped into two sequence sets, and they are formed of several higher order cycles (4th-5th order). This work focuses on the study of a carbonate ramp system (Puentellés Formation, northern proximal deposits of Sequences 8-10), where the cyclicity is best developed. Each of the three depositional sequences forming the Puentellés Formation comprises a fining upward lower part, which consists of several higher order (metric to decimetric) cycles with similar internal organization, and an upper part mainly arranged in metric to decametric shallowing upward parasequences. The results of this study suggest that tectonic activity controlled the configuration and long-term development of the latest Moscovian (late Myachkovsky) to Gzhelian basins, being responsible for the large-scale stratigraphical architecture (sequence sets). Eustasy, on the other hand, was the driving mechanism for the higher frequency architecture (3rd-5th-order cyclicity).The subsidence curves are similar for both sequence sets, showing a maximum subsidence rate in the beginning that gradually decreased, reflecting the tectonic load during two major phases of thrust-sheet emplacement. The unconformity between both sequence sets records an intense phase of erosion linked to uplift of the northern sector of the Picos de Europa Province due to the onset of the emplacement of the Picos de Europa thrust sheets. The tectonic deformation was also responsible for the angular unconformities and the syntectonic unconformities that bound the depositional sequences, but the unconformities in themselves were a consequence of eustatic sea-level falls. The lower part of each sequence in the Puentellés Formation records late lowstand clastic sedimentation in flood-dominated deltas and fan-deltas, which co-existed with a reduced carbonate production in a narrow shallow-water ramp. The minor unconformities that bound the 4th-5th-order cycles are only present in the lower part of the 3rd-order sequences, and are interpreted to have developed when minor tectonic uplift was enhanced during lowstand stages. The upper part, mainly composed of autochthonous carbonates (including microbial and algal boundstones, among others), represents the abandonment of the previous clastic systems and the encroachment and aggradation of the carbonate ramps during rising and highstand stages.The development of the Puentellés carbonate ramp was exceptional in that, normally, terrigenous influx typical of active tectonic regimes adversely affects carbonate production, preventing the development of carbonate depositional systems. In this case, the clastic supply was mainly calcareous, due to the composition of the source area, and as a consequence, almost no terrige...

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Section: Mouth-bar Depositssupporting

confidence: 86%

Facies Architecture and Cyclicity of an Upper Carboniferous Carbonate Ramp Developed in a Variscan Piggy‐Back Basin (Cantabrian Mountains, Northwest Spain)

Merino-Tomé

Bahamonde

Fernández

et al. 2007

Sedimentary Processes, Environments and Basins

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“…Coal is always observed at the boundary between continental and marine facies in all Carboniferous paralic coal basins of western Europe (North France, England and Ruhr basins, Izart and Vachard, 1994) and in the central Appalachian Basin (Chesnut, 1994), A. Izart et al / International Journal of Coal Geology 66 (2006) 69-107 where peat formation was initiated by a renewed transgression.…”

Section: Paleoclimatic Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stratigraphic distribution of macerals and biomarkers in the Donets Basin: Implications for paleoecology, paleoclimatology and eustacy

Izart

Sachsenhofer

Privalov

et al. 2006

International Journal of Coal Geology

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“…Single-story sandstone units apparently represent a spectrum of channel networks ranging from incised valley fills, braidplains, and distributary systems that were part of a drainage network that transported sediment from sources in the Appalachian orogen (Pashin and others, 1991;Pashin 1994a, c) -and 4 th -order changes of sea level (Chesnut, 1994;Flint, 1994, 1995;Heckel and others, 1998). In the Black Warrior basin, however, incised valley fills and braidplain deposits are developed at multiple stratigraphic levels, particularly in the green and yellow parasequences (plates 5-10).…”

Section: Interpretationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geologic Screening Criteria for Sequestration of Co2 in Coal: Quantifying Potential of the Black Warrior Coalbed Methane Fairway, Alabama

Pashin¹,

Carroll²,

Groshong³

et al. 2004

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Sequestration of CO 2 in coal has potential benefits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the highly industrialized Carboniferous coal basins of North America and Europe and for enhancing coalbed methane recovery. Hence, enhanced coalbed methane recovery operations provide a basis for a market-based environmental solution in which the cost of sequestration is offset by the production and sale of natural gas. The Black Warrior foreland basin of west-central Alabama contains the only mature coalbed methane production fairway in eastern North America, and data from this basin provide an excellent basis for quantifying the carbon sequestration potential of coal and for identifying the geologic screening criteria required to select sites for the demonstration and commercialization of carbon sequestration technology.Coalbed methane reservoirs in the upper Pottsville Formation of the Black Warrior basin are extremely heterogeneous, and this heterogeneity must be considered to screen areas for the application of CO 2 sequestration and enhanced coalbed methane recovery technology. Major screening factors include stratigraphy, geologic structure, geothermics, hydrogeology, coal quality, sorption capacity, technology, and infrastructure. Applying the screening model to the Black Warrior basin indicates that geologic structure, water chemistry, and the distribution of coal mines and reserves are the principal determinants of where CO 2 can be sequestered. By comparison, coal thickness, temperature-pressure conditions, and coal quality are the key determinants of sequestration capacity and unswept coalbed methane resources.Results of this investigation indicate that the potential for CO 2 sequestration and enhanced coalbed methane recovery in the Black Warrior basin is substantial and can result in significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions while increasing natural gas reserves. Coal-fired power plants serving the Black Warrior basin in Alabama emit approximately 31 MMst (2.4 Tcf) of iv CO 2 annually. The total sequestration capacity of the Black Warrior coalbed methane fairway at 350 psi is about 189 MMst (14.9 Tcf), which is equivalent to 6.1 years of greenhouse gas emissions from the coal-fired power plants.Applying the geologic screening model indicates that significant parts of the coalbed methane fairway are not accessible because of fault zones, coal mines, coal reserves, and formation water with TDS content less than 3,000 mg/L. Excluding these areas leaves a sequestration potential of 60 MMst (4.7 Tcf), which is equivalent to 1.9 years of emissions.Therefore, if about10 percent of the flue gas stream from nearby power plants is dedicated to enhanced coalbed methane recovery, a meaningful reduction of CO 2 emissions can be realized for nearly two decades. If the fresh-water restriction were removed for the purposes of CO 2 sequestration, an additional 10 MMst (0.9 Tcf) of CO 2 could feasibly be sequestered. The amount of unswept coalbed methane in the fairway is estimated to be 1.49 Tcf at a pres...

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Eustatic and Tectonic Control of Deposition of the Lower and Middle Pennsylvanian Strata of the Central Appalachian Basin

Cited by 34 publications

References 0 publications

Facies Architecture and Cyclicity of an Upper Carboniferous Carbonate Ramp Developed in a Variscan Piggy‐Back Basin (Cantabrian Mountains, Northwest Spain)

Facies Architecture and Cyclicity of an Upper Carboniferous Carbonate Ramp Developed in a Variscan Piggy‐Back Basin (Cantabrian Mountains, Northwest Spain)

Stratigraphic distribution of macerals and biomarkers in the Donets Basin: Implications for paleoecology, paleoclimatology and eustacy

Geologic Screening Criteria for Sequestration of Co2 in Coal: Quantifying Potential of the Black Warrior Coalbed Methane Fairway, Alabama

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