Uppermost Devonian (Famennian) and Lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian) at Jura Creek and Mount Rundle, southwestern Alberta

Richards, B C; Bamber, E W; Henderson, Charles M.; Higgins, A. C.; Johnston, David I.; Mamet, B.; Drees, N. C. Meijer

doi:10.4095/194058

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The Sassenach is 338 m thick at this locality, and is in conformable contact with the lower Palliser Formation, which marks a transition to subtidal and lower peritidal limestone facies. Portions of the Palliser Formation were sampled from all four field locations, with Jura Creek being the only section that included the whole formation (Kaylor, 1988; Meijer‐Drees et al., 1993; Peterhänsel et al., 2008; Richards et al., 1993). The Palliser Formation is further divided into two members:…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seven stratigraphic sections were measured, representing a range of depositional environments. Four outcrop sections were logged in the southern Canadian Rockies: Snaring (53°03′36″N, 118°05′57″W), Nordegg (52°2 9′36″N, 116°00′15″W), Jura Creek (51°05′42″N, 115°09′11″W) and Crowsnest Pass (49°37′36″N, 114°38′48″ (1993), and Richards and Higgins (1988). Studied formations are color coded relative to their depositional environment like in the regional map.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adjacent to the regional map is the Late-Devonian-Early Carboniferous stratigraphy of the WCSB. Stratigraphic nomenclature compiled from deWitt and McLaren (1950),Macqueen and Sandberg (1970), Mountjoy (1962), Meijer-Drees et al (1993), andRichards and Higgins (1988). Studied formations are color coded relative to their depositional environment like in the regional map.…”

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Authigenic Carbonate Burial Within the Late Devonian Western Canada Sedimentary Basin and Its Impact on the Global Carbon Cycle

Gazdewich,

Hauck,

Husson

2024

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C values) of marine carbonates are widely used to infer the relative burial rates of organic carbon, a source of oxygen to the ocean‐atmosphere system. This inference, however, is based on the assumption that ocean‐atmospheric carbon is buried either as organic carbon or as marine carbonate minerals. The burial of authigenic carbonate minerals formed within sediments after deposition, with low δ13C values (i.e., similar to organic carbon), has been proposed to explain high δ13C values in marine carbonates without the need for high burial fluxes of organic carbon. To test this hypothesis, we focus on the Late Devonian, a time period with both pervasive ocean anoxia and a severe reduction in shallow‐water carbonate deposition—conditions hypothesized to promote authigenic carbonate formation. We present sedimentological and geochemical data from limestones and black shales of the Wabamun Group, Besa River and Exshaw formations of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. These data are compared to inorganic and organic weight percent measurements of North American shales acquired from the USGS National Geochemical Database (N = 4,437). Results show that basinal shale lack authigenic carbonate with low δ13C values and that the mean δ13C value of carbonate in these shales (−0.3‰) do not differ substantially from mean δ13C of carbonates in platform carbonates of a similar age (0.4‰). Furthermore, inorganic carbon content in Late Devonian shales (mean weight percent = 0.55%, N = 54) is lower than average Phanerozoic North American shale (mean of 1.95%, N = 4,055). Lastly, organic carbon‐to‐inorganic carbon ratios (OC:IC) of North American shales are well above 1 (mean = 3.72 for Late Devonian shales (N = 374), 2.25 for shales (N = 3,653) of all other ages). Therefore, even if the burial of fine‐grained siliciclastic formations carrying authigenic carbonates were to increase, the concomitant increase in organic carbon burial would be even larger. Together, data from this study do not provide evidence that the burial of authigenic carbonate would have a significant effect on global carbon isotope mass balance.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Authigenic Carbonate Burial Within the Late Devonian Western Canada Sedimentary Basin and Its Impact on the Global Carbon Cycle

Gazdewich,

Hauck,

Husson

2024

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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“…Ticks on the right side of the column for conodont zones indicate subzonal boundaries. Stratigraphic columns are from the following sources: (1) Savoy and Harris (1993a); (2, 3) Richards (1989), Higgins et al (1991), Richards et al (1991), and Savoy and Harris (1993a). PEK stands for the Pekisko Formation.…”

Section: Geochemical Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Provenance of Upper Devonian-Lower Carboniferous Miogeoclinal Strata, Southeastern Canadian Cordillera: Link Between Tectonics and Sedimentation

Savoy¹,

Stevenson²,

Mountjoy³

2000

Journal of Sedimentary Research

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Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian siliciclastic miogeoclinal strata in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains provide a partial record of the geographic and tectonic setting of the Paleozoic western margin. Although these marine strata (Exshaw and lower Banff formations) contain extensive shale and mudstone, and some quartzofeldspathic sandstone and siltstone, as well as volcanic ash layers, the provenance of these clastic units has, thus far, remained poorly or incompletely understood. The integration of sandstone petrofacies analysis with neodymium isotopic and trace-element (rare earth element, Th, and Sc) analyses of mudrock facies was undertaken in this study to constrain better the sedimentary provenance.Coarse siltstones and sandstones in the Exshaw and Banff formations are chiefly subfeldspathic and feldspathic (quartzose-arkosic) arenites, with a complex sedimentary history involving derivation, at least in part, from an uplifted plutonic and volcanic source, such as possible western ''Antler'' orogenic highlands. The presence of monocrystalline quartz (inclusionless and with unit extinction) and sanidine in Exshaw sandstones at some sections suggests at least a partial acidic volcanic or shallow intrusive source component. The Exshaw and Banff petrofacies reflect the possible combined effects of regional tectonic complexity (different and/or mixed source terranes), sediment transport and recycling, complex sediment dispersal paths, and weathering and diagenesis. Mudrock elemental and isotope geochemistry also support a provenance involving potentially multiple sources (mixed provenance). Chondrite-normalized REE distribution patterns and La-Th-Sc ratios for Exshaw and Banff mudrocks resemble patterns for sediments derived from old continental crust (e.g., passive margins, etc.) as well as some arc settings. Nd isotopic compositions of the Exshaw and Banff formations do not support a specific provenance, but they are consistent with addition of material younger than Archean in age.

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Devonian to Carboniferous continental-scale carbonate turnover in Western Laurentia (North America): upwelling or climate cooling?

Hedhli

Dewing

Beauchamp

et al. 2022

Facies

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The Devonian to Carboniferous (DC) transition coincided with a green-to-ice house climatic shift, anoxia, disappearance of lower latitude carbonate banks, and turnover from warm-to-cool water carbonate factories. In western Laurentia, the switch to carbonate factories dominated by cool-water biota was contemporaneous with a tectonically driven palaeogeographic change. To investigate this depositional shift and infer the relative impact of climate vs tectonics, a continental-scale sedimentological and geochemical study was conducted on twelve stratigraphic sections of DC strata from western Canada to southern Nevada (USA). The spatial–temporal distribution of microfacies records the turnover from [i] a Famennian lime mud-rich, shallow warm-water carbonate ramp with low sedimentation rates, mesotrophic conditions and tabular geometry to [ii] Tournaisian to Viséan lime mud-depleted and grainstone dominated cool-water carbonate ramp with anomalous high sedimentation rates, oligotrophic conditions and a pronounced slope. Positive excursions of δ18Ocarb (+ 2‰ V-PDB) and δ13Ccarb (+ 4‰ V-PDB) of Lower Mississippian carbonates likely correspond to the first cooling peak of the Carboniferous-Permian icehouse climate, following carbon withdrawal during black shale deposition during the late Famennian and early Tournaisian. However, late Tournaisian return of photozoan elements and their persistence throughout the Viséan suggests that warmer surface water existed, revealing a decoupling of the lower latitude ocean and the atmosphere. Shoaling of the thermocline was likely a result of cold-water upwelling along an open coast, as the Antler orogen no longer provided an oceanic obstruction to the west. This study shows that carbonate platforms are more susceptible to regional changes than global shifts.

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Uppermost Devonian (Famennian) and Lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian) at Jura Creek and Mount Rundle, southwestern Alberta

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Authigenic Carbonate Burial Within the Late Devonian Western Canada Sedimentary Basin and Its Impact on the Global Carbon Cycle

Authigenic Carbonate Burial Within the Late Devonian Western Canada Sedimentary Basin and Its Impact on the Global Carbon Cycle

Provenance of Upper Devonian-Lower Carboniferous Miogeoclinal Strata, Southeastern Canadian Cordillera: Link Between Tectonics and Sedimentation

Devonian to Carboniferous continental-scale carbonate turnover in Western Laurentia (North America): upwelling or climate cooling?

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