GEOL10060

Stratigraphical successions: how plate tectonics and climate shape the geological record

Siccar Point, Scotland

angular unconformity between vertically oriented Silurian greywackes (deep marine sandstones) and gently inclined Devonian red beds
sandstones and conglomerates deposited in a terrestrial environment; the contact between the two represents about 65 million years

Permian

250

Carboniferous

300

Devonian

350
400

Silurian
Ordovician
Cambrian

450
500

millions of years ago

what happens if a lithospheric plate drifts from A B?

how would we know what had happened 200 million years later?

geological period

550
important to remember the sequence of periods
not necessary to know the dates

Death of an ocean:
the Cambrian Silurian geological record of Britain and Ireland

from the start

Early Silurian

.. accretes onto margin of Laurentia

...major continental landmass

Middle Ordovician

Early Ordovician

.Avalonia drifts north.

. Rheic Ocean opening between Avalonia
and Gondwana

micro continent of Avalonia rifts away from Gondwana..

Early Cambrian
southern parts of Britain and Ireland

part of Gondwana

at high southerly latitude

NW Ireland and NW Scotland

part of Laurentia

at low southerly palaeolatitudes

Terranes
tectonostratigraphic terrane

.followed by subduction and closure of Rheic Ocean

.. leads to formation of supercontinent (Pangaea)

regional scale
bounded by faults
own geological history that is distinct
from adjacent terranes
often form as island arcs, fragments of
crust + sediments are accreted to overriding plate margin
note trends (NE-SW) of (most)
boundaries

Laurentian terranes
Laurentia

intermediate
accreted
terranes
e.g. Midland Valley
Southern Uplands

Gondwanan terranes
Gondwana

What is evidence for existence of Iapetus Ocean and the plate

tectonic history of Avalonia?
palaeomagnetism
faunal provincialism
sedimentology (Southern Uplands terrane)

Mac Niocaill (2000)

Faunal Provincialism
low latitudes

high latitudes

physiographic terms
continental shelf

littoral zone

shelf break
continental slope

sublittoral zone

continental rise
abyssal plain

"Southeastern United States continental shelf"

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Ecology of marine environments

benthic living on or within floor of water body
pelagic water not at/close to floor of water body, nor its margins (e.g. shore)
planktonic drift or swim weakly
nektonic - free-swimming in water column
epifaunal living on surface of sediment column
infaunal living within sediment column
sessile versus motile (note can be different between juvenile and adult stages)

Faunal Provincialism
high latitudes

low latitudes

1 open oceanic plankton

2 shallow marine
sessile infaunal
benthos proximal to
landmass
would environmental distribution of 1 or 2
be more restricted by physiography?

3 deep marine benthos

independent of position of landmass
?less variation in environmental conditions
?wider latitudinal spread
other variables e.g. temperature gradients in surface waters may play a role

open oceanic plankton

faunal provinces

continental shelf

equator

continent
20S

faunal provinces for shallow marine

benthos around continental margin
40S

60S

shallow marine
sessile infaunal
benthos

Trilobites

marine arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

extinct
Cambrian to Permian

Graptolites

Phylum Hemichordata

Colonial, marine, invertebrates

M.Cambrian U. Carboniferous
organic periderm

planktonic

attached sessile benthos

dendroid

extant hemichordates

Rhabdopleura

graptoloid

hypothesised reconstruction of
zooids of graptoloid based on
extant relative Rhabdopleura

Early Ordovician pelagic trilobites (extinct type of arthropod)

strong latitudinal control
Cyclopygid trilobites:
characterized by enlarged eyes: wide angle of view, both horizontal and vertical
high southerly palaeolatitudes
low latitude province includes Opipeuter note adaptations for nektonic lifestyle (visual system)

cyclopygid trilobite

Opipeuter

Late Ordovician trilobites (extinct type of arthropod)

weak to no latitudinal control

west-east variation in composition of faunas
? controlled by dispersal of larvae by ocean currents
Avalonia + Baltica considerable overlap contribution from west and east

Ampyxina
benthos: note the dorso-ventral flattening

Laurentia

Calyptaulax

Baltica
Avalonia

Panderia

Ordovician graptolites

some types of graptolite have a cosmopolitan distribution

Isograptus

Ordovician graptolites

Atlantic Province: mid to high S palaeolatitude

Pacific Province: low-equatorial palaeolatitudes

Atlantic Province: Gondwana + Avalonia

Pacific Province Laurentia
Siberia and Baltica (mid latitudes) a mix of both

General observations
Complex patterns while Iapetus existed

e.g. (a) strong latitudinal control on distribution of certain pelagic trilobites

(b) other distributions possible : e.g. west/east division in Late Ordovician trilobites (? ocean currents as control)

(c) some graptoloids cosmopolitan distribution: others divided into Atlantic and Pacific Provinces

As the Iapetus Ocean closed the level of faunal provincialism decreased

graptoloid faunas were among the first to lose a distinctive faunal provincialism. Why would they be more likely to do so than, for
example, trilobites and brachiopods?

freshwater

breakdown over time of

faunal provincialism

freshwater fish
benthic ostracods
benthic

marine

trilobite and brachiopod species

trilobite and brachiopod genera
Didymograptus bifidus
Dictyonema
planktonic

Sedimentology

Laurentian terranes
Laurentia

intermediate
accreted
terranes

accretionary wedge
deep-marine sediments
greywackes (muddy sandstones)
deposited as event beds from
turbidity currents
associated with black shales and cherts
(open oceanic sediments)

e.g. Southern Uplands

Gondwanan terranes
Gondwana
accretion and mountain building..
various subduction and orogenic events during closure of Iapetus
collectively the Caledonian orogeny
e.g. the Southern Upland terrane represents deep-marine sediments obducted in an
accretionary wedge during final closure of Iapaetus

the result..
amalgamation of Avalonia Laurentia and Baltica
creates a major continent: Euramerica, Laurussia or Old Red Sandstone Continent
transition from marine sediments to terrestrial sedimentation at low palaeolatitudes south of equator

red beds
desert environments

alluvial fans (scree slopes and debris flows)

episodic river activity
unconfined sheet floods over floodplains
aeolian (wind-blown) deposits
lacustrine deposits

you are not expected to know every detail on each lithofacies map,
but you should be able to distinguish which time slice each
corresponds to

EARLY DEVONIAN
highlands shedding very coarse
detritus on slopes as alluvial fans

lake systems

major river systems in low areas

terrestrial

marine

localised lacustrine systems in NE Scotland

marine influence restricted to southern Britain
prominent topography:
extensive alluvial fan sedimentation
major river systems flowing length of topographic lows

Old Red Sandstone, Wexford

Sandeel Bay, Co. Wexford

OXIDATION
4FeO + O2 2Fe2O3

(Fe 2 + Fe 3 + )

Ferrous iron ferric iron (rust)

Channel base

MIDDLE DEVONIAN

terrestrial

marine

development of major lacustrine systems in NE Scotland (e.g. Orcadian Basin)

marine influence further N
decrease in alluvial fan sedimentation (reduced topography)

Orcadian Basin

cyclical patterns of sedimentation as lake levels rise and fall

astronomical forcing of sediment patterns
lake geometry reflects local physiography and tectonics

low lake stands

playa-type environments: evaporites

deposition of fluvial sediments
stromatolites
desiccation-cracked horizons

high lake stands

deep permanent lake

fish faunas
finely laminated quiet water sediments
no infauna: preserved under oxygen-free conditions

one deep lake phase resulted in laminated sediments from

Shetland Islands to Scottish mainland
? intensification of monsoonal system

LATE DEVONIAN
alluvial plains
and aeolian facies

alluvial plains
meandering rivers
evaporites locally

coastal plain

marine

alluvial plains and aeolian facies important

rivers: some meandering not braided
locally lacustrine deposits and evaporites
major coastal plain in south

EARLY CARBONIFEROUS

low lying alluvial plains

draining to south
very localised highlands

deep

marine influence further north than before

carbonate platforms - limestone deposition in southern
Britain and Ireland
deeper water facies to south
major transgression underway

sea level from south floods northwards

how do we know the direction of transgression?

MIDDLE CARBONIFEROUS
alluvial plains

coal swamps and deltas

some marine influence
during short scale transgressions

coal swamps and deltas becoming established in NE Britain with some

marine influence during short scale transgressions
significant marine limestone deposition across much of southern and
central Ireland and Britain
localised deeper basins e.g. Dublin Basin

Carboniferous limestone
fossiliferous carbonate muds
rugosan corals: solitary (1) and colonial (2)

LATE CARBONIFEROUS
extensive emergent (terrestrial)
surfaces in north

alluvial plains

coal swamps and deltas

some marine influence
during short scale transgressions

Central Clare Group

extensive terrestrial (emergent) surfaces in northern part of Britain and Ireland

coal swamps
major economic deposits e.g. coal deposits
burial of carbon removes CO2 from atmosphere = global cooling
causes glaciation at high latitudes
major sea level fall as a result
current global warming caused by burning fossil fuels
in UK and Ireland Upper Carboniferous coals important source

 Central Clare Group, western Ireland

last part of the infill of a deep water basin

series of repeated delta deposits: cyclothems
each cyclothem starts with offshore marine sediments and
shallows upwards, ending with delta top environments
including channels and floodplains
modern analogue: Mississippi delta
sea level then rises and sequence starts again
5 such cyclothems in Central Clare Group

first (oldest) cyclothem

in Central Clare Group

older lithostratigraphic units below the Central Clare Group

Summary

interaction of several different drivers

interaction of series of variables:

plate tectonics
GLOBAL SEA-LEVEL FALL AS ICE SHEETS BUILD UP
MAJOR PHASE OF DELTAS AND COAL SWAMPS

Carboniferous

terrestrial
ORS continent

rise in sea level

transgression
flooding onto land surfaces
EXTENSIVE LIMESTONE PLATFORMS

Devonian

Silurian

Laurentia

Ordovician

Laurentia
Cambrian

Iapetus Ocean

Avalonia
Gondwana

marine

Avalonia
Gondwana

major
orogenic
episodes