Paleogeography and Depositional Environments of the Cambro-Ordovician Shallow-Marine Facies of the North Atlantic

Research Article| November 01, 1972 Paleogeography and Depositional Environments of the Cambro-Ordovician Shallow-Marine Facies of the North Atlantic KEENE SWETT; KEENE SWETT Department of Geology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar DAVID E SMIT DAVID E SMIT Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, Stevens Point, Wisconsin 54481 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information KEENE SWETT Department of Geology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52240 DAVID E SMIT Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, Stevens Point, Wisconsin 54481 Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 17 Feb 1972 Revision Received: 20 Apr 1972 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Copyright © 1972, The Geological Society of America, Inc. Copyright is not claimed on any material prepared by U.S. government employees within the scope of their employment. GSA Bulletin (1972) 83 (11): 3223–3248. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1972)83[3223:PADEOT]2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 17 Feb 1972 Revision Received: 20 Apr 1972 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation KEENE SWETT, DAVID E SMIT; Paleogeography and Depositional Environments of the Cambro-Ordovician Shallow-Marine Facies of the North Atlantic. GSA Bulletin 1972;; 83 (11): 3223–3248. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1972)83[3223:PADEOT]2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Detailed sedimentological and petrological investigations of the Cambro-Ordovician shallow-marine facies of western Newfoundland, northwest Scotland, and central East Greenland reveal arresting similarities in their histories. Faunal, stratigraphic, sedimentologic, geochemical, and diagenetic comparisons of the thick sandstone, shale, and carbonate successions indicate contemporaneous development on a contiguous broad marine shelf bordering the western margin of a "proto-Atlantic" basin. Sedimentation dominated by intertidal to shallow subtidal environments is indicated by tidal sand bodies, ichnofossils, desiccation phenomena, oölitic lithologies, and stromatolitic algal structures. Complex diagenetic processes probably account for anomalous potash concentrations in correlative Lower Cambrian shale horizons and demonstrably effect replacements by feldspar, silica, dolomite, and calcite in the sandstones and carbonates. Parallel trends of recrystallization, dolomitization, silicification, calcitization, and dolomitization of the oölitic carbonates in each of the three study areas suggest correspondent post-depositional diagenetic environments. Independently the similarities are inconclusive, but collectively they are compelling in their suggestion of common depositional and diagenetic histories for the Cambro-Ordovician successions of western Newfoundland, northwest Scotland, and central East Greenland, ostensibly on the western shelf of a "proto-Atlantic" basin. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.