Paper No. 42-0
FROM FARMERS TO COWBELLS: THE POSSIBILITY OF LOWER MISSISSIPPIAN GLACIO-EUSTATIC SIGNALS RECORDED IN THE VANCEBURG SEQUENCE (BORDEN FORMATION) OF KENTUCKY AND INDIANA
RICHARDSON, Jeffery G., Geological Sciences, The Ohio State Univ, 155 South Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, richardson.141@osu.edu and SALTZMAN, Matthew R., Geological Sciences, Ohio State Univ, 275 Mendenhall Laboratory, 125 South Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210

Recently, glacial studies and event stratigraphy have become more integrated. Stable isotopes, primarily d13C and d18O can be used to indicate several types of ancient events. Flucuations in carbon isotopes are proxy indicators for rates of organic matter burial and paleo-atmospheric conditions. Positive shifts in d13C are characteristic of cooler climates, resulting from an increase in the burial of organic matter. A positive shift in the d18O also indicates a cooling period. Saltzman et al. (2000) present data resulting in a positive d13C excursion in the upper Kinderhook (middle Tournaisian). Mii et al. (1999) present evidence of positive d13C and d18O excursions in the upper Kinderhook. Both Saltzman et al. (2000) and Mii et al. (1999) suggest the Lower Carboniferous (middle Tournaisian) experienced a cooling period. Successions in Gondwana, primarily in basins in Bolivia and Brazil, have Lower Tournaisian successions that contain glacial tillites and diamictites. Based on the stable isotope evidence and lithologic characteristics, we suggest a glacio-eustatic model for the sea-level drop near the end of the Kinderhook. This regression can be observed in the Lower Mississippian strata of northeastern Kentucky and Indiana. The Henley Bed is believed to have recorded the initial glacio-eustatic drop, and is the basal unit of the Vanceburg Sequence. The other parasequence sets within the Vanceburg Sewquence in Kentucky and Indiana also record the initial regression and the subsequent transgression near the Tournaisian – Visean (Osagean) boundary.

North-Central Section (36th) and Southeastern Section (51st), GSA Joint Annual Meeting (April 3–5, 2002)
Session No. 42
Event Stratigraphy: Evidence for Volcanic, Eustatic, Biotic, Isotopic, and Seismic Events in the Paleozoic Sedimentary Record
Heritage Hall: Center
8:00 AM-12:00 PM, Friday, April 5, 2002
 

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