MODELS OF THE IMPACT OF CARBONIFEROUS CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE STRATIGRAPHIC ARCHITECTURE OF TERRESTRIAL AND MARGINAL MARINE DEPOSITIONAL SYSTEMS IN THE CENTRAL APPALACHIAN FORELAND BASIN

During the late Paleozoic the central Appalachian region drifted northward from approximately 15°-20°S to 0°-5°S, moving from areas subjected to Sub-Tropical Arid/Sub-Arid to Tropical Humid climate conditions. At the same time there were cyclic, high-frequency insolation variations in response to variations to Earth’s orbital paramters. Insolation changes triggered expansions and contractions of ice sheet volume, causing high-frequency, large-magnitude accommodation cycles. Insolation changes also caused variations in the positions and width of Earth’s climate belts, which triggered regional climate cycles. Sediment Supply/Discharge ratios fluctuate with these climate cycles, causing the character of fluvial channel/bar systems, overbank deposits and paleosols to alternate with changes in climate belt position and width. Synthetic stratigraphic sections, representing these alternating depositional conditions are presented and compared with data from outcrops in the central Appalachian Basin to test hypotheses on the impact of climate cycles on evolution of foreland basin stratigraphic architecture.