The subsidence of the Williston Basin

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. R. Fowler ◽  
E. G. Nisbet
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Continental Crust ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Williston Basin ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Sedimentary Record ◽  
Stratigraphic Record ◽  
Available Information

A detailed comparison between the pre-Cretaceous stratigraphic record in the Williston Basin and the available information about Phanerozoic sea-level changes indicates that most stratigraphic breaks in the basin reflect eustatic control. The basin appears to have been subsiding continuously and steadily about the same centre for most of the Phanerozoic above a thick (55 km) continental crust. Deposition kept up with subsidence, and most of the sedimentary record was laid down close to sea level. Erosional breaks in the stratigraphic record may represent periods of removal of strata during episodes of low sea level. A possible explanation of this essentially steady, nonexponential subsidence record is that a mafic subcrustal body is undergoing transformation to eclogite.

scholarly journals Early Sarmatian paleoenvironments in the easternmost Pannonian Basin (Borod Depression, Romania) revealed by the micropaleontological data

2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sorin Filipescu ◽  
Angela Miclea ◽  
Martin Gross ◽  
Mathias Harzhauser ◽  
Kamil Zágoršek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Pannonian Basin ◽  
Active Tectonics ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Sedimentary Record ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
Shallow Marine ◽  
Apuseni Mountains ◽  
Shallow Seas

Abstract The Sarmatian sedimentary record of the Borod Depression (eastern Pannonian Basin) consists of a marine sequence with continental influence. The investigated section, located near Vârciorog, was biostratigraphically and paleoenvironmentally analysed. The micro- and macrofossil assemblages include dasycladaceans, characeans, foraminifera, molluscs, polychaetes, ostracods, crabs, bryozoans, fish and vertebrate remains, which are characteristic for a shallow marine setting with local transitions to continental facies. The microfossil assemblages are characteristic for the Elphidium reginum Zone and Mohrensternia Zone of the early Sarmatian (Serravallian). The succession of populations correlates with the sedimentological trend, allowing the separation of several genetic units. The relative sea-level changes and the progradational trend from the top of the section suggest active tectonics in the hinterland (Apuseni Mountains). The shallow seas surrounding the emerging islands (Apuseni Mountains) provided the connections between the Pannonian and Transylvanian basins during the early Sarmatian

scholarly journals Sedimentary record of environmental changes and human interferences in a macrotidal bay for the last millenaries: the Marennes-Oléron Bay (SW France)

2010 ◽  
Vol 181 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Allard ◽  
Eric Chaumillon ◽  
Xavier Bertin ◽  
Clément Poirier ◽  
Florian Ganthy
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Land Reclamation ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Drainage Pattern ◽  
Sedimentary Record ◽  
Very High ◽  
Sediment Fill

Abstract This synthesis of the morphological and stratigraphical evolutions of the Marennes-Oléron Bay (west coast of France) combines bathymetric data (1824 and 2003) and very high-resolution seismic profiling groundtruthed by vibracore samples. The Marennes-Oléron Bay is characterised by a very high sedimentation rate and appears to be an ideal place to investigate the sedimentary record of the major environmental changes that occurred since the last several millennia. The sediment budget of the Marennes-Oléron Bay, between 1824 and 2003, is clearly positive. The flood-dominated northern Marennes-Oléron Bay displays sediment gain in both intertidal and subtidal areas whereas the ebb-dominated southern Marennes-Oléron Bay displays sediment gain restricted to the intertidal area and deepening of subtidal channels. In addition, human influences such as oyster farming may play a role in the sediment gain of the bay. The sediment-fill of the northern Marennes-Oléron Bay consists of five main phases: (1) lenticular units and flooded intertidal flats recording lower sea level periods before 7500 yr B.P.; (2) tidal channel-fills recording changes in tidal drainage pattern from 7500 to 5000 yr B.P.; (3) a subtidal unit which constitutes the main phase of sediment fill in the northern part of the bay from 5000 to 1500 yr B.P.; (4) a major channelized erosional surface related to huge coastline changes from 1500 to 1000 yr B.P.; and (5) a mud drape emplaced during the last millennia and potentially recording historical human impact (deforestation and land reclamation). The sediment fill of the southern Marennes-Oléron consists of sandbanks, mixed sand-and-mud flats and tidal channels, mainly emplaced under wave-and-tide processes since the last centuries. Despite its relatively thin (20 m at the maximum), recent and rapid sediment fill, the stratigraphic organization and morphological evolution of the Marennes-Oléron Bay is very complex and spatially variable. Like in many other estuaries, sediment fill of the Marennes-Oléron Bay was successively controlled by relative sea level changes, and then by sediment supply driven by hydrodynamic changes related to huge coastline migrations, and finally by human activities. Moreover, this kind of “rocky coast” estuary, where the sediment-fill is very thin and discontinuous, is characterised by a bedrock control at each phases of the sediment fill both in terms of preservation in topographic lows and in terms of control on hydrodynamics and related sediment input.

scholarly journals Stratigraphy of the Lower Pierre Shale (Campanian): Implications for the Tectonic and Eustatic Controls on Facies Distributions

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Bertog
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Black Hills ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Williston Basin ◽  
Elastic Model ◽  
Western Interior Seaway ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Pierre Shale ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
And Migration

The lower Pierre Shale represents a time of significant changes in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, resulting from complex interactions of tectonism and eustatic sea level changes. The recognition and redefinition of the units of the lower Pierre Shale has facilitated understanding of the dynamics of the basin. The Burning Brule Member of the Sharon Springs Formation is restricted to the northern part of the basin and represents tectonically influenced sequences. These sequences are a response to rapid subsidence of the axial basin and the Williston Basin corresponding to tectonic activity along the Absoroka Thrust in Wyoming. Unconformities associated with the Burning Brule Member record a migrating peripheral bulge in the Black Hills region corresponding to a single tectonic pulse on the Absoroka Thrust. Migration of deposition and unconformities supports an elastic model for the formation and migration of the peripheral bulge and its interaction with the Williston Basin.

Ordovician to Devonian sea-level changes in western and northern Canada

1982 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 1919-1932 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Lenz
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
Williston Basin ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Lower Paleozoic ◽  
Southern Nevada ◽  
Inadequate Knowledge ◽  
Shallow Subtidal ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequences ◽  
Level Lowering

Lower Paleozoic sediments of central, Cordilleran, and arctic Canada are dominated by two megafacies: supratidal to shallow subtidal carbonates and minor evaporites of the platformal (cratonic) areas, and deeper water dark shales and dark limestones of the slope and basinal areas. Large areas of the platform may be covered or exposed in response to relatively small changes in sea level, whereas sea-level changes in the slope and basinal areas are generally recognized only in changes in the sediments and organism content.Employing multiple lines of evidence from stratigraphic, sedimentologic, and paleontologic data, it is generally possible to recognize bathymetrie changes in local stratigraphic sequences, although present inadequate knowledge of fossil "communities" prevents incorporation of that form of paleobathymetric analysis.Composite sections of platformal areas of the central Mackenzie Valley and Williston Basin and of deformed areas of Cornwallis–Bathurst Islands, northern Yukon, central Mackenzie Mountains, and northeastern British Columbia, as well as central and southern Nevada were examined for indications of sea-level changes. Assuming reasonable correlations between sections of the seven areas, fairly good evidence exists for widespread sea-level changes. Sea-level rises (transgressions) are suggested for the Tremadoc and Arenig, early Caradoc and Ashgill, late early and later Llandovery and earliest Wenlock, latest Wenlock and Ludlow, to some extent the Zlichov and Daleje (Emsian), late Eifel and early Givet, and especially Frasne. Sea-level lowering (regression) is indicated possibly for about the middle Arenig, the Llandeilo, approximately the middle Llandovery, the middle Wenlock, the Pridoli, and the lower Lochkov, and approximately the middle Eifel. Anomalies, probably the result of local orogenic activities, are evident in lower Lochkov, Prag, and upper Givet strata of Nevada and the central Arctic Islands.

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