Early Pennsylvanian sediment routing to the Ouachita Basin (southeastern United States) and barriers to transcontinental sediment transport sourced from the Appalachian orogen based on detrital zircon U-Pb and Hf analysis

Carboniferous sediment dispersal from the Appalachian orogenic system (eastern United States) has become a topic of widespread interest. However, the actual pathways for continental-scale, east-to-west sediment transfer have not been documented. This study presents detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb ages and Hf isotopic values from the Lower Pennsylvanian (Morrowan) Jackfork Group and Johns Valley Shale of the synorogenic Ouachita deepwater basin of Arkansas to document provenance and delineate the likely sediment-routing systems within the broader context of sediment dispersal across Laurentia. Twelve (12) DZ U-Pb age distributions are interpreted to indicate that sediments were derived from the Appalachians to the east and northeast, as well as the midcontinent region to the north. All samples display prominent ca. 500– 400 Ma, 1250–950 Ma, 1550–1300 Ma, and 1800–1600 Ma grains, consistent with ultimate derivation from the Appalachian, Grenville, Midcontinent, and Yavapai-Mazatzal provinces. DZ Hf values obtained from the Ouachita Basin are similar to published Hf values from Pennsylvanian samples in the Appalachian and Illinois Basins. Age distributions are generally consistent for seven samples collected from the Jackfork Group and Johns Valley Shale in the southern Ouachita Mountains through ~2400 m of stratigraphic section and are interpreted to indicate little change in provenance during the Morrowan in this part of the system. However, samples from the most northern and most source-proximal site in Little Rock, Arkansas, exhibit modest percentages of Appalachian ages and elevated contributions of Yavapai-Mazatzal ages when compared with samples collected farther to the south and west. We interpret differences between DZ signatures to indicate distinct sediment-routing pathways to the Ouachita Basin. We infer the strong Appalachian and Grenville signals to represent an axial system flowing through the Appalachian foredeep, whereas the more diverse signals represent a confluence of rivers from the northeast through the backbulge of southern Illinois and western Kentucky and from the north across the Arkoma shelf. Collectively, the Ouachita Basin represents a terminal sink for sediments derived from much of the eastern and central United States.

Mississippian southern Laurentia tuffs came from a northern Gondwana arc

A Paleozoic arc that formed by southward subduction of the Rheic oceanic plate beneath northern Gondwana has long been inferred, but its history and geochemical signatures remain poorly understood. New U-Pb ages, juvenile εHf signatures, and trace-element composition data of young zircons from tuffs at two southern Laurentia sites indicate their derivation from a continental arc that was active from ca. 328 to ca. 317 Ma and permit correlation of sedimentary sequences 800 km apart in southern Laurentia. These include the Stanley tuffs in the Ouachita Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Arkansas and the newly discovered Barnett tuff in the subsurface of the Midland Basin in west Texas (USA). The Barnett tuff has a zircon chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry U-Pb date of 327.8 ± 0.8 Ma, similar to the oldest Stanley tuff in the Ouachita Mountains. Zircon Hf isotope depleted mantle model ages further suggest that the source was a continental arc on basement with both Grenville and Pan-African affinities, pointing to northern Gondwana or peri-Gondwana terranes. The new data link the tuffs to granitoids (326 Ma) of the Maya block in southern Mexico, which was part of northern Gondwana. Correlation of the Stanley-Barnett tuffs across southern Laurentia suggests the likely presence of Mississippian tuffs over a broad region in southern Laurentia, and their usefulness for constraining absolute ages of basin fills and characterizing the Gondwanan arc.

Northern Bobwhite Occupancy Patterns on Multiple Spatial Scales Across Arkansas

Northern bobwhite Colinus virginianus populations have been rapidly declining in the eastern, central, and southern United States for decades. Declines have been driven by land use change and an incompatibility between northern bobwhite resource needs and human land use practices. Here, we applied occupancy analyses on two spatial scales (state-level and ecoregion-level) to more than 5,000 northern bobwhite surveys conducted over six years across the entire state of Arkansas to explore patterns in occupancy and land use variables, and to identify priority areas for management and conservation. At the state level, northern bobwhite occupied 29% of sites and northern bobwhite were most likely to occur in areas with a high percentage of early successional habitat (grassland, pasture, and shrubland). The statewide model predicted that northern bobwhite were likely to occur (≥75% predicted occupancy) in <20% of the state. Arkansas is comprised of five distinct ecoregions, and analyses at the ecoregion spatial scale showed that habitat associations of northern bobwhite could vary between ecoregions. For example, northern bobwhite occupancy in both the Arkansas River Valley and Ozark Mountains ecoregions was best predicted by early successional habitat, but was further refined by other habitat associations such as the proportion of herbaceous habitat and hay-pasture habitat, respectively. Contrastingly, northern bobwhite occupancy in the Ouachita Mountains ecoregion was best predicted by richness of landcover classes alone. Ecoregion-level models were thus more discerning than the state level model and should be more helpful to managers in identifying priority conservation areas. However, in 2 of 5 ecoregions, northern bobwhite were too rarely encountered to accurately predict their occurrence. We found that likely occupied northern bobwhite habitat lay primarily on private properties (95%), but that numerous public entities own and manage land identified as suitable or likely occupied. We conclude that management of northern bobwhite in Arkansas could benefit from cooperation among state, federal, and military partners, as well as surrounding private landowners and that ecoregion-specific models may be more useful in identifying priority areas for management. Our approach incorporates multiple landscape scales when using remote sensing technology in conjunction with monitoring data and could have important application for the management of northern bobwhite and other grassland bird species.

Tectonic–sedimentary interplay of a confined deepwater system in a foreland basin setting: the Pennsylvanian lower Atoka Formation, Ouachita Mountains, U.S.A.

ABSTRACT Submarine fans deposited in structurally complex settings record important information on basin evolution and tectonic–sedimentary relationships but are often poorly preserved in outcrops due to syndepositional and post depositional deformation. This study aims to understand the influence of tectonics on the deposition of the synorogenic Pennsylvanian lower Atoka submarine fan system deposited in a structurally complex foreland basin during the Ouachita orogeny. This study is a synthesis of new outcrop stratigraphic data as well as published stratigraphic and structural data. The lower Atoka crops out in the Ouachita Mountains and the southern Arkoma Basin and is divided into three structural–depositional zones: the foredeep, the wedge top, and the continental foreland. The mean paleoflow is axial, and each zone exhibits unique patterns in facies distribution. The foredeep consists of two fan systems, a large westward-prograding fan that exhibits significant longitudinal and lateral facies changes, and a small eastward-prograding fan on the western part. The wedge top consists of a westward-prograding fan that exhibits subtle longitudinal facies change. The continental foreland consists of small slope fan systems along the northern and western margins. By comparing to basin morphology and structural styles, we interpret the facies distribution patterns in the three zones as the result of different combinations of lateral structural confinement, axial and lateral sediment supply, and paleogeography. This study provides an improved and comprehensive understanding of the lower Atoka deepwater system and has implications for deciphering the tectonic–sedimentary relationships in laterally confined submarine fan systems.

Conservation genetics of the threatened plant species Physaria filiformis (Missouri bladderpod) reveals strong genetic structure and a possible cryptic species

Understanding genetic diversity and structure in a rare species is critical for prioritizing both in situ and ex situ conservation efforts. One such rare species is Physaria filiformis (Brassicaceae), a threatened, winter annual plant species. The species has a naturally fragmented distribution, occupying three different soil types spread across four disjunct geographical locations in Missouri and Arkansas. The goals of this study were to understand: (1) whether factors associated with fragmentation and small population size (i.e., inbreeding, genetic drift or genetic bottlenecks) have reduced levels of genetic diversity, (2) how genetic variation is structured and which factors have influenced genetic structure, and (3) how much extant genetic variation of P. filiformis is currently publicly protected and the implications for the development of conservation strategies to protect its genetic diversity. Using 16 microsatellite markers, we genotyped individuals from 20 populations of P. filiformis from across its geographical range and one population of Physaria gracilis for comparison and analyzed genetic diversity and structure. Populations of P. filiformis showed comparable levels of genetic diversity to its congener, except a single population in northwest Arkansas showed evidence of a genetic bottleneck and two populations in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas showed lower genetic variation, consistent with genetic drift. Populations showed isolation by distance, indicating that migration is geographically limited, and analyses of genetic structure grouped individuals into seven geographically structured genetic clusters, with geographic location/spatial separation showing a strong influence on genetic structure. At least one population is protected for all genetic clusters except one in north-central Arkansas, which should therefore be prioritized for protection. Populations in the Ouachita Mountains were genetically divergent from the rest of P. filiformis; future morphological analyses are needed to identify whether it merits recognition as a new, extremely rare species.

Statistical Characterization of a Confined Submarine Fan System: the Pennsylvanian Lower Atoka Formation, Ouachita Mountains, USA

Our knowledge of submarine fan deposits has historically relied heavily on qualitative field and subsurface observations and interpretations, but recent studies using statistical analyses have enhanced the understanding of submarine fan sub-environments, including the degree of confinement, stratigraphic patterns, and potential control factors. The purpose of this study is to improve the quantitative understanding of synorogenic submarine fan deposition at foreland basin settings with a statistical approach. A suite of statistical methods is integrated and developed (Hurst Statistics/ rescaled range analysis, bed thickness frequency distribution analysis, Markov Chains, and time-series analysis), and applied to the well understood Pennsylvanian lower Atoka submarine fan system in the Ouachita Mountains, United States for this purpose. The results of the Hurst Statistics and bed thickness analyses corroborate qualitative interpretations that (1) the lower Atoka is lobe-dominated, and (2) the southeastern (wedge-top) portion of the system is more strongly confined than the northern (foredeep) portion. The Markov Chains and time-series analyses reveal the prevalence (56%) of stratigraphic orderliness and cyclicity; these results are used to discuss potential intrinsic and extrinsic controls on the turbidite sandstone recurrence cycles, which are otherwise difficult to distinguish qualitatively. The results of this study demonstrate that these integrated statistical methods can be utilized to quantify uncertainty in depositional interpretations of outcrops with limited exposures or 1D subsurface (e.g., well-log, core) datasets.