Carboniferous Geology and Biostratigraphy of the Appalachian Basin Edited by Stephen F. Greb and Donald R. Chesnut Jr. Kentucky Geological Survey James C. Cobb, State Geologist and Director University of Kentucky, Lexington Carboniferous of the Appalachian and Black Warrior Basins Edited by Stephen F. Greb and Donald R. Chesnut Jr. Special Publication 10 Series XII, 2009 Our Mission Our mission is to increase knowledge and understanding of the mineral, energy, and water resources, geologic hazards, and geology of Kentucky for the benefit of the Commonwealth and Nation. Earth Resources—Our Common Wealth www.uky.edu/kgs Technical Level General Intermediate Technical © 2009 University of Kentucky For further information contact: Technology Transfer Officer Kentucky Geological Survey 228 Mining and Mineral Resources Building University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506-0107 ISSN 0075-5613 Contents Foreward ...................................................................................................................................................................1 1: Introduction Donald R. Chesnut Jr. and Stephen F. Greb ............................................................................................3 2: Carboniferous of the Black Warrior Basin Jack C. Pashin and Robert A. Gastaldo ..................................................................................................10 3: The Mississippian of the Appalachian Basin Frank R. Ettensohn ....................................................................................................................................22 4: The Pennsylvanian of the Appalachian Basin Stephen F. Greb, Donald R. Chesnut Jr., Cortland F. Eble, and Bascombe M. Blake ......................32 5: Appalachian Basin Fossil Floras Cortland F. Eble, Bascombe M. Blake, William H. Gillespie, and Hermann W. Pfefferkorn .........................................................................................................................46 6: Mississippian Conodonts of the Appalachian Basin John E. Repetski and Robert Stamm ......................................................................................................59 7: Mississippian Ammonoids of Alabama James A. Drahovzal ..................................................................................................................................62 8: The Mississippian Ammonoid Succession in the Central Appalachian Basin, Eastern Kentucky David M. Work and Charles E. Mason ..................................................................................................65 9: The Pennsylvanian Ammonoid Succession in the Appalachian Basin David M. Work, Charles E. Mason, and Royal H. Mapes ...................................................................71 10: Biostratigraphic Distribution of Appalachian Carboniferous Trilobites David K. Brezinski ....................................................................................................................................78 11: Carboniferous Echinoderm Succession in the Appalachian Basin Frank R. Ettensohn, William I. Ausich, Thomas W. Kammer, Walter K. Johnson, and Donald R. Chesnut Jr. .......................................................................................................................85 12: Carboniferous Coral Succession in the Appalachian Basin Frank R. Ettensohn and Walter K. Johnson ...........................................................................................94 13: Ostracodes as a Tool for Understanding Environmental Distribution in the Carboniferous Strata of the Eastern United States Christopher Dewey ...................................................................................................................................98 1 Foreward Between 1983 and 1996, the Subcommission on Carboniferous Stratigraphy (a division of the International Commission on Stratigraphy, under the auspices of the International Union of Geological Sciences) sponsored publication of three volumes entitled “The Carboniferous of the World.” These volumes were a summary of the biostratigraphy of the Carboniferous on all of the continents except for North America and central to western Europe. In 1997, the call went out to North American and European geologists to begin compilation of Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian) stratigraphy and paleontology of those regions to produce the last two planned volumes of “Carboniferous of the World.” These regions include many of the world’s major coal basins. Don Chesnut of the Kentucky Geological Survey was asked to solicit authors for a series of papers concerning the Carboniferous of the Appalachian Basin to contribute to the North American volume. Don arranged for regional experts to submit papers that summarized the current under- standing of the lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the basin. In all, 12 papers were submit- ted, peer reviewed, edited, and compiled into a chapter on the basin. Unfortunately, the larger compilation that included other parts of North America suffered delays. In the following years, Don retired from the Kentucky Geological Survey, and the North American volume remained un- published. Rather than allowing the papers that had been submitted for the Appalachian Basin to languish unpublished, or publishing the papers in separate journals or other venues, the authors of the papers for the greater Appalachian Basin chose to publish their papers together through the Kentucky Geological Survey. The volume’s authors updated their manuscripts and they are presented here in their entirety. Similarly, a summary of the Midcontinent and Illinois Basin in the central United States is planned to be published by the Kansas Geological Survey. We hope volumes on additional basins will be published in the near future. Sincerely, Stephen Greb 2 Contact Information for Senior Authors of Manuscripts in this Volume Brezinski, David K., Maryland Geological Survey, 2300 St. Paul St., Baltimore, MD 21218, [email protected]. md.us Chesnut, Donald R., Jr., (retired) Kentucky Geological Survey, 228 MMRB, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0107, [email protected] Dewey, Christopher P., Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University, MS 39762-5448, [email protected] Drahovzal, James A., (retired) Kentucky Geological Survey, 228 MMRB, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0107, [email protected] Eble, Cortland F., Kentucky Geological Survey, 228 MMRB, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0107, [email protected] Ettensohn, Frank R., Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0053, [email protected] Greb, Stephen F., Kentucky Geological Survey, 228 MMRB, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0107, [email protected] Pashin, Jack C., Alabama Geological Survey, 420 Hackberry Lane, Tuscaloosa, AL 35486-6999, [email protected]. al.us Repetski, John R., U.S. Geological Survey, MS 926A National Center, Reston, VA 20192, [email protected] Work, David M., Maine State Museum, 83 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0083, [email protected] 3 1: Introduction Donald R. Chesnut Jr. and Stephen F. Greb In the United States, the Carboniferous is divided Regional Stratigraphy and into the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Systems. In Correlations much of the rest of the world, the terms Lower and Upper The combined Appalachian/Black Warrior Basin, Carboniferous were used rather than Mississippian and as preserved today, is 1,300 km at its longest and 320 km Pennsylvanian. In 1999, however, the International at its widest dimension. Moreover, Mississippian (Lower Commission on Stratigraphy and the International Carboniferous) strata overlie parts of the Cincinnati Union of Geological Sciences formalized the terms Arch along the western margin of the basin, to form a Mississippian and Pennsylvanian as subsystems of the continuous outcrop with the Carboniferous strata of Carboniferous across the world. In 2003, series bound- the Illinois Basin (Fig. 1.1). This extensive, unbroken aries for Lower, Middle, and Upper Mississippian and exposure between the Appalachian, Black Warrior, and Pennsylvanian were ratified. These boundaries coincide Illinois Basins is one of the largest continuous outcrops with western and eastern European named stages, which of Carboniferous strata in the world. Figures 1.2 through were formalized in 2004 as global stage names (Heckel 1.5 are cross sections of Carboniferous strata across the and Clayton, 2006). To facilitate correlations of the rock greater Appalachian Basin. The datum for all five cross strata of the Appalachian Basin to strata in other basins sections is the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian contact. and the new global stages, the existing lithostratigraphy Important sources of information on the general stratig- (rock layering) of the basin and biostratigraphy (fossils raphy of the basins are McKee and Crosby (1975), Arkle and fossil successions) is summarized herein. and others (1979), Bicker (1979), Collins (1979), Craig The Appalachian Basin and contiguous Black and Connor (1979), Edmunds and others (1979), Milici Warrior Basin are Carboniferous basins located in the and others (1979), Rice and others (1979), Smith (1979), eastern United States (Fig. 1.1). Because coal studies of Thomas (1979), and Thomas and Cramer (1979). the Black Warrior Basin have informally grouped re- sources into the Appalachian Basin, for the purposes General Geology of this volume the Black Warrior Basin is considered The Appalachian and Black Warrior Basins are part of the greater Appalachian Basin. In the greater foreland basins associated with the Appalachian and Appalachian Basin, lithostratigraphy is generally used Ouachita orogens, respectively. The tectonic causes, to correlate rock units across and between states. For evolution, and chronology of basin formation are a mat- Mississippian strata (dominated by marine carbonates), ter of debate, but most agree with the following. The various marine fossil and fossil successions (known clastic wedges of the lower part of the Mississippian re- stratigraphic ranges of fossil occurrences) are used to test flect the waning stages of the Acadian Orogeny (mostly correlations between states and to correlate Appalachian Devonian). Extensive carbonates of the middle part of Mississippian strata to other basins. For Pennsylvanian the Mississippian reflect tectonically passive conditions. strata (dominated by terrestrial clastic rocks and coals), The siliciclastics of the later Mississippian and the entire terrestrial fossils (plant spores and megafossils) are the Pennsylvanian represent increasingly active tectonism principal tool for biostratigraphic correlation between along the Alleghanian orogen (mostly Pennsylvanian states and into other basins. Internationally, correla- and Permian). Basin formation during this period is tion of the Mississippian Series (Upper, Middle, Lower) largely attributed to tectonic loading and related mecha- is based on marine conodonts and foraminifera. The nisms. Models for tectonic evolution of these basins, al- Pennsylvanian Series (Upper, Middle, Lower) is corre- beit sometimes contradictory, are discussed in Thomas lated based on marine conodonts, fusulinids, and am- (1977, 1988), Tankard (1986), Hatcher and others (1988), monoids (Gradstein and others, 2004). In the Upper Milici and deWitt (1988), Osberg and others (1988), Mississippian and much of the Pennsylvanian of the Ettensohn and Chesnut (1989), and Chesnut (1991). Appalachian Basin, however, conodonts, fusulinids, and ammonoids are rare. Hence, biostratigraphic cor- This Volume relations of series, stages, and rock unit groups, forma- The following papers provide a more detailed de- tions, members, and beds from the Appalachian Basin scription of Carboniferous basin development, strati- into other U.S. basins or European and global basins are graphic framework, and biostratigraphy of the greater based mostly on paleoflora (spores and megafossils), Appalachian Basin. The first three papers are overviews supported by more limited marine fauna. 4 Donald R. Chesnut Jr. and Stephen F. Greb Lake Superior MAINE CANADA MICHIGAN NT O M R Lake VE Huron NEW HAMPSHIRE WISCONSIN Michigan Lake Ontario NEW YORK MASSACHUSETTS Lake MICHIGAN A RHODE ISLAND CONNECTICUT Lake Erie D D IOWA PENNSYLVANIA NEW JERSEY INDIANA OHIO DELAWARE ILLINOIS VIWRGESINTIA MARYLAND C VIRGINIA MISSOURI KENTUCKY C NORTH CAROLINA TENNESSEE B ARKANSAS SOUTH CAROLINA A B GEORGIA EXPLANATION MISSISSIPPI ALABAMA Noncarboniferous rocks Mississippian strata Pennsylvanian strata Line of section LOUISIANA FLORIDA 0 100 200 300 400 500 Miles 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Kilometers Figure 1.1. Carboniferous strata of the Appalachian, Black Warrior, and part of the Illinois Basins to the west. Locations of cross sections in the Appalachian (sections A–A′, C–C′, and D–D′) and Black Warrior (sections B–B′ and southern part of A–A′ ) Basins are indicated on the map. of the stratigraphy and general geologic history of Basin between states comprising the greater basin, and Carboniferous stratigraphy and sedimentation in the other basins worldwide. greater Appalachian Basin. The eight papers that follow describe key fossils and fossil successions that are used References Cited to correlate the stratigraphy of the greater Appalachian Arkle, T., Beissel, D.R., Larese, R.E., Nuhfer, E.B., Patch- en, D.G., Smosna, R.A., Gillespie, W.H., Lund, R., 1: Introduction 5 A Pennsylvania achian Basin Connoquenessing Ss. Casselman Fm.,Conemaugh Gp. Glenshaw Fm.,Conemaugh Gp.Allegheny Fm. Pottsville Gp.Penn. .ssiM.veDHuntley Mtn. Fm. Rockwell Fm. Loyalhanna Fm. Wymps Gap Ls. MbrMauch Chunk Fm. ppian-Pennsylvanian contact. Appal m. sissi West Virginia Northern Kanawha Fm. Monongahela F Burgoon Ss.Murraysville Ss. e/n Ls.Sewanee/Warren Pt.Middlesboro Ss. ation. Datum is the Mis AlabamaTennesseeKentuckyssissippi Southern AppalachianCentral Appalachian BasinBlack Warrior BasinBasin 100 kmPrincess Fm.,Breathitt Gp.Four Corners Fm. Hyden Fm. UpperPikeville Fm.PottsvilleFGrundy Fm.,m.Breathitt Gp. Bangor Ls.Bee Rock Ss.LoSewanee &werPoWarren PointttsvilleSs.Fm. HartselleSs.BordenSladSt. LouisMauryMonteagleFm.NewmaLs.Sh.Floyd Sh.Ls.Warsaw Ls.Fort PayneParagon Fm.Bangor/PoppinOhioFort PaynePride Mtn.Fm.TuscumbiaPennington Gp.Rock Ls.Sh.Fm.Fm.Fm.Berea-Chattanooga Sh.BedfordSunbury Sh. oss section A–A′ of the Appalachian and Black Warrior Basins. See Figure 1.1 for orient A Mi Cr 1,000 m 500 m Parkwood Fm. Coats &Gilmer ss. Penn.Miss.Cooper Ss.Millerella Ls.Carters,Sanders,Abernathy,& Rea Ss.-500 mFloyd blk. sh. Lewis Ss. Figure 1.2.