Submitted by William Justo Figueiro (williamjf) on 2015-07-15T20:29:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 14c.pdf: 18447268 bytes, checksum: cb27bcfcdf1b467b658d2ece3ae7777b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-15T20:29:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 14c.pdf: 18447268 bytes, checksum: cb27bcfcdf1b467b658d2ece3ae7777b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-11-12 / Nenhuma / O presente estudo apresenta a taxonomia, bioestratigrafia e paleoecologia dos foraminíferos planctônicos e bentônicos recuperados no intervalo Aptiano superiorAlbiano da sucessão dominantemente carbonática do Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 364, localizado na bacia de Kwanza (costa afora de Angola). Foram identificadas 30 espécies de foraminíferos planctônicos e 42 espécies de foraminíferos bentônicos. Com base nas assembleias de foraminíferos planctônicos, a seção sedimentar estudada foi subdividida em diversas biozonas, abrangendo as idades Aptiano tardio ao Albiano, da Zona Hedbergella trocoidea a Zona Pseudothalmanninella ticinensis. Uma conspícua discordância foi identificada no core 31, compreendendo do topo do Albiano inferior à base do Albiano superior. A composição específica das assembleias de foraminíferos planctônicos as caracteriza como assembleias marinhas de águas rasas e permite a inferência do domínio de condições mesotróficas a eutróficas ao longo do intervalo estudado. As associações aptianas de foraminíferos planctônicos apresentam afinidade paleobiogeográfica tetiana, suportando um influxo de água superficial tetiana no setor restrito (ao norte da Cadeia de Walvis-Elevação do Rio Grande) do Oceano Atlântico Sul setentrional já no Aptiano tardio. Tendências nos valores isotópicos de 13C, que devem ser cuidadosamente interpretadas devido a uma possível alteração diagenética, sugerem uma idade aptiana tardia (Zona Globigerinelloides algerianus) para o intervalo estratigráfico do core 42 ao core 37, no qual fósseis-guia tetianos estão ausentes, além de sugerir que os folhelhos negros da base do testemunho estudado (cores 42-39) podem ser correlatos ao evento anóxico do Aptiano tardio. Entre os foraminíferos planctônicos ocorre uma profunda mudança faunística na passagem Aptiano-Albiano, caracterizada por altas taxas de extinção seguidas por elevadas taxas de surgimento de espécies, além de uma significativa mudança no padrão arquitetural das testas. Foram identificadas três associações de foraminíferos bentônicos, que parecem ser principalmente controladas por variações paleobatimétricas. A fauna de foraminíferos bentônicos pode ser classificada como uma Associação do tipo Marssonella, provavelmente relacionada a paleoprofundidades neríticas a batiais superiores, e também exibindo uma marcada afinidade paleobiogeográfica tetiana. / This work presents a taxonomic, biostratigraphic and paleoecologic study on the planktic and benthic foraminiferal faunas recovered from the late Aptian-late Albian carbonatedominated succession of Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 364, located in the Kwanza Basin (offshore Angola). Thirty planktic and 42 benthic foraminiferal species were identified herein. Based on planktic foraminiferal assemblages, the studied section was subdivided in a series of biozones, late Aptian to late Albian in age, from the Hedbergella trocoidea Zone to the Pseudothalmanninella ticinensis Zone. A remarkable unconformity was identified in core 31, spanning the latest early to earliest late Albian. The specific composition of the recovered planktic foraminiferal assemblages characterizes them as open marine epipelagic dwellers, and permits the suggestion of predominant mesotrophic to eutrophic environmental conditions throughout the studied stratigraphic succession. Aptian planktic foraminiferal assemblages present a significant Tethyan paleobiogeographic affinity, supporting a Tethyan surface-water influx into this restricted southeastern sector of the northern South Atlantic Ocean (north to the Walvis Ridge-Rio Grande Rise) back in the late Aptian. 13C trends, which have to be carefully interpreted due to possible diagenetic overprint, suggest a late Aptian age (Globigerinelloides algerianus Zone) for the stratigraphic interval from core 42 to about core 37, where Tethyan age-diagnostic foraminiferal species are missing, as well as that the black shale levels in cores 42-39 could be correlated to the “late Aptian anoxic event”. Among planktic foraminifera, a conspicuous faunal turnover occurs at the Aptian/Albian transition, characterized by high rates of extinctions followed by increasing rates of species originations and changes in tests’ architecture. Three benthic foraminiferal associations were identified, which seem to be mainly controlled by changes in paleobathymetry. Also, the studied benthic foraminiferal fauna could be classified as a Marssonella Association, probably related to neritic and upper bathyal paleodepths, also exhibiting a Tethyan paleobiogeographic affinity.

Le biome marin du Toarcien inférieur a subi une des crises les plus significatives de l'histoire de la Terre, qui a affecté les mers épicontinentales du globe. Ces bassins épicontinentaux sont également caractérisés par l'accumulation de grandes quantités de matière organique dans les sédiments de l'époque, ce qui a été interprété comme le résultat d'un Evénement Anoxique au Toarcien inférieur (T-OAE, ~183 Ma). Le nannoplancton calcaire, qui fait partie des organismes le plus sensibles aux conditions environnementales des eaux océaniques de surface, a été profondément affecté par cette crise et sa récupération se mit en place seulement à la fin du Toarcien inférieur. Si le T-OAE a été étudié en grand détail ces dernières années, la période de récupération est beaucoup moins bien connue. A ce stade, nous ne savons pas, notamment, si la récupération de la production carbonatée primaire est représentée par un épisode rapide ou par une suite d'événements (qui feraient partie d'un plus long processus) intervenus sur quelques millions d'années après le T-OAE. Pendant les perturbations environnementales qui ont eu lieu au Toarcien inférieur, des fluctuations importantes du niveau marin ont été interprétées ainsi que des variations de la température des eaux océaniques. Après le T-OAE, le niveau marin et les températures montrent des changements plus graduels pendant une grande partie du Toarcien supérieur-Aalénien inférieur et les niches écologiques occupées par le nannoplancton calcaire sont ré-établies. Ces conditions de relative stabilité sur le long terme (~10 Ma) sont idéales pour étudier les dynamiques de la communauté des nannofossiles calcaires et, notamment, comment les différents taxons réorganisent leurs relations synécologiques. Le Toarcien-Aalénien est une période clé dans l'évolution du nannoplancton calcaire, avec des nouveaux genres qui apparaissent. Les nannofossiles de cet intervalle restent relativement peu étudié dans le Bassin Lusitanien, malgré l'importance de cette région d'un point de vue paléocéanographique. En effet ce bassin, qui était à l'origine un rift avorté lié à l'ouverture de l'Atlantique, a permis les connections entre des masses d'eaux de provenance NW européenne et sud-téthysienne. C'est dans cette région que nous retrouvons donc des mélanges de taxons liés à des différentes provinces géographiques / At ~183 Ma when large amounts of organic matter was dumped onto the ocean beds (known as the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, T-OAE), the Early Toarcian marine biota experienced one of the most important biological crises in Earth history. Calcareous nannoplankton was deeply affected and started only to recover from the end of the Early Toarcian. After the T-OAE, as phytoplankton communities dwelling the oceans photic layer recover from the previous disturbing conditions, the ecological niches once occupied by calcareous nannoplankton are again replenished. Located in the westernmost part of the Tethyan ocean, the Lusitanian Basin acted as a seaway between the NW Tethys and the Mediterranean Tethys provinces, therefore been actively influenced by these two different water masses. Hence such a region stands as the perfect spot to study the calcareous nannoplankton community, as its fossil remains bears species typical of both provinces. In order to appraise the nannoplankton demise and subsequent recovery, absolute and relative abundances of nannofossils were determined from pelagic marl-limestone couplets from three sections of the Lusitanian Basin. Also brachiopods shells were investigated for stable carbon and oxygen isotopes analysis. In order to independently assess the morphologic evolution of Lotharingius coccoliths, a Toarcian section from south France was studied. Different statistic methodologies were used throughout this work, in order to screen for robust and significant information from the numerous datasets that were built / Há cerca de 183 milhões de anos atrás, a biota marinha sofreu uma das mais importantes crises biológicas na história do planeta, quando grandes quantidades de matéria orgânica foram depositadas nos fundos oceânicos. Este episódio que teve lugar durante o Toarciano, resultou de um Evento Anóxico Oceânico (T-OAE), e afectou os mares epicontinentais à escala global. O nanoplâncton calcário, um grupo de organismos extremamente sensível às variações nas condições ambientais que têm lugar na camada superficial das massas de água, foi profundamente afectado. Foi somente no final do Toarciano Inferior que a sua recuperação se iniciou. Apesar de já muito se ter escrito sobre o T-OAE, a previsível recuperação deste grupo nunca foi sistemática nem detalhadamente estudada. Até hoje, não se sabia ainda se esta recuperação teria sido relativamente rápida, ou resultado de um processo lento e gradual que teria durado milhões de anos. Durante o Toarciano Inferior, quando as condições ambientais eram extremamente instáveis, ocorreram importantes e drásticas oscilações na temperatura e no nível médio dos oceanos. Após o T-OAE e durante todo o Toarciano e Aaleniano Inferior, as oscilações do nível médio dos oceanos e de temperatura são bastante mais suaves. À medida que a comunidade fitoplanctónica instalada na zona fótica recupera das condições extremas anteriores, os nichos ecológicos antes ocupados por nanoplâncton calcário, começam novamente a ser preenchidos. Apesar das prolongadas e suaves variações abióticas, é num ambiente então mais estável, que melhor se pode observar a evolução deste grupo, e de que forma as suas relações sinecológicas se alteraram ao longo de aproximadamente 10 milhões de anos. Apesar de ser considerado como um período onde a comunidade nanoplanctónica sofreu importantes alterações, nada se sabe em concreto que alterações foram essas que tiveram lugar após o TOAE num local tão estratégico como a Bacia Lusitânica. Situada na extremidade Oeste do Tétis e fazendo parte de um rift originado pela abertura do Atlântico, a Bacia Lusitânica actuou como um corredor que ligava livremente as massas de água das províncias mediterrânica e NW do Tétis, sendo por estas, activamente influenciada. Por essa razão, tal situação geográfica constitui um local excepcional para se estudar a comunidade de nanoplâncton calcário, uma vez que o seu registo fóssil compreende espécies típicas destas duas províncias do Tétis

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-09-21T15:45:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigo do Monte Guerra_.pdf: 12842392 bytes, checksum: b6db9de51a65dd59c144edac22f16cab (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-21T15:45:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigo do Monte Guerra_.pdf: 12842392 bytes, checksum: b6db9de51a65dd59c144edac22f16cab (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-19 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Milton Valente / O final do período Cretáceo é caracterizado por uma gradual transição climática de escala global, fator que modificou a composição das assembleias de nanofósseis calcários e por conta disso vem causando problemas nas interpretações bioestratigráficas entre diferentes faixas latitudinais. Apesar de possuir alguns estudos realizados principalmente entre as décadas de 1980 e 1990, existe uma carência na avaliação do Atlântico Sul como um todo. Desta forma, este estudo objetiva descrever as assembleias de nanofósseis calcários comuns em cada faixa latitudinal e testar o sincronismo dos principais bioeventos. Foram analisadas 649 amostras provenientes de doze seções testemunhadas pelos projetos Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) e Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) nas proximidades da margem brasileira e africana, além de um afloramento na Península Antártica. O estudo taxonômico possibilitou a identificação de 197 espécies de nanofósseis calcários do Campaniano e Maastrichtiano. Através do uso conjunto da bioestratigrafia e magnetoestratigrafia, foram reconhecidos diacronismos em eventos de primeira e última ocorrência de espécies do Campaniano superior e Maastrichtiano superior. Este diacronismo está relacionado a migrações de espécies entre baixas e médias latitudes, decorrentes de mudanças na circulação oceânica e temperatura das águas superficiais. Com base na variação latitudinal das assembleias de nanofósseis calcários, um detalhado estudo bioestratigráfico possibilitou a divisão de três zoneamentos para o Atlântico Sul (baixas, médias e altas latitudes). Além disso, foram definidos os padrões de distribuição de diversas espécies, mostrando uma clara divisão paleobiogeográfica entre espécies que ocorrem somente em latitudes altas e outras limitadas a latitudes médias a baixas. Este padrão possivelmente foi controlado por variações na temperatura das massas de água superficiais. Outras espécies possuem sua distribuição variada em todas as faixas latitudinais, tendo sua distribuição relacionada provavelmente à disponibilidade de nutrientes. / The Late Cretaceous period is characterized by global climatic transition that influenced calcareous nannofossil assemblages posing a challenge for biostratigraphic interpretation between different latitudinal degrees. There are a few studies on South Atlantic calcareous nannofossils from 1980 and 1990 decades, but none of them evaluate the South Atlantic as a whole. Therefore, this study aims to describe the calcareous nannofossils assemblages in each latitudinal zone and test the bioevents synchroneity. It were selected 649 samples from twelve cored sections coming from DSDP (Deep Sea Drilling Project) e ODP (Ocean Drilling Program) close to the Brazilian and African margins, in addition to an outcrop in the Antarctic Peninsula. The taxonomic study allowed the identification of 197 calcareous nannofossils species from the Campanian and Maastrichtian. Using the correlation between the biostratigraphical data and magnetostratigraphy, it was possible to identify diachronism in some bioevents of first and last occurrences during the late Campanian and late Maastrichtian. This diachronism is related to species migration between low and mid-latitudes, due to changes in the ocean circulation and surface water temperature. Based on the latitudinal variation in the calcareous nannofossils assemblages, a detailed biostratigraphic study enabled the South Atlantic division in three zonations (low, medium and high-latitudes). We also defined the distribution pattern of some species, indicating a clear paleobiogeographical division between high latitude species and some species limited to low and mid-latitudes. This pattern was possibly controlled by surface water temperature variation. Other species have a wide distribution across the latitudes probably related to nutrient availability.

Lower Silurian conodont biostratigraphy is poorly known and not well correlated with the parallel graptolite biozonation. The Cape Phillips Formation contains a continuous record of sedimentation, and exceptionally well preserved faunas in the unstable shelf region of the Franklinian miogeoclinal succession in the Canadian Arctic Islands and north-west Greenland and affords a rare opportunity to integrate the conodont and graptolite biozonation. Detailed biostratigraphic sampling was completed from the base of the Cape Phillips Formation (Upper Ordovician), over the Ordovician-Silurian boundary, and through the entire Lower Silurian (Llandovery and Wenlock) succession on Cornwallis Island in the Canadian Arctic Islands. A total of 180 4.5 kg, samples were collected, yielding 7,575 conodont elements, from which 59 species representing 29 genera were recognised. One new genus and species are established arom the lower Wenlock. Eleven conodont zones were recognized, 1 of which is new, and 3 of which are modified. Due to the multidisciplinary approach of the fieldwork, the conodont zones are integrated with the detailed graptolite biozonation over the entire interval.

Heteromorph ammonites and dinoflagellate cysts from the Upper Cretaceous Northumberland Formation on Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada are examined. The collection and preparation of new material has enabled the recognition of eleven species of which only three have been reported from the locality. Of these taxa represented from three heteromorph ammonite families in the study area, five are new occurrences and three are new to science. This expansion of the Hornby Island ammonite fauna is presented alongside a pioneering taxonomic survey of dinoflagellate cysts from the same rocks. Together, these macro- and microfossils reinforce a late Campanian age for the Northumberland Formation with the upper extent of the section approaching the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary (CMB) interval. The palaeoecology and evolutionary relationships of these heteromorph ammonoids are considered with new insights into their ontogenetic development and neritic palaeoenvironmental circumstances. The dinoflagellate cysts and associated terrestrial palynomorphs have also allowed for enhanced palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and depositional setting inference. The scope of the studied material, and the presence of key index taxa, enables refined biostratigraphy and a stronger basis for correlation of the Hornby Island succession with neighboring coeval biotic provinces. / Graduate / 2018-08-10

Les systèmes carbonatés, anciens et actuels, se retrouvent au coeur d’enjeux économiques et sociétaux majeurs, notamment dans le domaine énergétique où ils représentent une part considérable des réserves prouvées de gaz et de pétrole. La présente thèse se focalise sur la plate-forme urgonienne Provençale (Barrémien supérieur–Aptien inférieur), analogue d’affleurement prouvé de réservoirs carbonatés du Moyen-Orient. Près d’une trentaine de coupes stratigraphiques, incluant notamment deux forages réalisés dans le cadre de ce travail, ont été considérées sur l’ensemble du domaine Provençal. La reconnaissance de surfaces d’émersion et d’ennoiement contraintes biostratigraphiquement permet d’appréhender régionalement l’évolution paléogéographique et l’architecture stratigraphique. Plusieurs phases de progradation en direction des bassins adjacents, entrecoupées d’épisodes de perturbation de la production carbonatée, sont identifiées en Provence. Un scénario stratigraphique comparable est proposé pour les plates-formes urgoniennes du Pourtour Vocontien. En Provence, la compartimentation réservoir de la plate-forme urgonienne est principalement contrôlée par le contexte séquentiel des dépôts qui induit une dualité entre des carbonates cimentés précocement et ceux préservant un certain espace poreux. Les règles géologiques définies dans cette étude 1) servent à la réalisation d’un modèle numérique 3-D destiné aux simulations des écoulements à l’échelle de l’aquifère karstique de Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, dont le débit à l’exutoire est classé au cinquième rang mondial, et 2) aident à la prédiction des hétérogénéités sédimentaires et pétrophysiques des systèmes carbonatés / The analysis of carbonate systems is at the heart of major economic and societal challenges, especially in the energy field since they represent significant oil and gas reserves. The present thesis focuses on the Urgonian Provence platform (upper Barremian–lower Aptian interval) which is considered as a valid outcrop analogue of middle East carbonate reservoirs. About thirty stratigraphic sections, including newly acquired cores, are considered throughout the Provence domain. The recognition of biostratigraphically constrained exposure and drowning surfaces enables us to restore the regional palaeogeographic evolution along with the stratigraphic architecture. Several phases of platform progradation toward the adjacent basins, interrupted by episodes of changes in carbonate production, are identified in Provence. A comparable stratigraphic scenario is proposed for the peri-Vocontian Urgonian platforms. In Provence, the reservoir compartmentalisation of the Urgonian platform is mainly controlled by the sequence stratigraphic context that induced a distinction between early cemented carbonates and those preserving part of their original porosity. The geological rules provided in this study 1) are implemented into a 3-D numerical model intended for fluid-flow simulations at the scale of the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse karstic aquifer, whose karst spring is the fifth largest in the world, and 2) help in predicting the sedimentary and petrophysical heterogeneities of carbonate systems

Upper Turonian and Lower Coniacian calcareous nannoplankton stratigraphy in the borehole V 800 Střeleč, Bohemian Cretaceous Basin Number of biostratigraphic studies has been performed within the Upper Cretaceous platform sediments of the NW Europe, however, the problem of Turonian-Coniacan boundary has not yet been satisfactorily resolved using available methods in the field of micropaleontology. The proposed thesis has described the species composition of calcareous nannoplankton assemblages in the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin, across the Upper Turonian- Lower Coniacian interval, focusing on the stratigraphically and paleoecologically important species. Seventy-three taxa of calcareous nannofossils in the studied material have been determined and signifiant species have been discussed (Marthasterites furcatus, Kamptnerius magnificus, Lucianorhabdus sp., Braarudosphaera sp., Nannoconus sp., Watznaueria barnesae, Uniplanarius gothicus, Quadrum gartneri, Thoracosphaera operculata). For purposes of this thesis, a suitable material from the V 800 Střeleč borehole, one of the key cretaceous profil in the Český ráj area, was obtained.

The presented PhD thesis is compiled as a commentary to four published papers, which deal with planktonic assamblages of the Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous, namely with calcareous nannofossils and calpionellids. The first part of the dissertation thesis describes the main characteristics of the studied fossil groups with focus on their morphology, palaeoecology, evolution and systematics. The chapter of calcareous nannoplankton gives special attention to the biostratigraphicaly important genus Nannoconus Kampter 1931. Next chapters describe the methods of the laboratory processing of the sediments and the geological settings of the studied areas. The thesis is focused on two areas. At first the selected localities in the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin, i.e. Upper Turonian and Upper Coniacian, are described. Generally, the Upper Cretaceous platform sediments of the middle European basins are rich in calcareous nannoplankton. These fossils represent important marker for biostratigraphical and palaeoecological interpretations. The second part describes carbonate rocks of the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of the Tethyan area. In this case, calcareous nannoplankton and calpionellids are an essential part of the modern multidisciplinary form of the Jurassic- Cretaceous (J/K) boundary interval research....

Well-preserved and diverse assemblages of late Campanian-Maastrichtian age (76.5-65.5 Ma) planktic foraminifera from Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1209 and 1210 on Shatsky Rise provide an excellent source of data to better understand the environmental and biotic changes of the end-Cretaceous Period in the tropical Pacific. A thorough taxonomic and biostratigraphic study of planktic foraminifera has revealed significant differences in species ranges when compared to detailed studies from the western North Atlantic and eastern South Atlantic. These observations are attributed to site locations with different ocean current and productivity conditions. During the globally recognized “mid-Maastrichtian Event”, inoceramid clams, rare at Shatsky Rise, dramatically increased (~69.3 Ma) before suddenly going extinct (69.1 Ma). This Inoceramid Acme Event (IAE), occurs during high sedimentation rates (~21.8-m/myr) and is indicated in planktic foraminifera by a 0.50‰ positive shift in δ18O values (~2 °C cooling), a 0.24‰ negative shift in δ13C values of and high species richness. A simultaneous decrease in both the δ18O and δ13C gradients between surface and thermocline dwelling planktic foraminifera indicate the IAE was possibly initiated by an increase in surface productivity due to the upwelling of cooler, nutrient-rich waters. A dissolution event was identified at ~66.1 Ma lasting to the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary (65.5 Ma) and is characterized by chalky, highly fragmented planktic foraminifera, increased dissolution of larger Globotruncanids, increased small (< 63 μm) planktic foraminifera, large and increasingly abundant benthic foraminifera, a sharp decrease in species richness and increased sedimentation rates (~19.9-m/myr). This event follows a transitional interval at ~66.7 Ma where preservation is highly variable. The dissolution event, reported in previous studies at Shatsky Rise (Caron, 1975; Premoli Silva et al., 2005), is not reported in the North and South Atlantic but may help to explain the high diachroneity in species occurrences between ocean basins. These events may indicate that the calcite carbonate compensation depth (CCD) shoaled to shallower depths than previously reported (Theirstein, 1979) due to changing deep or intermediate water mass sources. Alternatively, the timing the dissolution is approximately coincident with the main pulse of Deccan Trap volcanism on the Indian subcontinent suggesting a possible link through ocean acidification.

<p dir="ltr">This dissertation uses a multidisciplinary basin analysis approach to document the sedimentary, structural, and volcanic response to Cenozoic oceanic plateau collision and translation along the northwestern Cordillera. During this time, two fragments of oceanic plateau accreted in the Pacific Northwest (Siletzia terrane) and in southeastern Alaska (Yakutat terrane). My research aims to test if the Siletzia and Yakutat terranes have an early shared history as the same spreading ridge-centered plateau in the Pacific Northwest and constrain timing of breakup and translation of the Yakutat terrane to southeastern Alaska. Chapter 2 focuses on development of a new U-Pb zircon geochronology technique to aid in a more accurate and precise understanding of sediment routing systems. The goal of developing this technique is to utilize it in pinpointing the source regions along the northwestern Cordillera supplying sediment to the basin on the Yakutat terrane as it made its northward journey to southeastern Alaska. Chapter 3 focuses on creating a regional chronostratigraphy for deep-marine Cenozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the peripheral rock sequence on the northern Olympic Peninsula in Washington. These sedimentary rocks directly overlie the Siletzia plateau and record basin evolution before, during, and following its collision to the continental margin. Chapter 4 uses detailed lithofacies mapping and U-Pb geochronology of metasedimentary and volcanic rocks in the Olympic subduction complex to document the structural response to seamount subduction in the Eocene. Seamount subduction began shortly after collision of the Siletzia oceanic plateau to the Pacific Northwest and played a critical role in development of the early forearc region and Ancestral Cascades arc. Chapter 5 compares the lowermost sedimentary and geochronologic basin record on both Siletzia and Yakutat terranes to test if they have an early shared history in the Pacific Northwest.</p>