<p> The transition from the Wapiabi Formation to the Belly River Formation was studied in two outcrops, Highwood 1 and 2, near Longview, Alberta. The lowest units in the stratigraphic sections consist of deep marine, storm-generated density flow deposits interbedded with shales. They are overlain by dominantly crossbedded sandstones deposited in a marine environment which was dominated by shallow water processes. At Highwood 1, the next deposits are those of a braided fluvial system, which consist of crossbedded sandstones and much conglomerate. There is no shale. At Highwood 2, the fluvial deposits consist of thick sandstone units separated by thick dominantly shale units, with some roots. The uppermost units are again marine sandstones and shales. This return to marine conditions has not been mentioned previously in the literature. </p> <p> Paleoflow directions indicate that regional paleoslope dipped northwest at the base of the sections, but northeast in the fluvial parts. It is suggested that the slow rate of deposition in the Coniacian and Santonian, coupled with slow subsidence, permitted topographic expression of a northwest trending trough between the emerging Cordillera and the Aptian Ridge. In the Campanian, the trough was filled in with Belly River sediments, so that the paleoflow swung toward the northeast. </p> <p> Petrographic studies show that these sediments are much like those in the Belly River in the Milk River area, studied by Ogunyemi and Hills (1977) . </p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Science (BSc)

The Saints & Sinners Quarry preserves the only known vertebrate body fossils in the Nugget Sandstone and the most diverse fauna known from the Nugget-Navajo-Aztec erg system. The fauna includes eight genera and >18,000 bone and bone fragments assignable to >76 individuals, including theropods, sphenosuchians, sphenodontians, drepanosaurs, procolophonids, and a dimorphodontid pterosaur. Cycadeoid fronds are the only plant fossils. There are two depositional environments at the site – dune and interdune, each consisting of two or more faces. The dune facies are (1) Trough Cross-Stratified Sandstone (TCS) representing dry dunes, and (2) Massive and Bioturbated Dunes (MBD) representing bioturbated, damp dunes. The interdune facies are (1) Wavy Sandstone (WSS) representing wet and damp flats with biofilms and tridactyl tracks, (2) Green Clays and Silts (GCS) representing quiet lacustrine waters, (3) Planar Laminated Sandstone (PLS) representing lacustrine dust and sand storm deposits which grade laterally into (4) Massive Bone Bed (MBB) shoreline deposits. The vertical and lateral relationships of the dune and interdune facies suggests that an interdune flat developed (WSS facies) likely by deflation of dunes down to, or near to, the water table. As the water table rose, a shallow lake developed (GCS facies) and trapped wind-blown sediment during sand storms (PLS Facies). The taxonomically diverse vertebrate fauna suggest a mass die-off occurred, likely due to drought. The carcasses and bones were buried by three distinct depositional events, each a bone bed (MBB facies) - separated by very thin clays (GCS facies). Thereafter the water table dropped resulting in several cm-scale sandstone beds with tridactyl tracks (WSS facies). Then migrating dunes buried the interdune flat. These dunes hosted burrowing invertebrates for a moderate time resulting in the destruction of nearly all primary sedimentary structures (MBD facies). Ultimately, as the area dried further, more dunes migrated over these bioturbated surfaces and the area returned to dune field conditions (TCS facies). The Saints & Sinners site indicates that a previously unrecognized, remarkably diverse vertebrate fauna thrived in wet interdunes of western North America's Late Triassic erg system. A massive-die-off, likely due to a drought, provided a wealth of carcasses and their bones. The dynamic shoreline representing the interface of dunes and standing water provided favorable conditions for rapid burial of small carcasses and the disarticulated bones of larger individuals.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Integrated approaches in the study of petroleum exploration are increasingly becoming significant in recent times and have yielded much better result as oil exploration is a combination of different related topics. The production capacity in hydrocarbon exploration has been the major concern for oil and gas industries. In the present work an integrated approach was made with seismic, well logs and biostratigraphy for predicting the depositional environment and to understand the heterogeneity within the reservoirs belonging to Valanginian (Early Cretaceous) age of Gamtoos Basin, Offshore South Africa. Objectively, the integrated work was mainly based on seismic stratigraphy (seismic sequence and seismic facie analysis) for interpretation of the depositional environments with combination of microfossil biostratigraphic inputs. The biostratigraphic study provides evidences of paleo depth from benthic foraminifera and information about bottom condition within the sedimentary basin, changing of depositional depth during gradual basinal fill during the Valanginian time. The petrophysical characterization of the reservoir succession was based on formation evaluation studies using well logs to investigate the hydrocarbon potential of the reservoir across Valanginian depositional sequence. Further, the static modeling from 2D-seismic data interpreted to a geological map to 3D-numerical modeling by stochastic model to quantify the evaluation of uncertainty for accurate characterisation of the reservoir sandstones and to provide better understanding of the spatial distribution of the discrete and continuous Petrophysical properties within the study area.

The upper Mississippian (Chesterian) Little Stone Gap Member of the Hinton Formation in southern West Virginia was evaluated for its lithofacies and faunal composition. Petrographic and multivariate analyses were used to provide a better understanding of the ecological factors and sequence stratigraphic processes that controlled taxa ordinations and spatiotemporal shifts in facies. Six carbonate and three siliciclastic facies occur within the study interval and these facies stack into two distinct parasequence types. Siliciclastic facies were deposited in continental, low-energy lagoonal and marginal marine environments. Carbonate facies record variable energy conditions in lagoonal, shoal, shoal flank and open marine settings. Parasequence stacking patterns are interpreted as resulting from regional fifth-order glacioeustatic sea-level changes consistent with established age constraints for fourth-order sequences. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) of paleontological bulk samples produced similar differentiation of habitats into carbonates and siliciclastics thereby demonstrating the importance of interpreting ordination patterns within a facies framework. The combined DCA analysis of samples and taxa indicates that bryozoans, crinoids and rugose corals preferentially occur in carbonate facies whereas brachiopods, the most dominant taxon, are abundant in both. Results suggest the presence of significant paleoenvironmental gradients in fossil associations that correlates to changes in hydrodynamic conditions and substrate composition across the depositional system. / Master of Science

Well-preserved echinoderm faunas are rare in the fossil record, and when uncovered, understanding their occurrence can be useful in interpreting other faunas. In this study, two such faunas of the same age from separate localities in the shallow-marine Ramey Creek Member of the Slade Formation in the Upper Mississippian (Chesterian) rocks of eastern Kentucky are examined. Of the more than 5,000 fossil specimens from both localities, only 9–34 percent were echinoderms from 3–5 classes. Nine non-echinoderm (8 invertebrate and one vertebrate) classes occurred at both localities, but of these, bryozoans, brachiopods and sponges dominated. To understand the attributes of both localities (Valley Stone and 213 quarries), the geologic and structural settings, lithofacies and depositional environments, as well as faunal makeup and abundances (diversity, evenness, density), were compared and contrasted. Faunas from the Valley Stone Quarry were located on an uplifted fault block in more shallow, open-marine waters with higher energies. As indicated by four distinct lithofacies, the depositional setting was more extensive and varied with interspersed shoals and basins that could accommodate a greater richness (65 species), even though organism densities and abundance were less. In contrast, fauna from the 213 Quarry were located on a downdropped fault block in a more localized, deeper, storm-shelf setting, characterized by a single lithofacies. Although organism density and abundance were nearly twice as high as that at the Valley Stone Quarry, species richness was lower (45 species), and only one species, a bryozoan, predominated. Overall, echinoderm classes, species and individuals were more abundant at the Valley Stone Quarry, and I suggest that this is related to the shallower and more varied depositional environments that developed in response to presence on the shallow, uplifted fault block. This suggests the importance of regional features like faults in controlling environments and organism distribution through time. Although the faunas were originally collected for their echinoderm-dominated “crinoid gardens,” in fact, echinoderms were in the minority, and bryozoans and brachiopods predominated in the communities. Hence, the communities might better be described as bryozoan “thickets” and brachiopod “pavements.”

A study of a 250 ft. (76.2 m) stratigraphic interval that includes the Eocene-age Felix coal of the Wasatch Formation was undertaken in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming to establish a depositional model based on the interrelations of coal-seam geometry, coal maceral composition, and spatial distribution of adjoining rocks. Regional cross sections and maps of major rock bodies were prepared from 147 measured stratigraphic sections and 56 geophysical logs. Trends in maceral and chemical properties within the Felix coal were identified from petrographic and geochemical analyses of 72 coal channel samples. The combined data sets indicate that the thickest portions of the coal are underlain by widespread, interconnected, sandstone-dominated fining-upward sequences (< 50 ft. or 15 m thick over a 300 sq. mi. or 777 sq. km area) whereas areas of thin or split coal are underlain by stacked predominantly fine grained, coarsening-upward sequences (< 50 ft. or 15 m thick). Above the coal, fining-upward sequences are concentrated over thin coal areas and widespread (> 20 mi., 32 km wide) coarsening-upward sequences overlie thick coal areas. Megascopic and petrographic description of the coal indicates that the brightest coal contains the greatest amount of huminite. This type coal occurs in the lowest portion of the seam and directly above clay partings in thick coal areas and in split benches · on the margin of the deposit. The central and upper portion of the seam is predominantly dull, and inertinite percentages increase towards the top of the seam. The deposits below the Felix resulted from north-northwest flowing meandering rivers. Thick peat represented by thick portions of the Felix coal accumulated upon this sandstone-dominated, poorly compactible platform that was free of sediment influx. Areas of thin and split Felix coal, underlain by fine-grained, more-compactible sediments, attracted water-borne elastics that interrupted peat accumulation. The base and split portions of the seam are the remains of predominantly coniferous trees that grew within a nutrient-rich environment, and the duller central and upper portions of the seam indicate oxidation associated with a raised peat deposit. Ash falls and fires during late stages of peat accumulation may have contributed to the demise of the swamp. After vegetation died large lakes formed and were subsequently filled by crevasse deposits from streams. The final phase of compaction of the fine-grained lake sediments and the thick underlying peat attracted anastomosed alluvial channels.

Community succession, the orderly changes a community experiences with time, is considered to be the result of either autogenic or allogenic factors working singularly or in combination. It has been further suggested that, as communities undergo succession, certain biological parameters change in a predictable manner. Examination of members 2 through 4 of the Mississippian (KinderhookOsage) Lodgepole Formation of Samaria Mountain, Idaho provides a means to evaluate these concepts. Within the study section comprised of 125 beds (61.5 m thick), four rock types are recognized. These include: (1) fossiliferous wackestone (78% of beds), which ranges in color from dark-gray (N3) to medium-light gray (N6), is fine to coarse crystalline, has an average insoluble content of 3.1 percent by weight, and an average organic content of 0.25 percent by weight; (2) fossiliferous mudstone (1S% of beds), which ranges in color from dark-gray (N3) to medium-gray (NS), is very fine to fine crystalline, has an average insoluble content of 2.3 percent and an average organic content of 0.30 percent by weight; (3) fossiliferous packstone (6% of beds), which ranges in color from medium-gray (NS) to light-gray (N7), is medium to coarse crystalline, has an average insoluble content of 3.3 percent by weight and an average organic content of O. 17 percent by weight; and (4) crystalline carbonate (1% of beds), which is light-gray (N7) in color, is coarse crystalline, has an insoluble content of 9.3 percent by weight, and an organic content of 0.2 percent by weight. However, at ninety-five percent confidence level, no statistical relationship could be seen between the rock types and either the insoluble contents or the organic content. Twenty-one taxa, including corals, brachiopods, crinoids, blastoids, gastropods, echinoids, and sharks were recognized, with most taxa ranging throughout the study section. Well-preserved fossils are generally rare. However, this deficiency seems to be due to weathering of the containing strata rather than to currents acting on the skeletons prior to burial. Orientational data support this conclusion. Measurements of the direction (vector) from the apical end to the calical end of the horn coral Zaphrentis show that the orientations of toppled corals is random. Two biological parameters are calculated for each of the bedding surfaces examined, i.e., diversity and calcified biovolume. Diversity is calculated two ways, i.e., in terms of equitability, and in terms of richness. For richness, values range from 0.0 to 7.41, with a mean of 4.12, and for dominance diversity, values range from 0.0 to 1.95, with a mean value of 0.87. Calcified biovolume, which is used as the basis for inferences involving biomass, ranges from 0 to 30,015 cubic centimeters per bedding surface, with a mean value of 744.1 cubic centimeters per bedding surface. Three faunal associations, as well as several sub-associations within the three major associations, are indicated by the clustering of indices of affinity. These associations include: (1) Zaphrentis-Crinoid- Syringopora-Echinoid-Cleiothryridina-Unispirifer-Spirifer-Orthotetes- Flexaria-Camarotoechia-Schizophoria-Lithostrotionella; (2) Cruziana-Dwelling tube; (3) Shark-Blastoid-Helminthopsis. Trophic relationships within the three associations suggest that they were the result of two factors: (1) the tendency towards a vertical stratification of the association's members, which resulted in a more efficient use of the water column; (2) direct physical interaction among association members, in the form of predator-prey or symbiotic relationships. The former type of interaction may have been operative between the sharks and blastoids of faunal association 3. Environmental reconstruction involved the determination of four parameters: (1) paleocurrent direction and intensity; (2) sedimentation rate; (3) bathymetry; and (4) substrate. From the study of both physical and biological evidence, it is concluded that, during the time of Lodgepole deposition a very weak, unidirectional current, or multidirectional currents of similar competency operated over a carbonate-mud substrate. Evidence suggests that the sedimentati on rate was extremely low, and that the Eh= 0 line was just below the sediment-water interface. The water depth at this location was probably below normal effective wave base, but above the zone of oxygen depletion. Study of fossils on bedding surfaces overlying barren bedding surfaces or surfaces containing fossil hash, suggests that four successional stages can be recognized. Because changes in the faunal composition between the various successional stages appear to take place both with (10 times), and without lithologic changes (16 times), it is concluded that succession may result from either biological modifications of the environment or physical changes. Therefore, succession was both autogenically or allogenically controlled. Additionally, the comnrunities were retrograded to an "earlier" successional stage 24 times within the 125 bed succession. As succession proceeded through the successional sequence, values for equability-diversity and calcified biovolume generally increase. This trend is in agreement with previously predicted trends. With succession the overall trend observed in the trophic structure appears to be one of an increase in the proportion of filter feeders in the community relative to the proportion of deposit feeders in the community.