The impact of the end-Devonian mass extinction (the Hangenberg extinction) on tetrapods is not well understood. One issue is that we have very little knowledge of the Devonian tetrapod fauna that immediately preceded, and experienced, the mass extinction. New specimens from an early tetrapod bone bed of the latest Famennian, Stensiö Bjerg Formation of Celsius Bjerg, East Greenland have the potential to shed light on this problem. In this study, five new well-preserved specimens are presented: a partial skull, two humeri, a left pelvis, and a strange vertebral element. The specimens were imaged using propagation phase-contrast synchrotron microtomography (PPC-SRμCT), and then virtually segmented and rendered.  The partial skull and left pelvis share many similarities with Ichthyostega and Acanthostega, but also have some distinctive features. Notably, the epipterygoid does not articulate with the skull roof, the fenestra vestibuli appears to have an anterior lobe, the postorbital has a posteroventral process, and there is a sharp contrast between the rugose dermal ornament of the skull roof and the unornamented cheek. In addition, the partial skull is box-like in shape and has a laterally facing orbit, which are features seen in some Carboniferous tetrapods. Among other characters, the left pelvis has a differently curving posterior iliac process, and differently shaped ischium and anterior pubic margin compared to Ichthyostega and Acanthostega. The acetabulum of the left pelvis is also lacking a posterior notch, a feature seen in many other early tetrapods. The humeri presented in this thesis are curiously similar to the isolated tetrapod humerus from the Catskill Formation, Pennsylvania, USA known as ANSP 21350. In fact, they are more similar to each other and to ANSP 21350 than to any other early tetrapod humeri. This is in large part due to a distinctly distal supinator ridge which was previously only known from ANSP 21350. The mysterious vertebral element does not resemble any known early tetrapod bone due to its large, ventral, concave saddle-shaped projections. It consists of five fused vertebrae and is interpreted here to be a unique sacrum of an early tetrapod. The specimens described and interpreted in this study represent at least two new species, none of which can be assigned to known Devonian early tetrapods from Greenland. It is clear that a new and important faunal assemblage is emerging.

A petrographic study of upper Devonian sandstones (Endicott and Hammond Terranes), Philip Smith Mountains and Arctic quadrangles, Brooks Range, Alaska, shows that the sand-sized detritus was derived from two petrographic provenances. Detrital modes, calculated from point counts of thin sections, show that the provenance for the Devonian clastic wedge (Endicott Terrane) was a recycled orogenic belt with major components of quartz, chert, and lithic fragments. Three petrofacies are distinguished. Their distribution indicates compositional changes vertically and laterally which reflect changing compositions in the source area. A petrographically different provenance supplied the sandstones that overlie the Skajit Limestone (Hammond Terrane). Characterized by high feldspar and abundant volcanic rock fragments, this petrofacies indicates first-cycle deposition close to the source area. A magmatica arc provenance is suggested.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T18:15:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Daniel Sedorko.pdf: 3293325 bytes, checksum: a80d5f67a70047c7f66c42ee02fa6b3f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present study has as main objective to confront the ichnological and taphonomic interpretations aiming to characterize the paleoenvironmental context represented by one section of the Devoanian (Emsian) of the Paraná Basin (Southern Brazil). Six ichnofabrics were diagnosed, namely: Planolites-Palaeophycus, Skolithos, Asterosoma-Teichichnus, Chondrites, Asterosoma-Zoophycos and Asterosoma-Chondrites. Ichnofabrics of Skolithos and Chondrites, respectively, represent changes in hydrodynamic energy and oxygenation. Amendments in these parameters permitted the opening of the "colonization window ", resulting in momentary suppression of resident ichnofauna by an opportunistic ichnofauna. It also identified three taphofacies to the section (TA, TB and TC). TA occurs with the predominance of fossils with bivalves bodies, disarticulated, entire and concordanting to bedding plane in parautoctonous to aloctonous context; The TB is the expression of bivalves bodies, articulated, in apparent life position in context of autochthony; and the TC expressed bivalves bodies, entire, articulated in apparent life position, multielement bodies, entire, disarticulated and concordanting with the bedding plane, and univalves bodies, entire and concordanting to bedding plane, all of them with a predominance of autochthony. The TA is associated with Planolites-Palaeophycus, Chondrites, Asterosoma-Zoophycos and Asterosoma-Chondrites ichnofabrics, suggesting depositional conditions at transitional offshore. The TB is associated with the Skolithos ichnofabric, expressing shoreface conditions. The taphofacies C occurs in beds with BI 0 probably relating with a maximum of anoxia represented in these layers. Was diagnosed three main peaks of hydrodynamic energy in the section, representing oscillations influenced by storm events (the curve of relative paleobathymetry follows this parameter). As regards the oxygenation, occur five moments of dysoxic to anoxic conditions. The salinity rate not changed, featuring normal situation for the marine environment. The sedimentation rate is moderate, but at certain levels becomes high. From the dominance of the conditions expressed by the TA and the Archetypal Cruziana Ichnofacies, it was concluded that the deposition of sediments occurred in the transitional offshore context, influenced by storm. The levels of occurrence of TB associated with Proximal Cruziana Ichnofacies, has identified a depositional context of shoreface, influenced by storm. Finally, the layers when were diagnosed the TC, even though no associated bioturbações, register the maximum of anoxia at the section, under offshore conditions. / O presente trabalho tem como principal objetivo confrontar interpretações icnológicas e tafonômicas almejando a caracterização do contexto paleoambiental representado por uma seção do Devoniano (Emsiano) da Bacia do Paraná. Foram dianosticadas 6 icnofábricas na seção, sendo elas: Planolites-Palaeophycus, Skolithos, Asterosoma-Teichichnus, Chondrites, Asterosoma-Zoophycos e Asterosoma-Chondrites. As ocorrências das icnofábricas de Skolithos e de Chondrites representam alterações, respectivamente, na energia hidrodinâmica e oxigenação do meio. Mudanças nesses parâmetros possibilitaram a abertura da “janela de colonização”, resultando na substituição momentânea da icnofauna residente por uma icnofauna oportunista. Também foram identificadas três tafofácies para a seção (TA, TB e TC). A TA ocorre com o predomínio de fósseis com esqueleto tipo bivalve, inteiros, desartilados e concordantes ao plano de acamamento, em contexto de parautoctonia a aloctonia; A TB expõe fósseis de organismos com esqueleto bivalve, articulados, inteiros e em aparente posição de vida em contexto de autoctonia; A TC apresenta fósseis de organismo com esqueleto bivalve, articulados, inteiros e em aparente posição de vida, além de organismos com esqueleto univalve inteiros e concordantes ao plano de acamento e multielemento desarticulados, inteiros e concordantes ao plano de acamamento, todos com predomínio de autoctonia. A tafofácies A é associada com as icnofábricas de Planolites-Palaeophycus, de Chondrites, de Asterosoma-Zoophycos e de Asterosoma-Chondrites, sugerindo deposição em condições de transição ao offshore. A tafofácies B associa-se com a icnofábrica de Skolithos, expressando condições de shoreface. A tafofácies C ocorre em camadas com IB 0 provavelmente relacionando-se ao pico de anoxia presente nessas camadas. Diagnosticou-se três picos principais de energia hidrodinâmica na seção, representando oscilações influenciadas por eventos de tempestade (a curva de paleobatimetria relativa acompanha esse parâmetro). Quanto à oxigenação, ocorrem cinco momentos de disaerobia a anoxia. A taxa de salinidade não sofre alteração, caracterizando condições normais para o ambiente marinho. A taxa de sedimentação é moderada, mas em certos níveis torna-se elevada. A partir do predomínio das condições expressas pela tafofácies A e da Icnofácies Cruziana arquetípica na seção analisada, concluiu-se que a deposição dos sedimentos se deu em contexto de transição ao offshore, influenciado por tempestade. Nos níveis de ocorrência da tafofácies B, associada à Icnofácies Cruziana Proximal, identificou-se um contexto deposicional de shoreface, influenciado por tempestade. Por fim, nas camadas em que foi diagnosticada a tafofácies C, ainda que sem bioturbações associadas, registrou-se o pico de anoxia da seção, sob condições de offshore.

The New Albany Shale is an Upper Devonian organic-rich gas shale located in the Illinois Basin. A factor influencing gas production from the shale is the natural fracture system. I test the hypothesis that a combination of outcrop and core observations, rock property tests, and geomechanical modeling can yield an accurate representation of essential natural fracture attributes that cannot be obtained from any of the methods alone. Field study shows that New Albany Shale outcrops contain barren (free of cement) joints, commonly oriented in orthogonal sets. The dominant set strikes NE-SW, with a secondary set oriented NNW-SSE. I conclude that the joints were likely created by near-surface processes, and thus are unreliable for use as analogs for fractures in the reservoir. However, the height, spacing, and abundance of the joints may still be useful as guides to the fracture stratigraphy of the New Albany Shale at depth. The Clegg Creek and Blocher members contain the highest fracture abundance. Fractures observed in four New Albany Shale cores are narrow, steeply-dipping, commonly completely sealed with calcite and are oriented ENE-WSW. The Clegg Creek and Blocher members contain the highest fracture abundance, which is consistent with outcrop observations. Fractures commonly split apart along the wall rock-cement interface, indicating they may be weak planes in the rock mass, making them susceptible to reactivation during hydraulic fracturing. Geomechanical testing of six core samples was performed to provide values of Young’s modulus, subcritical index, and fracture toughness as input parameters for a fracture growth simulator. Of these inputs, subcritical index is shown to be the most influential on the spatial organization of fractures. The models predict the Camp Run and Blocher members to have the most clustered fractures, the Selmier to have more evenly-spaced fractures, and the Morgan Trail and Clegg Creek to have a mixture of even spacing and clustering. The multi-faceted approach of field study, core work, and geomechanical modeling I used to address the problem of fracture characterization in the New Albany Shale was effective. Field study in the New Albany presents an opportunity to gather a large amount of data on the characteristics and spatial organization of fractures quickly and at relatively low cost, but with questionable reliability. Core study allows accurate observation of fracture attributes, but has limited coverage. Geomechanical modeling is a good tool for analysis of fracture patterns over a larger area than core, but results are difficult to corroborate and require input from outcrop and core studies. / text

The Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Bakken Formation has recently become a prolific producer of light gravity oil in southeastern Saskatchewan since the advent of horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracture technologies, which has resulted in an increase in geological studies within the area. However, the Bakken Formation of west-central Saskatchewan has been producing heavy oil since the 1950s, and has comparatively received much less attention than its southeastern counterpart. The Bakken Formation is the youngest member of the Three Forks Group and unconformably overlies the Big Valley Formation. In west-central Saskatchewan, the Bakken Formation can be conformably overlain by the Mississippian carbonates of the Madison Group or unconformably overlain by the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group. A tripartite subdivision is applied to the Bakken Formation, with a mixed clastic/carbonate Middle Member deposited between Lower and Upper Black Shale Members. Based on detailed core description, eight facies have been defined for the Bakken Formation of west-central Saskatchewan: Facies 1 (Lower and Upper Black Shale members), Facies 2 (bioturbated siltstone/sandstone), Facies 3 (wave-rippled sandstone), Facies 4 (bioclastic grainstone), Facies 5 (interbedded mudstone, siltstone, and very fine-grained sandstone), Facies 6 (very fine- to fine-grained sandstone), Facies 7 (bioturbated siltstone/sandstone), and Facies 8 (massive and brecciated siltstone). Deposition of the Bakken Formation in west-central Saskatchewan occurred under either open-marine or marginal-marine conditions. Facies association 1 (open-marine interval), which is made up of F1 through F4, is characterized by the distal Cruziana Ichnofacies. It was deposited within a wave-dominated shallow-marine depositional environment. Facies association 2 (marginal-marine interval), which is comprised of F5 through F8, shows scarce biogenic structures, most likely as a result of brackish-water conditions. Geological mapping (structure surface and isopach) of the facies and facies associations has aided in illustrating their lateral distribution. However, mapping of the overlying Mississippian carbonates and sub-Mesozoic unconformity shows that post-Mississippian erosion was a controlling factor in the distribution and preservation of Bakken Formation deposits, which creates uncertainty when interpreting geological maps and stratigraphic cross-sections. Although post-Mississippian erosion causes problems when reconstructing the depositional history and stratigraphic architecture of the Bakken Formation, it illustrates the importance of not performing stratigraphic studies within a vacuum, only focusing on the formation of interest. Rather, underlying and overlying units must be studied to see whether or not the unit of interest’s deposition and distribution has been affected by pre- and post-depositional events.

No description available.

The Devonian Frog Mountain Formation thickens abruptly eastward across the Eastern Coosa thrust fault from <12 m on the west to>70 m on the east. The thin Frog Mountain on the west unconformably overlies the Cambrian-Ordovician Knox Group. The thin Frog Mountain (mostly shale) is overlain by the Mississippian Maury Shale (~1 m thick) and Fort Payne Chert (~50 m thick). The thick Frog Mountain on the east rests on the Middle Ordovician Athens Shale, a black shale >150 m thick. The Athens overlies the Knox Group. The thick Frog Mountain is nearly all sandstone and is overlain by Fort Payne Chert which is only ~1 m thick In the Eastern Coosa hanging wall, an upper-level out-of-the-syncline thrust fault with thick Frog Mountain in the hanging wall cuts more than 290 m stratigraphically down section from Athens to lower Knox in the footwall. The upper-level Frog Mountain thrust sheet crosses over the Eastern Coosa fault, and truncates folds in the Eastern Coosa footwall, moving ~2 km. The thick Frog Mountain Formation associated with the Eastern Coosa thrust sheet has been transported ~100 km cratonward. The Frog Mountain Formation was deposited over a low topographic high, which was in the location of the Blountian peripheral foreland bulge.

No description available.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O trabalho consiste na análise estratigráfica do intervalo siluro-devoniano da Bacia do Amazonas utilizando como base os conceitos da Estratigrafia Moderna, mais especificamente a sequência estratigráfica genética, proposta por Galloway (1989), a qual utiliza as superfícies de inundação marinha como os limites de uma sequência sedimentar. A principal razão para a utilização desta metodologia deve-se ao fato que o conteúdo rochoso compreendido no intervalo estudado teve a sua sedimentação relacionada às transgressões marinhas que faziam parte do contexto paleogeográfico da bacia durante o Siluriano e Devoniano. Desta forma, as superfícies de inundação máxima, representativas de eventos cronoestratigráficos, destacam-se nos perfis de raios gama e são tomadas como datum de correlação em treze poços exploratórios, os quais foram distribuídos em quatro seções (A-A, B-B, C-C e D-D) pela bacia. A análise destas seções permitiu a identificação de quatro sequências de terceira ordem (AB, BC, CD e DE), limitadas no topo e na base por superfícies de inundação marinha. Cada sequência é constituída por ciclos regressivo-transgressivos assimétricos, representados pelo trato de sistemas de mar alto e pelo trato de sistemas transgressivo. A análise destas seções integrada à interpretação de mapas estratigráficos (isópacas, isólitas e porcentagem de areias) possibilitou identificar o depocentro da bacia, bem como duas áreas principais como fonte de sedimentos arenosos (uma a oeste e outra a sul). Além disto, foi possível inferir que a comunicação marinha com o continente, durante as transgressões paleozoicas, responsável pela deposição de sedimentos pelíticos, seguiu uma orientação de norte para sul, evoluindo obliquamente em direção ao continente num trend nordeste para sudoeste. Por fim, a partir da análise cíclica em perfis de raios gama, as superfícies de inundação marinha, do intervalo Devoniano, das bacias do Amazonas e Parnaíba foram correlacionadas.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O trabalho consiste na análise estratigráfica do intervalo siluro-devoniano da Bacia do Amazonas utilizando como base os conceitos da Estratigrafia Moderna, mais especificamente a sequência estratigráfica genética, proposta por Galloway (1989), a qual utiliza as superfícies de inundação marinha como os limites de uma sequência sedimentar. A principal razão para a utilização desta metodologia deve-se ao fato que o conteúdo rochoso compreendido no intervalo estudado teve a sua sedimentação relacionada às transgressões marinhas que faziam parte do contexto paleogeográfico da bacia durante o Siluriano e Devoniano. Desta forma, as superfícies de inundação máxima, representativas de eventos cronoestratigráficos, destacam-se nos perfis de raios gama e são tomadas como datum de correlação em treze poços exploratórios, os quais foram distribuídos em quatro seções (A-A, B-B, C-C e D-D) pela bacia. A análise destas seções permitiu a identificação de quatro sequências de terceira ordem (AB, BC, CD e DE), limitadas no topo e na base por superfícies de inundação marinha. Cada sequência é constituída por ciclos regressivo-transgressivos assimétricos, representados pelo trato de sistemas de mar alto e pelo trato de sistemas transgressivo. A análise destas seções integrada à interpretação de mapas estratigráficos (isópacas, isólitas e porcentagem de areias) possibilitou identificar o depocentro da bacia, bem como duas áreas principais como fonte de sedimentos arenosos (uma a oeste e outra a sul). Além disto, foi possível inferir que a comunicação marinha com o continente, durante as transgressões paleozoicas, responsável pela deposição de sedimentos pelíticos, seguiu uma orientação de norte para sul, evoluindo obliquamente em direção ao continente num trend nordeste para sudoeste. Por fim, a partir da análise cíclica em perfis de raios gama, as superfícies de inundação marinha, do intervalo Devoniano, das bacias do Amazonas e Parnaíba foram correlacionadas.