The Upper Mississippian Hinton, Princeton, and Bluestone formations of southern West Virginia constitute a wedge of strata that filled the Appalachian basin over a ~7 million year time interval. Seventeen transgressive-regressive sequences comprise the study interval in the basin depocenter. Five sequence types defined by the degree of incision and the thickness/ character of dominant facies include: 1) major incised valley-fill to coastal plain, 2) major incised valley-fill to deltaic, 3) minor incised valley-fill, 4) coastal plain, and 5) marine-dominated sequences. Transgressive and highstand deposits within several sequences contain tidal rhythmites. The prodeltaic Pride Shale member (Bluestone Formation) preserves a hierarchy of submillimeter-to meter-scale cycles that reflect a spectrum of tidal periodicities. The abbreviated character of these microlaminated rhythmites is suggestive of a distal, subtidal setting wherein neap tides were of insufficient strength to transport sand/ silt. Decimeter-scale bundling of semimonthly cycles is ascribed to seasonal fluvial discharge. Meter-scale, multi-year cycles may reflect the 18.6-year lunar nodal cycle. Sequence development likely reflects fourth-order (~400 k.y.), Gondwanan glacioeustatic cycles. The character and relative stratigraphic position of paleoclimatic indicators within the sequences suggests a link between eustasy and patterns of global-scale atmospheric circulation. Calcic vertisols and lacustrine carbonates in coastal plain successions are suggestive of seasonal, semiarid climatic conditions during highstand progradation. Leached paleosols and coals that underlie sequence boundaries and occur within estuarine fills are suggestive of humid conditions during late highstand through early transgression. This pattern may reflect fluctuations in monsoonal circulation whereby the latitudinal shift of seasonal moisture was restricted to the equatorial zone during glaciations. The fourth-order sequences stack into two (2-4 Ma) composite sequences that consist of: 1) a basal retrogradational interval comprised of a major paleovalley-fill sequence overlain by a thick aggradational sequence set made up of fluvial/ coastal plain sequences (TST); 2) a marine interval that demarcates maximum flooding; and 3)(where preserved) a progradational sequence set consisting of minor incised valley-fill sequences (HST). These composite sequences document accommodation change that may reflect global tectono-eustasy. / Ph. D.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Allen W. Archer / Turnagain Arm is the hypertidal (commonly exceeding 9 m) west-east trending extension of Cook Inlet in south-central Alaska. The inlet formed from a drowned glacial valley that was subsequently filled with tidal deposits of silt and fine sand. The tidal system is semidiurnal with a prominent diurnal inequality. There are also variations due to spring and neap tides. Turnagain Arm is home to a tidal bore generated during spring tides that can reach heights of up to 2 m and travel at speeds of up to 5 m/s. Current reversals can be dramatic with ebb tidal velocities of 6 m/s changing to flood velocities of 10 m/s over a period of a few minutes. During the initial flood tide, highly turbid water can rise as fast as 10 cm/min. This combination of elements results in a highly dynamic depositional setting. Measurements taken in the inner estuary during several neap-spring cycles in the summers of 2007-08 documented deposition upon mud bars of as much as 8.9 cm per tidal event. Conversely, erosion of up to 13.5 cm per tidal event has been measured. The highest rates of deposition and erosion occurred during the spring tides while much lower rates occur during the neap tides. Some portions of the inner estuary are only submerged during the extreme high tides. The magnitude of the high tide needed to cover each site increases with increasing distance into the upper estuary. Even if submerged, deposition does not always occur. Such a high percentage of non-depositional events has real implications when interpreting tidal cyclicity of the rhythmites found at these sites.

The Magoffm Member (Four Comers Formation, Breathitt Group) outcrops in eastern Kentucky as a coarsening-upward succession of rhythmically interstratified sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone. Primary sedimentary structures, trace fossils, vertical successions of facies, and sediment body geometries suggest that these sediments were deposited in a delta-front/distributary-mouth-bar setting. Within the study area, the Magoffin Member ranges in thickness from 20 to 40 m. Where thickest, the Magoffm Member tends to be sandier and contain rhythmite intervals that are thicker and more complete than where it is thin. The member displays several orders of cycles that are consistent with semi-diurnal, diurnal, semi-monthly, and monthly tidal periodicities. Half-synodic (semi-monthly) and anomalistic (monthly) lunar periodicities are manifested by the systematic thickening and thinning of shorter duration cycles. The rhythmite interval records up to 4 months of deposition. Accumulation rates for the rhythmites typically ranged from 1 to 7 cm per day, but reached rates of over 30 cm per day where the Magoffin Member is thickest and the most proximal deltaic facies are preserved. Tidal cyclicity was also studied within the Betsie Shale and Kendrick Shale Members of the Breathitt Group. The Betsie Shale Member displays semi-diurnal through monthly tidal cycles. The Kendrick Shale Member displays semi-diurnal through semi-monthly tidal cycles. The nature of tidal bundling within the Breathitt Group rhythmite successions suggests that they accumulated in mixed, predominantly semi-diurnal tidal systems where lunar phases and declination influenced tidal cyclicity. / Master of Science

Este trabalho teve por objetivo investigar a escala temporal envolvida na deposição de ritmitos permocarboníferos da Bacia do Paraná (Subgrupo Itararé), expostos no Parque do Varvito (Itu, SP) e pedreira Itaú (Trombudo Central, SC), através de dados paleomagnéticos e de anisotropia de suscetibilidade magnética. Os estudos paleomagnéticos revelaram componentes de magnetização estável para ambas as coleções, com indicações de que a magnetização remanente é devida a portadores magnéticos (principalmente magnetita e hematita) de origem detrítica. A componente de magnetização característica, em ambos os casos, é de polaridade reversa, e foi identificada nos dois portadores magnéticos principais. A investigação da mineralogia magnética foi feita através de várias técnicas, incluindo espectroscopia Mossbauer, curvas termomagnéticas, curvas de histerese e ZFC/FC, além de microscopia ótica e eletrônica. Os dados paleomagnéticos e de anisotropia de susceptibilidade magnética permitiram a composição de séries temporais, que foram submetidas a análise espectral por transformada de Fourier de Lomb-Scargle para séries desigualmente espaçadas. Os espectros de potência resultantes foram posteriormente comparados com os espectros de séries de espessura individual das unidades litológicas, o que possibilitou a investigação de sinais harmônicos, sobre a qual foram propostas inferências a respeito das escalas temporais de sedimentação. Esta etapa do trabalho revelou escalas milenares para o domínio do tempo nos espectros de potência, indicando o registro dos ciclos orbitais de Milankovitch, bem como quase-periodicidades associadas à variabilidade solar e feedback do sistema oceânico-atmosférico, para todas as análises. Este conjunto de dados sugere o caráter não-anual de deposição dos ritmitos, ao contrário do proposto por alguns autores. O pólo paleomagnético calculado para a seção de Rio do Sul é compatível com o pólo do Permocarbonífero para a Bacia Sanfranciscana (MG), indicando que o intervalo de tempo envolvido na deposição dos sedimentos é suficientemente longo para eliminar os efeitos da variação secular do campo geomagnético. Alguns resultados adicionais desta tese proveram informações especiais: (i) Foram observados ciclos de indução solar (ciclos de Hallstattzein e de Suess) e a sugestão de ciclo compatível com o ciclo glacial-interglacial de Bond, recentemente sugerido como de origem solar, o que apontaria para uma possível feição harmônica, dominante sobre o sistema oceânico-atmosférico, e que poderia operar sobre períodos geológicos mais antigos; (ii) registro da remanência magnética possivelmente controlado por fatores mecânicos na sucessão de Itu, provavelmente relacionados a correntes de turbidez; (iii) indícios da presença de magnetossomas possivelmente rompidas e/ou oxidadas, em especial para a sucessão de Itu. / This work aims to investigate the timescale of the sedimentation of Permocarboniferous rhythmites from Paraná Basin (Itararé Subgroup) cropping out at the Parque do Varvito, (Itu, SP), and at the Itaú quarry, (Trombudo Central, SC) by means of paleomagnetic and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (ASM). The paleomagnetic study revealed stable magnetization components for both sections, which are carried by magnetic carriers (mainly magnetite and hematite) of detritic origin. The characteristic magnetization direction for each section is of reverse polarity and is found in both magnetite and hematite. Several techniques were used in the investigation the magnetic mineralogy including Mossbauer spectrometry, thermomagnetic curves, hysteresis and ZFC/FC curves, optical and electronic microscopy. Although not confirmed, some data pointed to the possibility of magnetic biomineralization with disrupted or oxidized mineral chains. The paleomagnetic and ASM data allowed the construction of time series that were submitted to spectral analysis by the Lomb-Scargle Fourier transform for unevenly spaced series. The resulting power spectra were then compared with the thickness spectrum. Based on the harmonic signals identified in all time series it was possible to infer deposition rates for both Itú and Itaú rhythmites. This procedure pointed to millennial timescale, and periodical signal compatible to Milankovitch orbital forcing, as well quasi-periodicities related to solar variability and feedback of ocean-atmospheric system, were identified in both sections. Such evidences strongly point to the non-annual sedimentation character, in opposition to previous hypothesis. The paleomagnetic data from the Rio do Sul rocks allowed the calculation of a paleomagnetic pole which is in agreement to the one recently obtained for the Santa Fé Group, Sanfranciscana Basin (MG), indicating that the time interval comprised by the Rio do Sul rhythmites is long enough for eliminating the secular variation effects. Results from this work provide also indications for the record of (i) solar forcing cycles (Hallstattzein and Suess cycles); (ii) spectral peak values of 1,5-ky and 6,0 - 8,0 ky cycle, which is compatible to the glacial-interglacial Bond cycle observed in Quaternary geological records. Such result would extend to ancient times the atmosphere-ocean interaction pattern.

Este trabalho teve por objetivo investigar a escala temporal envolvida na deposição de ritmitos permocarboníferos da Bacia do Paraná (Subgrupo Itararé), expostos no Parque do Varvito (Itu, SP) e pedreira Itaú (Trombudo Central, SC), através de dados paleomagnéticos e de anisotropia de suscetibilidade magnética. Os estudos paleomagnéticos revelaram componentes de magnetização estável para ambas as coleções, com indicações de que a magnetização remanente é devida a portadores magnéticos (principalmente magnetita e hematita) de origem detrítica. A componente de magnetização característica, em ambos os casos, é de polaridade reversa, e foi identificada nos dois portadores magnéticos principais. A investigação da mineralogia magnética foi feita através de várias técnicas, incluindo espectroscopia Mossbauer, curvas termomagnéticas, curvas de histerese e ZFC/FC, além de microscopia ótica e eletrônica. Os dados paleomagnéticos e de anisotropia de susceptibilidade magnética permitiram a composição de séries temporais, que foram submetidas a análise espectral por transformada de Fourier de Lomb-Scargle para séries desigualmente espaçadas. Os espectros de potência resultantes foram posteriormente comparados com os espectros de séries de espessura individual das unidades litológicas, o que possibilitou a investigação de sinais harmônicos, sobre a qual foram propostas inferências a respeito das escalas temporais de sedimentação. Esta etapa do trabalho revelou escalas milenares para o domínio do tempo nos espectros de potência, indicando o registro dos ciclos orbitais de Milankovitch, bem como quase-periodicidades associadas à variabilidade solar e feedback do sistema oceânico-atmosférico, para todas as análises. Este conjunto de dados sugere o caráter não-anual de deposição dos ritmitos, ao contrário do proposto por alguns autores. O pólo paleomagnético calculado para a seção de Rio do Sul é compatível com o pólo do Permocarbonífero para a Bacia Sanfranciscana (MG), indicando que o intervalo de tempo envolvido na deposição dos sedimentos é suficientemente longo para eliminar os efeitos da variação secular do campo geomagnético. Alguns resultados adicionais desta tese proveram informações especiais: (i) Foram observados ciclos de indução solar (ciclos de Hallstattzein e de Suess) e a sugestão de ciclo compatível com o ciclo glacial-interglacial de Bond, recentemente sugerido como de origem solar, o que apontaria para uma possível feição harmônica, dominante sobre o sistema oceânico-atmosférico, e que poderia operar sobre períodos geológicos mais antigos; (ii) registro da remanência magnética possivelmente controlado por fatores mecânicos na sucessão de Itu, provavelmente relacionados a correntes de turbidez; (iii) indícios da presença de magnetossomas possivelmente rompidas e/ou oxidadas, em especial para a sucessão de Itu. / This work aims to investigate the timescale of the sedimentation of Permocarboniferous rhythmites from Paraná Basin (Itararé Subgroup) cropping out at the Parque do Varvito, (Itu, SP), and at the Itaú quarry, (Trombudo Central, SC) by means of paleomagnetic and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (ASM). The paleomagnetic study revealed stable magnetization components for both sections, which are carried by magnetic carriers (mainly magnetite and hematite) of detritic origin. The characteristic magnetization direction for each section is of reverse polarity and is found in both magnetite and hematite. Several techniques were used in the investigation the magnetic mineralogy including Mossbauer spectrometry, thermomagnetic curves, hysteresis and ZFC/FC curves, optical and electronic microscopy. Although not confirmed, some data pointed to the possibility of magnetic biomineralization with disrupted or oxidized mineral chains. The paleomagnetic and ASM data allowed the construction of time series that were submitted to spectral analysis by the Lomb-Scargle Fourier transform for unevenly spaced series. The resulting power spectra were then compared with the thickness spectrum. Based on the harmonic signals identified in all time series it was possible to infer deposition rates for both Itú and Itaú rhythmites. This procedure pointed to millennial timescale, and periodical signal compatible to Milankovitch orbital forcing, as well quasi-periodicities related to solar variability and feedback of ocean-atmospheric system, were identified in both sections. Such evidences strongly point to the non-annual sedimentation character, in opposition to previous hypothesis. The paleomagnetic data from the Rio do Sul rocks allowed the calculation of a paleomagnetic pole which is in agreement to the one recently obtained for the Santa Fé Group, Sanfranciscana Basin (MG), indicating that the time interval comprised by the Rio do Sul rhythmites is long enough for eliminating the secular variation effects. Results from this work provide also indications for the record of (i) solar forcing cycles (Hallstattzein and Suess cycles); (ii) spectral peak values of 1,5-ky and 6,0 - 8,0 ky cycle, which is compatible to the glacial-interglacial Bond cycle observed in Quaternary geological records. Such result would extend to ancient times the atmosphere-ocean interaction pattern.