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.

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