Transcript EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS CAMBRIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY

EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN
PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Development of a shallow epeiric or
epicontinental sea
Continent situated on the equator,
so waters most likely warm
Significant carbonate deposits
accumulate
Deep water sediments (shales) are
accumulating on margins
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Cambrian stromatolites
Petrified Sea Gardens
Saratoga Springs, NY
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CAMBRIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Mauv Ls.
Bright Angel Sh.
Tapeats Ss.
Nonconformity
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN PALEOCLIMATE
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN PALEOCLIMATE
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Ordovician
named after the Ordovices, an early Celtic tribe
named by Charles Lapworth as a compromise in 1879
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Ordovician continents still
centered along Equator
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ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Ouachita Terrane
Broken off Laurentia
Forms a microcontinent
Will collide with South
America
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ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Taconic Orogenic Belt
Begins development along
margins of Laurentia
and Baltica
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ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Global sea level is high
Gondwanaland moving towards South Pole
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ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Gondwanaland moving towards South Pole
Leads to glaciation at the end of Ordovician
EARLY PALEOZOIC
EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN
PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Sea level high
Canadian Shield being covered
by sediments
Shallow water carbonates in the
mid-continent regions with
mudcracks and stromatolites
in Early Ordovician
EARLY PALEOZOIC
EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN
PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Carbonate deposition ended in
the Middle Ordovician
Region was downwarped
Caused by closing of the Iapetus
Ocean along a subduction zone
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ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Prior to the Taconic orogeny, the "east" coast of what is now
the United States was located near the Hudson River
valley, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and extended to
western South Carolina.
The Taconic Orogeny added land to Proto North America that
is now the western portions of New England and the
Canadian Maritime provinces. This collision added land
and raised mountains southward through northern
New Jersey, south-eastern Pennsylvania, Virginia and
North Carolina.
Occurred approximately 460-480 myBP
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
The Taconic island chain began to collide with Proto
North America about 470 to 450 million years ago
The energy of ongoing impacts was still raising mountains from
Canada to Virginia 430 million years ago.
The Iapetus Ocean, which had been the shoreline for Proto North
America, is closing as Western and Eastern Avalonia,
following behind the Taconic arc, are heading for collision
with the recently-extended coast of Proto North America.
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TAC
Taconic Island Chain
EAV
Eastern Avalon Terrane
WAV
Western Avalon Terrane
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ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Earliest
Taconic Orogeny
Latest
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ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
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St. Peter Sandstone
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
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St. Peter Sandstone
EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
St. Peter Sandstone