Devonian to Carboniferous Earth Systems Change in Western Laurentia

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dc.contributor.advisorBeauchamp, Benoît
dc.contributor.advisorGrasby, Stephen E.
dc.contributor.authorHedhli, Makram
dc.contributor.committeememberMeyer, Rudi
dc.contributor.committeememberHenderson, Charles M.
dc.contributor.committeememberDutchak, Alexander
dc.date2019-11
dc.date.accessioned2019-05-23T16:00:25Z
dc.date.available2019-05-23T16:00:25Z
dc.date.issued2019-05-22
dc.description.abstractThe Devonian to Carboniferous (DC) transition is marked globally by carbonate factories turnover, anoxia, profound unconformities and mass extinctions. Various authors have proposed global mechanisms such as meteorite impact, global climate cooling, anoxia, intensification of upwelling, etc. The DC boundary in western Canada and western United States has recorded this major Earth Systems change. Yet, a holistic study of this subject is non-existent. Sixteen sections across the DC boundary from Famennian to Viséan strata, in Alberta, Montana and Nevada were measured, sampled and analyzed. The DC sequence stratigraphy of western Laurentia was revisited based on microfacies analysis and field observations performed in these sections. The DC anoxia was also studied from five outcrop sections, providing the first coherent understanding of environmental changes along the continental margin of western Laurentia. Sediment provenance was examined based on detrital zircon analysis. Carbonate factories turnover and a depositional change from a Devonian warm-water carbonate ramp to a Carboniferous cool-water carbonate distally-steepened ramp were documented. Microfacies distribution in time was compared with geochemical proxies to emphasize the interaction between the biosphere, oceanography and palaeoclimate at the onset of the Permian-Carboniferous ice-house climatic mode. Two low-order T-R sequences were correlated from Alberta to Nevada. Results from this work provide clarification of the spatial-temporal extent of environmental changes and anoxia across Laurentia. This work demonstrates that these events are unrelated to the Hangenberg event recorded in Europe, as commonly suggested by various authors. Carbonate factories shut down and turnover, influx of westerly-derived sediments that are sourced from the Antler terranes, with northern affinities suggest that the Antler Orogeny, and associated plate tectonic reorganization, were the main contributors to the DC Earth Systems change in western Laurentia, rather than being part of a global event. This study demonstrates that the simple global-event paradigm across the D-C boundary does not adequately explain regional changes in the rock record.en_US
dc.identifier.citationHedhli, M. (2019). Devonian to Carboniferous Earth Systems Change in Western Laurentia (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36544
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/110375
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyScienceen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectDevonianen_US
dc.subjectExshawen_US
dc.subjectBanff Formationen_US
dc.subjectwestern Laurentiaen_US
dc.subjectHangenbergen_US
dc.subjectAnoxiaen_US
dc.subjectBakken Formationen_US
dc.subjectmicrofacies analysisen_US
dc.subjectdetrital zirconsen_US
dc.subjectupwellingen_US
dc.subjectcarbonate turnoveren_US
dc.subjectDevonian-Carboniferous boundaryen_US
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Sciencesen_US
dc.subject.classificationGeologyen_US
dc.titleDevonian to Carboniferous Earth Systems Change in Western Laurentiaen_US
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineGeoscienceen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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