Cape Phillips Formation, Arctic Canada and their relation to biotic events

Silurian biotic crises in the graptolite community; the early Wenlockian Ireviken, mid Wenlockian Cyrtograptus lundgreni, and end Wenlockian Colonograptus ludensis extinction events. Positive δ13Corg excursions are associated with the Ireviken and C. lundgreni events, but not the Co. ludensis Event....

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Paula J. Noble, Matthew K. Zimmerman, Chris Holmden, Alfred C. Lenz
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.495.104
http://sil.usask.ca/holmden/list_2/noble_et_al_2005_cjes.pdf
Description
Summary:Silurian biotic crises in the graptolite community; the early Wenlockian Ireviken, mid Wenlockian Cyrtograptus lundgreni, and end Wenlockian Colonograptus ludensis extinction events. Positive δ13Corg excursions are associated with the Ireviken and C. lundgreni events, but not the Co. ludensis Event. The Ireviken and C. lundgreni excursions are rec-ognized worldwide and are herein interpreted to be the result of carbonate weathering in response to eustatic sea-level drop. The C. lundgreni excursion is of greater magnitude in the more proximal basin margin section at Abbott River, Cornwallis Island, and is explained by the amplification of a more strongly positive δ13C signature in shallower parts of an epeiric basin during increased exposure and weathering of the carbonate shelf. Excursion C5, within the Co. praedeubeli – Co. deubeli Zone, is also of regional significance, as it occurs in both the Abbott River section and Twilight Creek section on Bathurst Island, and is also recognized in Estonia, Poland, and England. Excursion C6 is recognized in the Gorstian Stage, yet its regional significance remains equivocal. There is a reasonable general agree-ment between the shape of the δ13Corg and δ13Ccarb curves, yet the δ13Ccarb curve is largely a record of detrital carbon-ate derived from the shelf. The δ13Corg curve represents extraction of dissolved inorganic carbon by plankton and thus is more indicative of ambient paleoceanographic conditions. These data are valuable in that they provide a detailed sec-ular marine δ13C curve for the Wenlockian of Arctic Canada from relatively unaltered sections of varying facies whose ages are well constrained by graptolite biostratigraphy.