The rise of pinnacle reefs; islands of diversity in seas of despair

Patrick I. McLaughlin; Alyssa M. Bancroft; Carlton E. Brett; Poul Emsbo; Lee J. Florea

doi:10.1130/2018.0051(02)

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Journal article

The rise of pinnacle reefs; islands of diversity in seas of despair

Patrick I. McLaughlin, Alyssa M. Bancroft, Carlton E. Brett, Poul Emsbo and Lee J. Florea

Field guide (Geological Society of America), Vol.51, pp.23-33

12/10/2018

DOI: 10.1130/2018.0051(02)

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Abstract

Pinnacle reef tracts are geomorphic features of carbonate systems that originated in the early Silurian and display an episodic distribution into the Cenozoic. Detailed study of Silurian pinnacle reefs of the United States midcontinent demonstrates repeated motifs, but most enigmatic is the coincidence of carbonate carbon isotope (delta (super 13) C (sub carb) ) excursions and reef pulses. Silurian delta (super 13) C (sub carb) excursions were associated with environmental changes and extinctions, and reefs appear to mark a resurgence of conditions favorable to biomineralizers following those extinction events. Previous workers in the region identified six discrete reef origination events in the United States midcontinent during the Silurian. Our reevaluation of outcrops and cores, conodont collections, and the generation of considerable new chemostratigraphic data across the region are clarifying the age relations of these events and their relationships to perturbations of the global carbon cycle.

biostratigraphy

C-13/C-12

carbon

carbon cycle

carbonate rocks

Cataract Formation

chemostratigraphy

Chordata

Conodonta

cores

geochemical cycle

geomorphology

guidebook

isotope ratios

isotopes

Lower Silurian

microfossils

Midcontinent

outcrops

paleoenvironment

Paleozoic

pinnacle reefs

Pleasant Mills Formation

reefs

road log

Salamonie Dolomite

sea-level changes

sedimentary rocks

sequence stratigraphy

Sexton Creek Limestone

Silurian

stable isotopes

Stratigraphy

tectonics

temporal distribution

unconformities

United States

Vertebrata

Wabash Formation

Details

Title: Subtitle: The rise of pinnacle reefs; islands of diversity in seas of despair
Creators: Patrick I. McLaughlin - Indiana University
Alyssa M. Bancroft
Carlton E. Brett
Poul Emsbo
Lee J. Florea - Indiana University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Field guide (Geological Society of America), Vol.51, pp.23-33
Publisher: Geological Society of America
DOI: 10.1130/2018.0051(02)
ISSN: 2333-0937
eISSN: 2333-0945
Number of pages: 11
Alternative title: Ancient oceans, orogenic uplifts, and glacial ice; geologic crossroads in America's heartland
Language: English
Date published: 12/10/2018
Academic Unit: Earth and Environmental Sciences; Iowa Geological Survey; IIHR--Hydroscience and Engineering
Record Identifier: 9984702729002771

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