Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2004 Depositional environments and sequence stratigraphy of the Rockwell-Price Formation in western Maryland, south-central Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia Darin A. Dolezal West Virginia University Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.edu/etd Recommended Citation Dolezal, Darin A., "Depositional environments and sequence stratigraphy of the Rockwell-Price Formation in western Maryland, south-central Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia" (2004). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports.edu/etd/2030 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s).
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Depositional Environments and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Rockwell-Price Formation in Western Maryland, South-Central Pennsylvania, and Northern West Virginia Darin A. Dolezal Thesis Submitted to the College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geology Richard Smosna, Ph., Chair Thomas Kammer, Ph. John Beuthin, Ph. Department of Geology and Geography Morgantown West Virginia 2004 Keywords: Depositional Environments, Sequence Stratigraphy, Price Formation, Rockwell Formation, Sedimentology Copyright 2004 Darin A.
Dolezal ABSTRACT Depositional Environments and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Rockwell-Price Formation in Western Maryland, South-Central Pennsylvania, and Northern West Virginia Darin A. Dolezal The Price Formation of northern West Virginia consists of Upper Devonian – Lower Mississippian siliciclastic rocks that are primarily marine. Members of the Price Formation include from oldest to youngest the Oswayo, Cussewago, Riddlesburg Shale, and Rockwell. Rocks of the Price Formation are considered to be of genetic and temporal equivalence to the Rockwell Formation in south-central Pennsylvania, western Maryland, and the eastern West Virginia panhandle.
The research attempts to (1) interpret sedimentary facies and their depositional environments and (2) identify stratigraphic relationships across six outcrops in the central Appalachian basin. Outcrops have been measured and described along a 150 km transect from (west) Rowlesburg, West Virginia, to (east) Crystal Spring, Pennsylvania. The six exposures, ranging from approximately 56 to 227 m thick, were visually divided into packages of similar rock (stratigraphic units) according to their physical appearance and carefully described. Corel Draw® software was used to digitally construct small-scale graphic logs from the unit descriptions.
Field descriptions and graphic logs served as the basis for the identification of facies and interpretation of depositional environments. Correlation of outcrops and recognized trends led to statigraphic and paleogeographic relationships. The lower Price Formation and equivalent Rockwell Formation of northern West Virginia, western Maryland, and south-central Pennsylvania represent rocks that were deposited in a shallow coastal embayment during a relatively slow transgression. The outcrop at Rowlesburg represents the mouth of the embayment with sediment deposited in a marine- influenced outer lagoon located behind the barrier islands that closed off the embayment.
East of Rowlesburg was the river-influenced inner lagoon with restricted subtidal and bayhead-delta facies. The outcrops at Finzel and LaVale are interpreted to be a part of the shallow embayment that was strongly influenced by fluvial processes and subject to only moderate tidal energy. Outcrops at Sideling Hill and Crystal Spring reflect the terrestrial realm of the embayment. Fluvial deposits at Sideling Hill and lake deposits at Crystal Spring overlie the Hampshire Formation red beds.
Sandstone of the Cussewago Member represents transgressive beach sediments that changed facies as the beach migrated landward. The Cussewago is interpreted as a barrier island at Rowlesburg, Finzel, and LaVale. At Sideling Hill and Crystal Spring, however, it was a coastal beach. Sequence stratigraphy places the Oswayo and Cussewago members of the Price- Rockwell Formation into the transgressive systems tract.
The transgressive sandstone represents the upper half of the package, and the maximum flooding surface lies in the overlying Riddlesburg Shale Member. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I must express my respect and sincerest gratitude for my advisor Dr. His optimism, encouragement, eagerness, and sense of humor have kept me motivated throughout this study. Lectures attended and papers written at WVU may be forgotten in the future but your friendship and guidance will last a lifetime.
Dr Smosna, thank you for believing in me. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Thomas Kammer and Dr. John Beuthin for their insight, faith, and support in completing this study.
My partner Shane P. Huffman deserves a special thanks for taking on this project and seeing it through. We have spent three years of our lives working together on this study and he has been a rock to lean on. Thank you, Shane, you are a dear friend and I could not have accomplished this without you.
I must thank my beautiful wife for her unconditional love and devotion for me during this time in our lives. She has been my guiding light since day one and if not for her I would not be where I am today. Sweetheart, thank you for your faith, your trust, and your love. I thank my parents for their continual encouragement and support of my education.
They have taught me that a solid work ethic and a strong sense of determination will open countless doors in the future. Thank you mom and dad for being the foundation on which I stand. I thank Dominion E & P, and my co-workers in Jane Lew for their support of accomplishing my degree. Most importantly I thank God for giving me wisdom, strength, and the will to finish.
When I didn’t have the words, He provided. When I wanted to quit, He took my hand. I thank the Lord for the blessings in my life. - The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
–Psalms 27:7 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii INTRODUCTION 1 Purpose of Study 3 Area of Study 4 Methodology 11 REGIONAL STRATIGRAPHY 12 Oswayo Member 12 Cussewago Member 15 Riddlesburg Shale Member 16 Upper Member of the Rockwell 17 Formation and Rockwell Member DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS 18 Barrier Island 18 Description 18 Interpretation 30 Marine-Influenced Outer Lagoon 42 Description 42 Interpretation 58 River-Influenced Inner Lagoon 59 Restricted Subtidal 59 Description 59 Interpretation 65 Bayhead Delta 68 Description 68 Interpretation 75 Lacustrine 77 Lake Beach 77 Description 77 Interpretation 78 Lake Bottom 78 Description 78 Interpretation 78 Fluvial 85 Description 85 Interpretation 85 v Diamictite 86 Description 86 Interpretation 86 PALEOGEOGRAPHY 91 STRATIGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION 96 CONCLUSIONS 111 REFERENCES 113 APPENDIX 1 – FIELD NOTES AND STRATIGRAPHIC COLUMNS 117 Column Symbols 118 1. Rowlesburg, West Virginia 119 2. Keysers Ridge, Maryland 137 3. Sideling Hill, Maryland 171 6.
Crystal Spring, Pennsylvania 195 APPENDIX 2 – SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 206 Introduction 207 History 209 Hierarchy of Stratal Units 210 Lamina, Lamina Sets, Beds, Bed Sets 210 Parasequences 211 Parasequence Boundaries 212 Parasequence Set 214 Sequences 216 Lowstand Systems Tract (LST) 219 Incised Valleys 221 Transgressive Systems Tract (TST) 223 Highstand Systems Tract (HST) 224 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Summary of facies characteristics for the Barrier Island and 19 Marine-Influenced Outer Lagoon. Summary of facies characteristics for the River-Influenced Inner Lagoon. Summary of facies characteristics for the Fluvial and Lacustrine 21 environments.
vii LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page 1. Chronostratigraphic diagram showing stratigraphic relationships 2 in the central Appalachians, from Kammer & Bjerstedt (1986). Map showing location of six outcrops in the study area. Outcrop photo near Rowlesburg, West Virginia 6 4.
Outcrop photo at Finzel, Maryland 7 5. Outcrop photo at LaVale, Maryland 8 6. Outcrop photo of Sideling Hill, Maryland 9 7. Outcrop photo at Crystal Spring, Pennsylvania 10 8.
Stratigraphic cross-section from Bluefield, West Virginia to 13 Crystal Spring, Pennsylvania, from Bjerstedt & Kammer (1988). Stratigraphic diagram showing member names relative to formation 14 names in the study area. Rowlesburg stratigraphic column 22 11. Keysers Ridge stratigraphic column 23 12.
Finzel stratigraphic column 24 13. LaVale stratigraphic column 25 14. Sideling Hill stratigraphic column 26 15. Crystal Spring stratigraphic column 27 16.
Photo ID #1101: Photo shows the wedge-shaped beds in Unit 21 at LaVale. Photo ID #1118: Photo shows the contact (wave ravinement surface) 29 viii indicated by the white arrow of Unit 2 with the underlying diamictite at Sideling Hill. Photo ID #1138: Photo shows granule- to pebble-size quartz conglomerate 31 layer in the base of Unit 10 at Crystal Spring. Photo ID #1139: Photo shows the pebbles in Unit 10 at Crystal Spring 32 with a grain size scale.
Photo ID #0658: Photo shows additional beds of quartz pebble layers 33 in Unit 11 at Crystal Spring. Photo ID #1140: Photo shows scour surface (indicated by arrows) of 34 conglomerate layer in Unit 10 at Crystal Spring. Photo ID #0657: Photo shows trough cross-stratification in Unit 10 35 at Crystal Spring. Photo ID #0659: Photo shows range of thickness of trough cross-stratification 36 in Unit 11 at Crystal Spring.
Notebook has cm scale. Photo ID #0660: Photo shows tool marks at the base of Unit 11 at 37 Crystal Spring. Photo ID #1099: Photo shows erosive base of barrier island sandstone at the 38 base of Unit 21 at LaVale overlain by wedge-shaped bedding. Photo ID #1104: Photo shows wave ravinement surface (indicated by arrow) 39 at the base of Unit 24A at LaVale.
Erosion into underlying diamictite is more obvious in outcrop. Photo ID #1113: Photo shows a thin gravel lag with grain size scale in 40 the wave ravinement surface at the base of Unit 24A at LaVale. Photo ID #1120: Photo shows dark gray to purple colored shale 41 above the basal sandstone and below the scour based sandstone bed. This shale package is the Riddlesburg at Sideling Hill.
Up section is to the upper right in the photo. Photo ID #1141: Photo shows bidirectional cross-stratification in 43 Unit 10 at Crystal Spring. Photo ID #0572: Photo shows sharp basal contact (indicated by arrows) 45 of Unit 34 at Rowlesburg. Note the large convex “conglomeratic bar” at the base.
Photo ID #0569: Photo shows sharp basal contact (indicated by arrow) 46 of Unit 32 at Rowlesburg. Photo ID #0497: Photo shows scouring (indicated by arrows) of Unit 24 47 into lower units at Rowlesburg. Photo ID #0571: Photo shows close-up of quartz pebble conglomerate 48 (shown by arrow) at base of Unit 34 at Rowlesburg noted in figure 30. Photo ID #0515: Photo shows low-angle inclined bedding above 49 (indicated by line) and trough cross-bedding below in Unit 11 at Rowlesburg.
Photo ID #0524: Photo shows large-scale planar cross-bedding in 50 Unit 24 at Rowlesburg. Photo ID #0492: Photo shows trace fossils in the basal bedding 51 plane of Unit 3 at Rowlesburg. Photo ID #0517: Photo shows large vertical burrow in Unit 11 52 at Rowlesburg. Photo ID #0510: Photo shows burrows in the basal bedding 53 x plane of Unit 11 at Rowlesburg.
Photo ID #0512: Photo shows large horizontal burrow in the basal 54 bedding plane of Unit 11 at Rowlesburg. Photo ID #0568: Photo shows horizontal burrow in the basal 55 bedding plane of Unit 30 at Rowlesburg. Photo ID #0514: Photo shows brachiopods in the basal 56 bedding plane of Unit 11 at Rowlesburg. Photo ID #0513: Photo shows coalified tree bark in the basal 57 bedding plane of Unit 11 at Rowlesburg.
Photo ID #1087: Photo shows sharp basal contact of 60 Unit 1 with the underlying Hampshire red beds at LaVale. Photo ID #1150: Photo shows coarsening and thickening upward 61 beds at Finzel. Note the sharp basal contact with the Hampshire red beds.