Geology topics

David F. Ufnar

Publications and source records attributed to David F. Ufnar.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2008

Precipitation rates and atmospheric heat transport during the Cenomanian greenhouse warming in North America: Estimates from a stable isotope mass-balance model

Stable isotope mass-balance modeling results of meteoric ??18O values from the Cenomanian Stage of the Cretaceous Western Interior Basin (KWIB) suggest that precipitation and evaporation fluxes were greater than that of the present and significantly different from simulations of Albian KWIB paleohydrology. Sphaerosiderite meteoric ??18O values have been compiled from the Lower Tuscaloosa Formation of southwestern Mississippi (25??N paleolatitude), The Dakota Formation Rose Creek Pit, Fairbury Nebraska (35??N) and the Dunvegan Formation of eastern British Columbia (55??N paleolatitude). These paleosol siderite ??18O values define a paleolatitudinal gradient ranging from - 4.2??? VPDB at 25??N to - 12.5??? VPDB at 55??N. This trend is significantly steeper and more depleted than a modern theoretical siderite gradient (25??N: - 1.7???; 65??N: - 5.6??? VPDB ), and a Holocene meteoric calcite trend (27??N: - 3.6???; 67??N: - 7.4??? VPDB). The Cenomanian gradient is also comparatively steeper than the Albian trend determined for the KWIB in the mid- to high latitudes. The steep latitudinal trend in meteoric ??18O values may be the result of increased precipitation and evaporation fluxes (amount effects) under a more vigorous greenhouse-world hydrologic cycle. A stable-isotope mass-balance model has been used to generate estimates of precipitation and evaporation fluxes and precipitation rates. Estimates of Cenomanian precipitation rates based upon the mass-balance modeling of the KWIB range from 1400??mm/yr at 25??N paleolatitude to 3600??mm/yr at 45??N paleolatitude. The precipitation-evaporation (P-E) flux values were used to delineate zones of moisture surplus and moisture deficit. Comparisons between Cenomanian P-E and modern theoretical siderite, and Holocene calcite latitudinal trends shows an amplification of low-latitude moisture deficits between 5-25??N paleolatitude and moisture surpluses between 40-60??N paleolatitude. The low-latitude moisture deficits correlate with a mean annual average heat loss of 48??W/m2 at 10??N paleolatitude (present, 8??W/m2 at 15??N). The increased precipitation flux and moisture surplus in the mid-latitudes corresponds to a mean average annual heat gain of 180??W/m2 at 50??N paleolatitude (present, 17??W/m2 at 50??N). The Cenomanian low-latitude moisture deficit is similar to that of the Albian, however the mid-latitude (40-60??N) precipitation flux values and precipitation rates are significantly higher (Albian: 2200??mm/yr at 45??N; Cenomanian: 3600??mm/yr at 45??N). Furthermore, the heat transferred to the atmosphere via latent heat of condensation was approximately 10.6?? that of the present at 50??N. The intensified hydrologic cycle of the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse warming may have played a significant role in the poleward transfer of heat and more equable global conditions. Paleoclimatological reconstructions from multiple time periods during the mid-Cretaceous will aid in a better understanding of the dynamics of the hydrologic cycle and latent heat flux during greenhouse world conditions.

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology↗

USGS2006

Recognizing the Albian-Cenomanian (OAE1d) sequence boundary using plant carbon isotopes: Dakota Formation, Western Interior Basin, USA

Analysis of bulk sedimentary organic matter and charcoal from an Albian-Cenomanian fluvial-estuarine succession (Dakota Formation) at Rose Creek Pit (RCP), Nebraska, reveals a negative excursion of ???3???, in late Albian strata. Overlying Cenomanian strata have ??13C values of -24???, to -23???, that are similar to pre-excursion values. The absence of an intervening positive excursion (as exists in marine records of the Albian-Cenomanian boundary) likely results from a depositional hiatus. The corresponding positive ??13C event and proposed depositional hiatus are concordant with a regionally identified sequence boundary in the Dakota Formation (D2), as well as a major regressive phase throughout the globe at the Albian-Cenomanian boundary. Data from RCP confirm suggestions that some positive carbon-isotope excursions in the geologic record are coincident with regressive sea-level phases. We estimate using isotopic correlation that the D2 sequence boundary at RCP was on the order of 0.5 m.y. in duration. Therefore, interpretations of isotopic events and associated environmental phenomena, such as oceanic anoxic events, in the shallow-marine and terrestrial record may be influenced by stratigraphic incompleteness. Further investigation of terrestrial ??13C records may be useful in recognizing and constraining sea-level changes in the geologic record. ?? 2006 Geological Society of America.

Geology↗

USGS2003

Aggradation of gravels in tidally influenced fluvial systems: Upper Albian (Lower Cretaceous) on the cratonic margin of the North American Western Interior foreland basin

Alluvial conglomerates were widely distributed around the margin of the Early Cretaceous North American Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway (KWIS). Conglomerates, sandstones, and lesser amounts of mudstones of the upper Albian Nishnabotna Member of the Dakota Formation were deposited as fill-in valleys that were incised up to 80 m into upper Paleozoic strata. These paleovalleys extended southwestward across present-day northwestern Iowa into eastern Nebraska. Conglomerate samples from four localities in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska consist mostly of polycrystalline quartz with lesser amounts of microcrystalline (mostly chert), and monocrystalline quartz. Previous studies discovered that some chert pebbles contain Ordovician-Pennsylvanian invertebrate fossils. The chert clasts analyzed in this study were consistent with these findings. In addition, we found that non-chert clasts consist of metaquartzite, strained monocrystalline quartz and 'vein' quartz from probable Proterozic sources, indicating that parts of the fluvial system's sediment load must have travelled distances of 400-1200 km. The relative tectonic stability of this subcontinent dictated that stream gradients were relatively low with estimates ranging from 0.3 to 0.6 m/km. Considering the complex sedimentologic relationships that must have been involved, the ability of low-gradient easterly-sourced rivers to entrain gravel clasts was primarily a function of paleodischarge rather than a function of steep gradients. Oxygen isotopic evidence from Albian sphaerosiderite-bearing paleosols in the Dakota Formation and correlative units from Kansas to Alaska suggest that mid-latitude continental rainfall in the Albian was perhaps twice that of the modern climate system. Hydrologic fluxes may have been related to wet-dry climatic cycles on decade or longer scales that could account for the required water supply flux. Regardless of temporal scale, gravels were transported during 'high-energy' pulses, under humid climatic conditions in large catchment areas. An overall rising sea level during the late Albian created accommodation space for the gravelly lithofacies equivalent to the Kiowa-Skull Creek rocks. As Western Interior sea level rose, regional stream gradients were reduced, resulting in regional fluvial aggradation. The conglomeratic lower parts of the Nishnabotna Member of the Dakota Formation formed the transgressive systems tract within an upper Albian sequence that is defined by two unconformities that can be traced from marine Kiowa strata in western Kansas northeastward into western Iowa (Brenner et al., 2000). Mud-draped cross-bedded sandstone bodies, laminated mudstone intervals, and vertical burrows in the lower strata of the Nishnabotna Member indicate that estuarine conditions existed at the mouths of the river system, and tidal effects were transmitted at least 200 km inland from the interpreted late Albian coast. These observations suggest that estuarine conditions stepped up the incised valleys as fluvial sediments aggraded in response to regional transgression that continued through the Late Albian. ?? 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cretaceous Research↗

USGS2002

The mid-cretaceous water bearer: Isotope mass balance quantification of the Albian hydrologic cycle

A latitudinal gradient in meteoric ??18O compositions compiled from paleosol sphaerosiderites throughout the Cretaceous Western Interior Basin (KWIB) (34-75??N paleolatitude) exhibits a steeper, more depleted trend than modern (predicted) values (3.0??? [34??N latitude] to 9.7??? [75??N] lighter). Furthermore, the sphaerosiderite meteoric ??18O latitudinal gradient is significantly steeper and more depleted (5.8??? [34??N] to 13.8??? [75??N] lighter) than a predicted gradient for the warm mid-Cretaceous using modern empirical temperature-??18O precipitation relationships. We have suggested that the steeper and more depleted (relative to the modern theoretical gradient) meteoric sphaerosiderite ??18O latitudinal gradient resulted from increased air mass rainout effects in coastal areas of the KWIB during the mid-Cretaceous. The sphaerosiderite isotopic data have been used to constrain a mass balance model of the hydrologic cycle in the northern hemisphere and to quantify precipitation rates of the equable 'greenhouse' Albian Stage in the KWIB. The mass balance model tracks the evolving isotopic composition of an air mass and its precipitation, and is driven by latitudinal temperature gradients. Our simulations indicate that significant increases in Albian precipitation (34-52%) and evaporation fluxes (76-96%) are required to reproduce the difference between modern and Albian meteoric siderite ??18O latitudinal gradients. Calculations of precipitation rates from model outputs suggest mid-high latitude precipitation rates greatly exceeded modern rates (156-220% greater in mid latitudes [2600-3300 mm/yr], 99% greater at high latitudes [550 mm/yr]). The calculated precipitation rates are significantly different from the precipitation rates predicted by some recent general circulation models (GCMs) for the warm Cretaceous, particularly in the mid to high latitudes. Our mass balance model by no means replaces GCMs. However, it is a simple and effective means of obtaining quantitative data regarding the mid-Cretaceous hydrologic cycle in the KWIB. Our goal is to encourage the incorporation of isotopic tracers into GCM simulations of the mid-Cretaceous, and to show how our empirical data and mass balance model estimates help constrain the boundary conditions. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology↗