EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS

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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Development of a shallow epeiric or
epicontinental sea Continent situated on the
equator, so waters most likely
warm Significant carbonate deposits
accumulate Deep water sediments (shales) are
accumulating on margins
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Cambrian stromatolites Petrified Sea
Gardens Saratoga Springs, NY
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Mauv Ls.
Bright Angel Sh.
Tapeats Ss.
Nonconformity
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN PALEOCLIMATE
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
CAMBRIAN PALEOCLIMATE
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Ordovician named after the Ordovices, an
early Celtic tribe named by Charles Lapworth
as a compromise in 1879
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Ordovician continents still centered along
Equator
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Ouachita Terrane Broken off Laurentia Forms a
microcontinent Will collide with South
America
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Taconic Orogenic Belt Begins development along
margins of Laurentia and Baltica
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Global sea level is high Gondwanaland moving
towards South Pole
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Gondwanaland moving towards South Pole Leads to
glaciation at the end of Ordovician
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Sea level high Canadian Shield being covered
by sediments Shallow water carbonates in the
mid-continent regions with mudcracks and
stromatolites in Early Ordovician
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Carbonate deposition ended in the Middle
Ordovician Region was downwarped Caused by
closing of the Iapetus Ocean along a
subduction zone
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
Prior to the Taconic orogeny, the "east" coast of
what is now the United States was located near
the Hudson River valley, Philadelphia,
Washington, DC and extended to western South
Carolina. The Taconic Orogeny added land to
Proto North America that is now the western
portions of New England and the Canadian
Maritime provinces. This collision added land
and raised mountains southward through northern
New Jersey, south-eastern Pennsylvania,
Virginia and North Carolina. Occurred
approximately 460-480 myBP
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
The Taconic island chain began to collide with
Proto North America about 470 to 450 million
years ago The energy of ongoing impacts was
still raising mountains from Canada to Virginia
430 million years ago. The Iapetus Ocean, which
had been the shoreline for Proto North America,
is closing as Western and Eastern Avalonia,
following behind the Taconic arc, are heading
for collision with the recently-extended coast
of Proto North America.
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
TAC Taconic Island Chain EAV Eastern Avalon
Terrane WAV Western Avalon Terrane
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
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Earliest
Taconic Orogeny
Latest
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
St. Peter Sandstone
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
St. Peter Sandstone
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EARLY PALEOZOIC EVENTS
ORDOVICIAN PALEOGEOGRAPHY
St. Peter Sandstone