RUI: Upper Devonian Black Shales in Eastern North America, Conodont Biostratigraphy, Frasnian-Famennian Mass Extinction Horizon, and Absolute Dates from Associated Ash Layers

9614314北美东部上泥盆统黑色页岩对油气资源、全球气候变化的认识以及全球大灭绝事件的发生都具有重要意义，但从未系统地收集到这些数据来确定完整的牙形刺生物分带。这很简单，因为工人们在从黑色页岩中回收牙形刺遇到了困难，转而专注于绿色页岩和碳酸盐夹层。其结果是在阿巴拉契亚、伊利诺伊和密歇根盆地的黑色页岩中出现了未被描述的分类群、不完整的分带和微弱的相关性。通过对黑色页岩层位的仔细采样，可以实现高分辨率生物地层学和全球事件层位的识别。在俄克拉荷马州的伍德福德页岩中，已经识别出生物带、隐蔽的不整合、弗拉斯尼亚-法门期边界和泥盆纪-石炭系边界--完全在黑色页岩中。在阿巴拉契亚盆地北部，类似的采样和处理技术已经发现了新的分类群，并在纽约的汉诺威页岩和俄亥俄州的上奥伦唐页岩中隔离了弗拉斯尼亚-法门尼亚边界。在米德尔塞克斯页岩和管道溪页岩中描述了牙形刺，这两个黑色页岩之前曾被取消分区。该项目的目的是扩展之前的研究和目前正在调查的初步样本材料，系统地收集北美东部三个盆地的黑色页岩序列，描述牙形刺动物群，并利用修订的分类学和对比技术来准备完整的安特里姆页岩(密歇根盆地)、查塔努加页岩(阿巴拉契亚盆地南部)和新奥尔巴尼页岩(伊利诺伊盆地)的分区方案。这项研究将不同于以往的工作，收集黑色页岩层位。这将能够识别微小的不整合面、火山灰层，并确定生物带的范围。在这一生物地层学框架内，盆地之间的小规模沉积旋回将相互关联，已知火山灰层(如中央山、贝尔普雷)的绝对日期以及在最近采样中发现的火山灰层将被捆绑在一起。其结果将是对生物带和沉积旋回间隔的更清楚的理解，并在相对和绝对时间尺度上指示东部页岩建造的不同成员的沉积速率。这也将使黑色页岩相内离散的成员和层的精确对比成为可能。本科生的研究参与是该项目的主要关注点。学生将收集、加工和分析微型化石的地层，并利用岩相学技术、扫描电子显微镜和用于元素测定的能量色散X射线分析来表征火山灰层位。

9614314 Over The Upper Devonian black shales in eastern North America are important for hydrocarbon resources, understanding of global climate change, and the occurrence of a global mass extinction event, have never been systematically collected to determine the complete conodont biozoneation. this is simply because workers have had difficulties recovering conodonts from the black shales and have instead focused on green shale and carbonate interbeds. The result is undescribed taxa, incomplete zonations, and tenuous correlations of black shales in the Appalachian, Illinois, and Michigan basins. High resolution biostratigraphy and recognition of global event horizons is possible by careful sampling of black shale horizons. Biozones, cryptic disconformities, the Frasnian-Famennian boundary, and the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary have been recognized in the Woodford Shale of Oklahoma - entirely within black shale. Similar sampling and processing techniques in the northern Appalachian Basin have recovered new taxa, as well as isolated the Frasnian-Famennian boundary in the Hanover Shale of New York and the Upper Olentangy Shale of Ohio. Conodonts have been described from the Middlesex and Pipe Creek shales, two petroliferous black shales that had previously been unzoned. The purpose of this project is to expand upon previous studies and preliminary sample materials that are currently under investigation to systematically collect black shale sequences in the three eastern North American basins, describe conodont faunas, and utilize revised taxonomy and correlation techniques to prepare complete zonal schemes for the Antrim Shale (Michigan Basin), Chattanooga Shale (southern Appalachian Basin), and New Albany Shale (Illinois Basin). This study will differ from previous works by collecting the black shale horizons. This will enable recognition of minor disconformities, ash horizons, and determine the ranges of biozones. Within this biostratigraphic framework small scale depositional cyc les will be correlatable between basins and absolute dates of known ash beds (e.g., Center Hill, Belpre), as well as ash beds found during recent sampling, will be tied together. The result will be a clearer understanding of biozone and depositional cycle intervals, and an indication of depositional rates for the different members of the eastern shale formations on relative and absolute time scales. This will also allow precise correlation of discrete members and beds within the black shale facies. Undergraduate research participation is a primary focus within the project. Students will collect, process, and analyze strata for microfossils and characterize ash horizons utilizing petrographic techniques, the scanning electron microscope, and energy dispersive x-ray analysis for elemental determination.