from:
38th Annual Meeting Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America
and 29th Annual Meeting Atlantic Geoscience Society: http://www.dal.ca/~es/2003GSA/2003-NEGSA.htm
Chronology and stratigraphy of the Fundy and related Nova Scotia offshore basins and
Morocco based on core and outcrop
Paul
Olsen1, Dennis V. Kent1, 2,
and Mohammed Et-Touhami13
1 Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, 61 RT 9W, Palisades, NY 10964-1000 USA
2 Dept. of Geological Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
3 LGVBS, Département des Sciences de la Terre, Université Mohamed Premier, Oujda, Oujda, 60 000, Morocco
The Late Triassic age Blomidon Formation consists nearly entirely of massive gypsiferous mudstone and
sandstones arranged into distinctive sand patch cycles, many of which show various salt dissolution
features. Identical Late Triassic, cyclical, largely clastic facies are widespread in Morocco, on the
conjugate margin to Nova Scotia, where it frequently passes in the subsurface into extensive thick and
laterally extensive halite deposits. Similar deposits also are present on the Scotian, Newfoundland, and
Moroccan shelves.
The GAV-77-3 core, collected by Getty Mines in 1977 as part of a Uranium prospecting survey, covers
nearly all of the North Mountain Basalt and all of the fine grained portion of the Blomidon Formation.
Two other cores, GAV-77-1 and GAV-77-2 were also collected in the same area, but cover less of the
section. These cores very nicely complement the spectacular outcrops along the Fundy shores and provided
a basis for the development of a complete lithological and paleomagnetic reversal stratigraphy for the
Blomidon Formation (Kent and Olsen, 2000). The paleomagnetic polarity stratigraphy of the outcropping
Blomidon Formation is known only for isolated intervals, but these in conjunction with lithostraigraphy
allow unambiguous correlation registry between core and outcrop. Correlation of the GAV-77-3 core
polarity stratigraphy with the Newark GPTS, also based on core is fairly straightforward as is
correlation with the Moroccan Bigoudine Formation of the Argana basin.
These correlations demonstrate that the major cyclical wet climatic intervals in the Newark basin
sequence can be recognized in the Fundy and Argana basins and should also be expressed in the
intervening basins on the shelves. In addition they demonstrate the synchrony of major climate changes
caused by the very long term celestial mechanical cycles of a very large part of central Pangea.
Portions of the GAV-77-3 core as well as shorter cores from the offshore basins of Nova Scotia will be
on display, along with photographs and sections of the Fundy and Moroccan outcrops.
Kent, D.V. and Olsen, P.E., 2000, Magnetic polarity stratigraphy and paleolatitude of the
Triassic--Jurassic Blomidon Formation in the Fundy basin (Canada): implications for early Mesozoic
tropical climate gradients. Earth And Planetary Science Letters, v. 179, no. 2. p. 311-324.