Phanerozoic paleogeography,paleoenvironment and lithofacies maps of the circum-Atalantic margins

摘要

A series of maps was constructed,depicting the plate tectonic configuration,paleogeography,baleoenvironment and lithofacies for Phanerozoic time intervals from Cambrian through the Neogene.These are world maps comprising 300 continental plates and terranes,but are reprojected here to illustrate the circum-Atlantic margins.The relative jpositin of the continents through time was largely derived from Plates and PALEOMAP software.These maps illusrate the JPhanerozoic geodynamic evolutin of hte Earth.They show the relationship of the continental configuration,lithofacies,tectonics,and climate,from the time of hte diassembly of Rodinia to the assembly and break-up of Pangea.From a regional perspective,the facies in basins along the circum-Atlantic margin reflect various stages of rifting and passive margin development.Inversio caused by ridge push played an important role in the basin evolutin and has influenced the distribution of lithofacties at various times.The power of the maps is realized in their application as an aid to the visualization of the relationship of regional basin development,sedimentation and erosion to the deposition of potential source-rock,reservoir and seals.The individual maps illustrate the conditions present during the maximum marine transgressions of sea-level within the Sauk,Tippecanoe,Kaskaskia,Absaroka,Zuni,and Tejas megasequences of Sloss.Relative sea level cyclicity,chronostratigraphy,and regional unconformities provide the basis for partitioning these higher frequency depositional cycles into 32 subdivisions (supersequences) ranging in duratio from 11 to 39 my.In this report 14 of these time slices are used to illustrate the environments and lithologies resulting from changes in the geographic position of the terranes which constitute the present Atlantic margins.The text attempts to fill in details of the progressive change between mapped intervals.Data for the maps were derived from geologic reports,maps and stratigraphic columns adn other paleogeographic interpretations regarding tectonics,basin formation,and deposition.The lithofacies are depicted by 21 patterns.