1. Late Paleozoic Geology

2. Late Paleozoic • Includes Devonian, Carboniferous, & Permian

3. Late PaleozoicIntroduction • Formation of supercontinent - Pangaea • Surrounded by global ocean - Panthalassa • Fluctuating sea level • Due to major continental ice sheets – advance/retreat • Various climatic conditions – arid & semiarid climates • Sedimentary rocks: coal, evaporites, & tillites • Continental collisions – mountain building

4. Late Paleozoic PaleogeographyWorld View • Late Devonian • Baltica meets Laurentia; Iapetus closes • Caledonian Orogeny • Laurasia meets Gondwana • Acadian Orogeny • Collision of island arc – western margin • Antler Orogeny

5. Late Paleozoic PaleogeographyWorld View • Carboniferous (known for coal deposits) • Continents coming together • Gondwana collides with Laurasia • Siberia meets Kazakhstania • Quachita Mountains

6. Late Paleozoic PaleogeographyWorld View • Late Permian • Assembly of Pangaea complete • Surrounded by one large ocean - Panthalassa • Bounded by mountains • Rainshadow – arid climate

7. Late Paleozoic Cordilleran Craton Appalachian Late Paleozoic Early Paleozoic • Major events of North America • Kaskaskia Sequence • Absaroka Sequence • Major Orogenies • Antler (Corilleran) • Acadian, Quachitan, Alleghenian (Appalachian)

8. Paleozoic – Early DevonianNorth America Paleogeography • Kaskaskia Sequence • Major unconformity • Between Tippecanoe and Kaskaskia • Clean SS (Oriskany); some carbonates • Source from eroding Appalachian • Canadian reefs • Barrier reef restricts flow - evaporites • Black shales • Mtn source – Acadian Orogeny

9. Paleozoic – Upper Miss-Lower JurNorth America Paleogeography • Absaroka Sequence • Unconformity • Miss–Perm boundary • Cyclothems • Nonmarine-coal-Marine • Transgression-Regression • Ancestral Rockies • Gondwana collided with Laurasia • Evaporite & Reef Deposition • Basins within ancestral Rockies

10. Absaroka SequenceTypical Coal-BearingCyclothem • Represent transgression & regression sequences • Separated by erosional surface • Represents ideal conditions – not all beds are represented

11. Coal Development • Large lowland next to sea • Slight rise in sea level  flood; slight drop  exposure • Results in alternating marine & nonmarine environment • Modern examples: Mississippi Delta, Florida Everglades

12. Ancestral RockiesSouthwest N. America • Collision of Gondwana and Laurasia • Fault-bounded uplifted blocks • Exposure and erosion of pre-Є basement • Coarse, red arkosic sand & conglomerate

13. Capitan Limestone, Guadalupe Mtns Permian Reef Reconstruction Ancestral RockiesEvaporite & Reef Deposits • Occurred in various basins bordering ancestral Rockies • Barrier reef restricted flow • Evaporites (central basin); reefs (perimeter)

14. Late PaleozoicOrogenies • Cordilleran Mobile Belt • Antler Orogeny • Quachita Mobile Belt • Quachitan Orogeny • Appalachian Mobile Belt • Caledonian Orogeny • Acadian Orogeny • The Old Red Sandstones • Alleghenian Orogeny