Stratigraphy of the uppermost Old Red Sandstone of Svalbard (Mimerdalen Subgroup)

Piepjohn, Karsten; Dallmann, Winfried K.

doi:10.3402/polar.v33.19998

Cited by 30 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…1C), we reinvestigated reports and made new discoveries of in-situ lycopsids formerly attributed to Archaeosigillaria (but in this paper to Protolepidodendropsis) from the Plantekløfta Formation in Munindalen (Fig. 1B), previously considered to be of latest Devonian age (Dallmann et al, 2004;Piepjohn and Dallmann, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Lycopsid forests in the early Late Devonian paleoequatorial zone of Svalbard

Berry

Marshall

2015

Geology

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The Middle to early Late Devonian transition from diminutive plants to the first forests is a key episode in terrestrialization. The two major plant groups currently recognized in such "transitional forests" are pseudosporochnaleans (small to medium trees showing some morphological similarity to living tree ferns and palms) and archaeopteridaleans (trees with woody trunks and leafy branches probably related to living conifers). Here we report a new type of "transitional" in-situ Devonian forest based on lycopsid fossils from the Plantekløfta Formation, Munindalen, Svalbard. Previously regarded as very latest Devonian (latest Famennian, 360 Ma), their age, based on palynology, is early Frasnian (ca. 380 Ma). In-situ trees are represented by internal casts of arborescent lycopsids with cormose bases and small ribbon-like roots occurring in dense stands spaced ~15-20 cm apart, here identified as Protolepidodendropsis pulchra Høeg. This plant also occurs as compression fossils throughout most of the late Givetian-early Frasnian Mimerdalen Subgroup. The lycopsids grew in wet soils in a localized, rapidly subsiding, short-lived basin. Importantly, this new type of Middle to early Late Devonian forest is paleoequatorial and hence tropical. This high-tree-density tropical vegetation may have promoted rapid weathering of soils, and hence enhanced carbon dioxide drawdown, when compared with other contemporary and more high-latitude forests.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Lycopsid forests in the early Late Devonian paleoequatorial zone of Svalbard

Berry

Marshall

2015

Geology

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“…Planteryggen and Plantekløfta formations can hardly be associated with a 371-355 Ma episode of 1235 contraction as claimed by Piepjohn and Dallmann (2014).…”

Section: Late Devonian-earliest Mississippian Amphibolite Facies Metamentioning

confidence: 85%

“…365 Ma. Though, Piepjohn and Dallmann (2014) claim that Fammenian spore assemblages in the Triungen Member described by Lindemann et al (2013) 1225 were reworked and are older than the actual age of sedimentation, recent data from Marshall et al (2015) and Lopes (pers. comm.…”

Section: Late Devonian-earliest Mississippian Amphibolite Facies Metamentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Sea (Koehl et al, 2018) and potentially in Northeast Greenland (Sartini-Rideout et al, 2006;Hallett et al, 2014;McClelland et al, 2015), thus making it a reasonable alternative to the Ellesmerian Orogeny. Renewed or continued core complex exhumation (e.g., of the Bockfjorden Anticline) in northern Spitsbergen and associated normal brittle faulting might also be 1040 responsible for the presence of coarse-grained sedimentary deposits (Piepjohn and Dallmann, 2014) in the lower Frasnian Planteryggen and Plantekløfta formations in central Spitsbergen.…”

Section: And the Sw Barentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…15-16 Ma or this tectonic event. In addition, Ellesmerian contraction is believed to have been recorded by the deposition of the Planteryggen and Plantekløfta formations in Dickson Land (Piepjohn, 2000;Piepjohn and Dallmann, 2014), which recently yielded early Frasnian (ca. 1085 380 Ma) ages based on fossil and spore assemblages for both formations .…”

Section: New Paleontological and Palynological Data Cast New Light Onmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Devonian–Mississippian collapse and core complex exhumation, and partial decoupling and partitioning of Eurekan deformation as alternatives to the Ellesmerian Orogeny in Spitsbergen

Koehl

2020

Preprint

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Abstract. In the Late Devonian, Svalbard was affected by a short-lived episode of contraction called the Ellesmerian (Svalbardian) Orogeny, which resulted in top-west thrusting of Proterozoic basement rocks onto Devonian sedimentary strata along the Balliolbreen Fault, a major fault segment of the east-dipping Billefjorden Fault Zone, and juxtaposition of undeformed Mississippian–Permian strata against intensely folded Devonian rocks. The present study of field and seismic data shows that backward-dipping duplexes comprised of phyllitic coal and bedding-parallel décollements and thrusts localized along lithological transitions in thickened uppermost Devonian–Mississippian coals and coaly shales of the Billefjorden Group partially decoupled uppermost Devonian–Permian sedimentary rocks of the Billefjorden and Gipsdalen groups from Devonian rocks during Cenozoic contraction–transpression. In addition, Devonian strata probably experienced syn-depositional, post-Caledonian, extensional, detachment-related folding. Seismic data in Sassenfjorden and Reindalspasset show the presence of Cenozoic duplexes and bedding-parallel décollements within Lower–Middle Devonian, uppermost Devonian–Mississippian and uppermost Pennsylvanian–lowermost Permian sedimentary strata of the Wood Bay and/or Widje Bay and/or Grey Hoek formations, of the Billefjorden Group and of the Wördiekammen Formation respectively, which further decoupled stratigraphic units during Eurekan deformation. Bedding-parallel décollements and thrusts are possibly related to shortcut faulting, a roof décollement of a fault-bend hanging wall (or ramp) anticline, an imbricate fan, antiformal thrust stacks and/or fault-propagation folds over reactivated/overprinted basement-seated faults. Seismic data in Reindalspasset also indicate that Devonian sedimentary rocks might have deposited east of the Billefjorden Fault Zone, thus ruling out Late Devonian reverse movement along the Billefjorden Fault Zone in this area. Based on the present findings, juxtaposition of Proterozoic basement rocks against Lower Devonian sedimentary rocks along the Balliolbreen Fault in central Spitsbergen (e.g., Pyramiden–Odellfjellet) may be explained by down-east Carboniferous normal faulting with associated footwall rotation and exhumation and subsequent top-west Cenozoic thrusting along the Billefjorden Fault Zone. The uncertain relationship of the Balliolbreen Fault with uppermost Devonian–Mississippian sedimentary strata, the poorly constrained nature of the contact (unconformity or bedding-parallel décollements and thrusts?) between Lower Devonian and uppermost Devonian–Mississippian sedimentary strata, and along strike variations in cross-section geometry, offset stratigraphy, and inferred timing and kinematics along the Balliolbreen Fault suggest that this fault consists of several, discrete, unconnected (soft-linked and/or stepping) or, most probably, offset fault segments that were reactivated/overprinted with varying degree during Eurekan deformation due to strain partitioning. Finally, recent evidence for Devonian core complex exhumation and reinterpretation of presumed Ellesmerian structures and of Late Devonian amphibolite facies metamorphism suggest that Ellesmerian contraction is not necessary to explain fault geometries and (differential) deformation within Devonian–Permian sedimentary strata in Spitsbergen.

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Biogeochemistry and microbiology of high Arctic marine sediment ecosystems—Case study of Svalbard fjords

Jørgensen

Laufer

Michaud

et al. 2020

Limnology & Oceanography

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Fjord ecosystems of the high Arctic are distinct from fjords of temperate latitudes due to the influence of glaciers, icebergs, sea ice, and the permanently low temperatures. The sediment microbiology and biogeochemical processes were analyzed during an international research program with multiple field studies in Svalbard, situated between the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. We here describe the physical and geochemical setting and the predominant microbiological processes in several fjords. Physiological studies of sediments and pure cultures show how the predominantly psychrophilic bacteria are adapted to the near‐zero temperature. The microbial communities include bacteria responsible for organic matter hydrolytic degradation, fermentation, and terminal oxidation to CO2. These processes drive the cycling of carbon, sulfur, iron, and manganese. The balance between the dominant sediment microbial processes changes along transects out through the fjords, reflecting the varying impact of the glacier‐derived rock flour, rich in metal oxides at the head, and the plankton‐derived, labile, marine organic matter at the mouth. Due to accelerated warming of Arctic ecosystems, glaciers are retreating with impacts on the physical, chemical, and biological functioning of the fjord sediment ecosystems.

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Stratigraphy of the uppermost Old Red Sandstone of Svalbard (Mimerdalen Subgroup)

Cited by 30 publications

References 14 publications

Lycopsid forests in the early Late Devonian paleoequatorial zone of Svalbard

Lycopsid forests in the early Late Devonian paleoequatorial zone of Svalbard

Devonian–Mississippian collapse and core complex exhumation, and partial decoupling and partitioning of Eurekan deformation as alternatives to the Ellesmerian Orogeny in Spitsbergen

Biogeochemistry and microbiology of high Arctic marine sediment ecosystems—Case study of Svalbard fjords

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