Thomas E. Lane
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M. Sc. Thesis
The Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of the White Rock Formation (Silurian), Nova Scotia, Canada.
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Twenty stratigraphic sections have been measured across the White Rock Formation between Wolfville and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Stratigraphy has been reconstructed by correlation of volcanics, a glacio-marine diamictite marker, and detailed lithofacies. In spite of the lack of absolute or good biostratigraphic dates, it has been established that the Formation is Late Ordovician to Middle Silurian in age. The diamictite in the uppermost Halifax Formation marks the Late Ordovician (Ashgill) glaciation affecting the area. The volcanics and quartz arenites, upon which the lithostratigraphic unit, the White Rock Formation, is defined, superceded deposition of the diamictite. Shallow marine origin of the arenites has been identified. At two episodes wide-spread sheets of arenites were deposited in early Silurian - the products of probable sea transgressions during the Llandovery and Wenlock. The Formation is overlain by Upper Silurian (Ludlovian) graptolitic slates and siltstones. An economically significant thickness of mafic and felsic volcanic rock near Yarmouth (exploration target for massive sulphide deposits) overlies the sheet arenites and is presumed to be Upper Silurian in age.
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Supervisor: Paul Schenk