Paleocurrents and Basin Analysis

472 Pages·1977·19.529 MB·English

by  Prof. Paul Edwin Potter, Prof. Francis J Pettijohn (auth.)

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J.
P. E. Potter . F. Pettijohn
PALEOCURRENTS
AND BASIN ANALYSIS
Second, Corrected and Updated Edition
With 167 Figures and 30 Plates
Springer-Verlag
Berlin Heidelberg New York 1977
Prof. PAUL EDWIN POTTER, Department of Geology, University of
Cincinnati, Old Tech Building, Cincinnati, OR 45221jUSA
Prof. FRANCIS J. PETTIJOHN, Department of Earth and Planetary
Sciences, The Johns Ropkins University, Baltimore, MD21218jUSA
iSBN-13: 978-3-642-61889-5 e-iSBN-13: 978-3-642-61887-1
DOT: 10.1007/978-3-642-61887-1
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data. POTTER, PAUL EDWIN.
Paleocurrents and basin analysis. Includes bibliographies and indexes.
1. Paleocurrents. 2. Sedimentary structures. 3. Sedimentation and deposition.
I. PETTIJOHN, FRANCIS JOliN, 1904-joint author. II. Title. QE472.P67 1977
551.4'701 76-30293
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole
or part of the material is concerned, specifically those of translation, reprint
ing, re-use of illustrations, broadcasting, reproduction by photocopying
machine or similar means, and storage in data banks. Under § 54 of the
German Copyright Law where copies are made for other than private use, a
fee is payable to the publisher, the amount of the fee to be determined by
agreement with the publisher.
© by Springer-Verlag Berlin Gottingen Heidelberg 1963 and Springer-Verlag
Berlin Heidelberg-1977.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1977
The use of general descriptive names, trade marks, etc. in this publication,
even if the former are not especially identified, is not be taken as a sign that
such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act.
may accordingly be used freely by anyone.
Typesetting by Universitatsdruckerei H. Sturtz AG, Wurzburg.
2132/3130-543210
To JAMES HALL (1811-1898) whose astute observations on primary
sedimentary structures in New York State, and to HENRY CLIFTON
SORBY of Great Britain (1826-1906) whose insight into the signi
ficance of these structures laid the foundation of paleocurrent
analysis.
- Level bedded
\..
IA Ripple laminated
\..
u::n Ripple drifted
\..
L Drift bedded (false bedded)
H. C. Sorby's concept of flow regime and his symbols.
On the Oscillation of the Currents Drifting the Sandstone Beds of
the Southeast of Northumberland. and on their General Direction
in the Coal Field in the Neighborhood of Edinburgh.
Proc. West Yorkshire Geol. Soc. 3, 232-240 (1851).
Preface to the Second Edition
The study of paleocurrents, since 1963, is now a very routine
part of sedimentology, and more and more such studies are finding
use in other fields. Thus it seemed appropriate for us to review
post-1963 developments and present them in a compact manner
for the interested reader. Instead of rewriting a second edition,
which thirteen years later we would organize in a completely dif
ferent way, we have brought each chapter up to date with new
material up to 1976. A new update supplement has in this edition
been inserted after each one of the original chapters. We have
stayed close to the original theme of paleocurrents-how to measure
them and how to use them to solve geological problems ranging in
scale from the hand specimen to the sedimentary basin and beyond.
We have used many annotated references and tables to help pre
sent this information to the reader. The reader will note that we
have cited a few 1962 references - pUblications that appeared too
late to be cited in the original 1963 edition. A few times we have
also cited a reference which was included in the first edition. These
are marked with an asterisk and hence do not appear in the new
lists of references.
We have been aided by many. In Cincinnati, WANDA OSBORNE
and JEAN CARROL did typing and RICHARD SPOHN, the University's
geological librarian, was very helpful in obtaining many references
to the literature. In Baltimore, we are indebted to KATHLEEN
SHANNON for her typing. A. L. NORRINGTON, JR., of Texas Instru
ments, Inc., Dallas, Texas kindly provided the computer program
of Table 10-3.
We are especially indebted to those who graciously gave us refer
ences to the widely scattered literature of paleocurrents. These
include BERNARD BEAUDOIN, Ecole des Mines, Paris, France;
W. ENGEL, Geologische-Paleontologisches Institut, G6ttingen, Ger
many; R. V. FISHER, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa
Barbara, California; A. DREIMANIS, University of Western Ontario,
London, Ontario; T. ]. FREEMAN, University of Missouri, Colum
bia, Missouri; ROBERT N. GINSBURG, Laboratory of Comparative
Sedimentology, Miami Beach, Florida; CHARLES HEWITT, Mara
thon Oil Co., Findlay, Ohio; A. S. HOROWITZ, Indiana University,
Bloomington, Indiana; G. RANDY KELLER, University of Texas at
VIII Preface to the Second Edition
EI Paso, EI Paso, Texas; Roy C. KEPFERLE,.U.S. Geological Sur
vey, Cincinnati Ohio; SVEN LAUFELD, University of Alaska,
Fairbanks, Alaska; DONALD P. MCGOOKEY, Texaco, Inc., Houston,
Texas; ROGER NEVES, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, Great
Britain; WALTER E. PARHAM, U. S. Departm6nt of State,
Washington D. c.; W. A. PRYOR, University of Cincinnati, Cin
cinnati, Ohio; ROBERT V. RUHE, Indiana University, Bloomington,
Indiana; W. W. SHILTS, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa,
Ontario; GEORGE SIMPSON, Windsor University, Windsor, Ontario,
Canada; CHARLES H. SUMMERSON, Ohio State University, Colum
bus, Ohio; JAMES T. TELLER, University of Manitoba, Winnepeg,
Manitoba; HERBERT VIEBROCK, U. S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; and WINFRIED
ZIMMERLE, Deutsche Texaco Aktiengesellschaft, Hamburg Ger
many.
Finally, we wish to thank our publishers, Springer-Verlag, for
their help and especially Mrs. VON DEM B1'JSSCHE for her fine copy
editing.
Cincinnati, Ohio and Baltimore, PAUL EDWIN POTTER
Maryland, March 1977 FRANCIS J. PETTIJOHN
Preface to the First Edition
In the past, interest in sedimentary structures has arisen mainly
from the expectation that these features might be a guide to the
environment of deposition. But many sedimentary structures have
also proved useful in determining stratigraphic order in nonfossili
ferous, steeply inclined beds especially in Precambrian terranes.
As the sequence problem has been reviewed at length by Shrock, it
seemed to us, therefore, that the time is now ripe for a new look at
sedimentary structures, not with respect to "top and bottom", but
with reference to "fore and aft." Much of the present-day interest
in these structures stems from their usefulness in mapping of paleo
currents. A stage has been reached where there is need for a work
which assembles, digests, and organizes our collective knowledge
of the usefulness of directional properties od sediments and their
application to basin analysis. This we have attempted to write.
The desirability and need for such a book occurred to both of us
independently. Upon discovering our mutual interest, we decided
that a better book could be written by collaboration. Fortunately
this collaboration became a reality because of support by the Gug
genheim Foundation of one of us and the cooperation and support
of The Johns Hopkins University of both of us. We acknowledge
with thanks this indispensable aid.
We have written this book for both the student new to the sub
ject and for the experienced geologist whose work leads him to the
study of sedimentary basins. We believe that the study of paleo
currents provides a new insight into sedimentary geology. Our
discussion of sedimentary structures, therefore, is designed with
this end in view and much of what has been written about the
environmental significance of sedimentary structures is omitted;
that which pertains to their relation to transport direction and to
basin analysis is emphasized. Additional illustrations of primary
sedimentary structures and a glossary of the terms that have been
used to describe them are given in our "Atlas and Glossary of
Primary Sedimentary Structures."
Whatever success we may have had in our venture would be less
were it not for the help we have received from many persons. We
are indebted to several members of the Deportments of Geology,
Geography, Mechanics, and Physics of The John Hopkins Univer
sity for their helpful discussion of particular problems. We are
X Preface to the First Edition
grateful for assistance in our search of the literature. In particular
we wish to thank COLIN McANENY and H. E. CLIFTON, graduate
students at HOPKINS, and ALMA VEIDENBERGS, MARTHA HUBBARD
and ADELAIDE EISENHART, our librarians. We are also grateful to
ANDREW VISTELIUS of the Laboratory of Aeromethods, Leningrad,
for calling our attention to various Soviet papers and to PETER
SARAPUKA and BEVAN FRENCH for translation of this material.
G. LUNDQVIST of the Geological Survey of Sweden provided helpful
references to the Swedish literature. HANS FUCHTBAUER of Ge
werkschaft Elwerath, Hannover, has also graciously supplied Ger
man references. Likewise we are indebted to various authors and
journals who gave us permission to reproduce figures and maps
from their pUblications. We would like to thank JOHN W. HUDDLE,
U.S. Geological Survey, who kindly assisted with the plane table
map of figure 4-4 and L. D. MECKEL, Jr., Shell Development Corp.,
who computed the data of Table 10-1. We are pleased to acknowl
edge the many persons and organizations who have donated photo
graphs. Both are fully credited in the proper place. We owe much
to WILLIAM HILLER and CHARLES WEBER for their help in pre
paring photographic copy and for photographs of some specimen
material. And we are especially indebted to RANICE W. BIRCH DA
VIS for her superb drawings. We express our sincere thanks to MARY
GILL for her patience and skill in typing and retyping the manu
script. Others have read parts of the manuscript and made helpful
suggestions. These include COLIN BLYTH, University of Illinois;
ERNST CLOOS, The Johns Hopkins University; DONALD LINDSLEY,
Geophysical Laboratory; RICHARD MAST, Illinois Geological Sur
vey; WAYNE A. PRYOR and LOUIS RIEG, Gulf Development Cor
poration; DAVID M. RAUP, The Johns Hopkins University; and
M. GORDON WOLMAN, The Johns Hopkins University. Lastly we
wish to thank our publishers for the large and complicated task of
seeing this work through the press.
October 1, 1962 PAUL EDWIN POTTER
Baltimore, Maryland F. J. PETTIJOHN