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Geological Society of America Bulletin

Sequences in the Cratonic Interior of North America

L. L SLOSS

Geological Society of America Bulletin 1963;74, no. 2;93-114

doi: 10.1130/0016-7606(1963)74[93:SITCIO]2.0.CO;2

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L. L. SLOSS Dept. Geology, Northwestern University, Evanston, III.

Sequences in the Cratonic Interior

of North America

Abstract: The concept of major rock-stratigraphic areas. At the cratonic margins the bounding uncon-
units of interregional scope was introduced in 1948 formities tend to disappear in continuous succes-
(Longwell, 1949). It is now possible to restate the sions, and the cratonic sequences are replaced by
concept and to define more explicitly the sequences others controlled by events in the marginal basins
delimited by interregional unconformities in the and eugeosynclinal borders.
continental interior of North America. Although the time values of the unconformities
The sedimentary record of the North American vary widely because of differences in degree of
era ton from late Precambrian to present is charac- nondeposition and amount of erosion, the approxi-
terized by six major unconformities. These inter- mate dates of the regressional maxima represented
regional unconformities subdivide the cratonic are: (1) very late Precambrian, (2) early Middle
stratigraphic column into six sequences—major Ordovician, (3) early Middle Devonian, (4) "post-
rock-stratigraphic units (of higher than group, Elvira" Mississippian, (5) early Middle Jurassic, and
megagroup, or supergroup rank) which can be (6) late Paleocene. A seventh major regression is
identified, where preserved, in all cratonic interior now in progress.

CONTENTS
Introduction 93 Figure
General statement 93 1. Diagrammatic cross sections of the Sauk Se-
Interregional correlations . . . 94 quence and the lower part of the Tippe-
Interregional vs. local unconformities
ies . 94 canoe Sequence 97
Comment 94 2. Diagrammatic cross sections of the Sauk and
Biostratigraphic hiatus . . 94 Tippecanoe sequences and the basal part of
Local unconformity. . . . 94 the Kaskaskia Sequence 100
Interregional unconformity 95 3. Diagrammatic cross sections showing relation-
Sauk Sequence 95 ships of lower part of Absaroka Sequence to
Tippecanoe Sequence 97 older units 103
Ka.skaskia Sequence 99 4. Diagrammatic cross sections showing relation-
Alisaroka Sequence 102 ships of lower part of Zuni Sequence to
Zum Sequence 104 older units 105
Tejas Sequence 107 5. Diagrammatic cross sections showing relation-
Timc-stratigraphic relationships of thele sequences . 109 ships of lower part of Tejas Sequence to
Cratonic and extracratonic sequences 110 older units 107
Sequence terminology 110 6. Time-stratigraphic relationships of the sequences
Concluding remarks Ill in the North American craton 109
References cited 112

INTRODUCTION documented. This paper reviews the concept

and its applications and introduces revisions
General Statement (Sloss, 1959) and modifications required by the
The concept of stratigraphic sequences was data and experience acquired during the in-
first presented in the Symposium on Sedi- tervening 12 years.
mentary Facies in Geologic History at the Stratigraphic sequences are rock-strati-
Annual Meeting of The Geological Society of graphic units of higher rank than group,
America in 1948 (Sloss and others, 1949). In megagroup, or supergroup, traceable over
this original paper the sequence concept was a major areas of a continent and bounded by
side issue, briefly discussed and inadequately unconformities of interregional scope. Se-

Gcologicul Society of America Bulletin, v. 74, p. 93-114, 6 figs., February 1963

93
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94 L. L. SLOSS—SEQUENCES IN CRATONIC INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA

quences, like other rock units, require geo- this permits the long-range time-stratigraphic
graphic names. The first four sequences were correlation of these units on physical as well as
named in the original paper (Sloss and others, biostratigraphic bases. These broad-scale cor-
1949); two additional names are introduced relations have long been apparent to investiga-
herein. Although the names are mere appen- tors engaged in interregional stratigraphic
dages to the concepts and principles involved, studies, and it is noteworthy that the correla-
it is a further purpose of the present paper to tions are recognizable in spite of the complex
demonstrate the utility, even the necessity, of regional differences in nomenclature and de-
applying names to the six sequences recognized. scription and in the face of the apparent para-
doxes introduced by a classical interpretation
Interregional Correlations of the paleontologic record.
The majority of published interregional
time-stratigraphic correlations, such as the Interregional vs. Local Unconformities
National Research Council Correlation Charts, Comment. Although extensive emendations
are demonstrations of biostratigraphic equiva- of these revised interregional correlations are
lency. By referring to "standard sections" and inevitable, it is apparent that the lacunas and
classic localities, paleontologic taxons and as- unconformities suggested by the current cor-
semblages are assigned to as precise positions in relation charts are of three types: biostratigra-
the geologic time scale as is possible. In the phic hiatus, local unconformity, and inter-
absence of other data this has been a reasonable regional unconformity.
practice and has led to an integration of his- Biostratigraphic hiatus. A number of major
torical geology and time stratigraphy that and minor gaps in the record indicated on the
could not have been achieved by other means. correlation charts represent positions at which
Most of the paleontologic data from which range zones and assemblage zones recognized in
interregional correlations have been derived a reference area are unrecorded elsewhere.
were, of necessity, derived from outcrop areas Detailed investigation of certain of these gaps
on the margins of the sedimentary basins and ("paraconformities") commonly reveals no
flanks of the intervening positive elements. evidence of discontinuity in the rocks them-
Attempted integration among these widely selves either by nondeposition or erosion.
scattered localities has resulted in complex and Some of the observed gaps in the macro-
apparently inconsistent correlation charts. paleontologic record appear to fall within con-
Strata on opposite sides of a single basin have tinuous and gradational depositional cycles
been interpreted as representing markedly dis- marked by unbroken progressions in mineralo-
similar time ranges with nonsystematic lacunas gic and textural attributes and by a continuum
interrupting the continuity. The records of of micropaleontologic successions. At least some
basins which now are separated by areas of of these supposed interruptions in the record
postdepositional erosion but which show no must result from expectable variations in the
evidence of having been separated at the time biostratigraphic column from place to place.
of deposition thus appear to bear no close rela- Examples of breaks in the biostratigraphic
tionship to one another in terms of the time- succession which have been interpreted as phys-
stratigraphic correlation of the strata involved. ical discontinuities are found in the Middle
As a result, interregional relationships form an and Upper Ordovician and Lower Silurian
apparently chaotic pattern. The interpreta- west of the Mississippi Valley; the suggested
tions suggest an almost random distribution of interruption between Middle Silurian and
unconformities in both space and time. Lower Devonian rocks over wide areas; and
Exploratory drilling in the sedimentary the apparent absence of Late Permian strata in
basins of North America has provided a wealth western areas where Middle Permian rocks
of physical and paleontologic stratigraphic appear to be conformably overlain by Lower
data, which greatly augment our knowledge of Triassic rocks.
intrabasin and interbasin relationships. Review Local unconformity. The sedimentary rec-
of these data in detail is beyond the scope of ords of basin margins and of the flanks of posi-
this paper, but it should be noted that these tive elements are punctuated by many un-
new data strongly indicate a fundamental conformities. Any of these may be of major
homogeneity of the stratigraphy of the cratonic importance locally and may be characterized
interior of North America. Individual major by evident angular relationships, the removal
rock units can be traced over very wide areas; of significant thicknesses of strata, the develop-
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INTRODUCTION 95

merit ot a surface of marked topographic relief, Six craton-wide unconformities have been
the presence of a basal conglomerate containing identified in the North American succession
fragments of older beds, and other readily of latest Precambrian and younger age. Where
recognizable evidences of interruption in de- the records of the appropriate parts of geologic
position. Only a very few of these uncon- time are preserved, each of the six unconformi-
formities, however, can be traced over large ties can be shown to extend across the sedimen-
areas or for appreciable distances in the sub- tary basins of the interior of the craton and into
surface into the interior of sedimentary basins. the miogeosynclinal basins at the craton mar-
The remainder are local phenomena without gins. Here the unconformities pass into a
interregional significance or continuity. record of continuous deposition or are un-
There is no apparent relationship between recognizable among other major unconformi-
the prominence of the local evidences and the ties related to activity of the mobile geosyn-
geographic scope of a given unconformity. A clinal belts.
range exists from the numerous surfaces rep- The loss of sedimentary record by erosion
resenting relatively minor erosion in the (vacuity) and by nondeposition (hiatus) is
Cambro-Ordovician sections of the Ozark greatest in those cratonic areas of positive
uplift and Wisconsin arch, to the deep channels tectonic tendency and least in the subsiding
cut below certain Pennsylvanian sandstones at basins. Virtually everywhere on the craton,
the margin of the Eastern Interior basin, to the however, the six unconformities can be identi-
thousands of feet of stratigraphic displacement fied where preservation permits. They serve to
noted on isolated Late Paleozoic fault blocks separate the post-Precambrian record into six
and anticlines of the Southern Midcontment major assemblages of strata, the sequences.
area. The local evidences of depth of erosion, Each sequence represents a major transgres-
magnitude of relief, or angular relationships do sion and overlap, beginning at the cratonic
not indicate the importance of a given un- margins and in the basins of greatest subsiding
conformity in interregional terms. Rather, this tendencies, gradually spreading to the more
is established by the size of the geographic area stable areas of the cratonic interior, and ulti-
over which a particular surface of unconformity mately lapping up on the margins of the Cana-
can be traced and its continuity across sedi- dian Shield. The transgressive phase, buried and
mentary basins in which local unconformities protected by a cover of younger strata, is
are lost. commonly well preserved. The closing regres-
Interregional unconformity. Only a very sive phase of each sequence is typically poorly
small number of the unconformities observable preserved, since the representative sediments
in the cratonic interior of North America can were exposed to erosion at the close of the
be shown to be truly interregional. When major depositional cycle of which each sequence
studied in the field or in the subsurface these is a record. In most cases sufficient testimony is
exhibit no obvious characteristics within a preserved to indicate clearly that each sequence
limited area of observation which make it is representative of a major cycle of transgres-
possible to separate them from other uncon- sion, commonly complicated by minor re-
formities. It is not uncommon to find local versals in trend and by a host of local effects.
unconformities of much more obvious and Each of the six sequences is briefly reviewed
dramatic development than the interregional in the following paragraphs. No attempt is
unconformities with which they are inter- made to present all the supporting data or to
spersed. The most important criteria for the refer to all the pertinent literature from which
recognition of an interregional unconformity many of the data are drawn. As in all geologic
are the magnitude of its geographic scope and syntheses, the writer is enormously indebted
its persistence in previously and subsequently to a multitude of investigators whose data have
subsiding basins. These criteria cannot be been freely drawn upon. The writer hopes that
established by even the most intensive work the lack of direct reference in each case will be
in isolated outcrop areas. Only when the out- excused.
crop belts are integrated through the applica-
tion of subsurface data and by the recognition SAUK SEQUENCE
of widespread lithic units of time-stratigraphic DEFINITION: The Sauk Sequence (Sloss and
significance on a regional and interregional others, 1949) comprises those strata that overlie
scale is it possible to identify interregional un- an interregional conformity cut on late Pre-
conformities. cambrian and older rocks and underlie an
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96 L. L. SLOSS—SEQUENCES IN CRATONIC INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA

interregional unconformity at the base of the combine to obscure the details of sub-Sauk re-
succeeding Tippecanoe Sequence. The Sauk lationships in the Appalachian area. It seems
Sequence ranges in age from latest Precambrian safe to assume, however, that they are similar
to Early Ordovician (Canadian), possibly in- to the thoroughly documented pattern of
cluding early Middle Ordovician (early Chaz- unconformity recognized in the Cordilleran
yan) strata in some areas. The sequence was province.
named for exposures in Sauk County, Wiscon- BASE OF SAUK SEQUENCE: The basal beds of
sin, in the Driftless Area of the Wisconsin arch. the Sauk Sequence range in age from late
SUB-SAUK SURFACE: Over the greater part of Precambrian in the basins marginal to the
the cratonic interior, between the Wasatch and craton to Late Cambrian over much of the
Adirondack lines of Stille (1941) and Kay cratonic interior, to Early Ordovician at the
(1951), the sub-Sauk surface was cut on Pre- margin of the Canadian Shield and on certain
cambrian crystalline rocks and deformed meta- cratonic positive elements, forming a classic
sedimentary rocks. No problems of identifica- pattern of transgressive overlap noted by many
tion of the unconformity are present where this workers and reviewed by Wheeler (1960).
relationship prevails. Its prominence, wide ex- Almost uniformly, regardless of age, the basal
tent, and obvious involvement with a long strata are relatively pure quartz sandstones
span of time led to Walcott's concept of the with textures and directional properties in-
Lipalian interval as the hiatus between Pre- dicating a source in the continental interior.
cambrian events and the beginning of Paleo- Exceptions to the basal sands are found in
zoic deposition. The complexities of topogra- the limited areas where Early Ordovician
phy, petrology, and age relationships of the carbonates overlap Cambrian strata. Here the
strata at the sub-Sauk surface are well known carbonates (Arbuckle Group, etc.) have at
(Bridge, 1930; Walters, 1946; Farquhar, 1957; their base only a few inches of locally derived
Burwash, 1957). pre-Sauk detritus.
On the northwestern and southeastern SAUK DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTER: The
flanks of the Wisconsin arch, in the Lake distribution of the Sauk Sequence closely
Superior basin and in the area occupied by coincides with that of the Cambrian System
northeastern Illinois and southwestern Michi- as shown by Sloss and others (1960, Map 1).
gan, Sauk strata rest with less obvious relation- The dominant features are the "zero" areas
ships on unmetamorphosed rocks of what could formed by the Canadian Shield and its ap-
logically be called the Keweenaw Sequence. pendages and by the Transcontinental arch.
Lack of adequate exposure and the paucity of Above the basal sandstones in the marginal
subsurface data make it difficult to establish the basins the sequence is characterized by alter-
relationships with certainty. It seems clear, nating shales and limestones, with relatively
however, that structural dislocations which thin regressive sands, culminating in thick
have affected Keweenaw rocks have not af- carbonate successions at the top (Ottertail
fected the overlying Cambrian strata, and a Formation, Garden City Limestone, Pogonip
distinct unconformable relationship appears to Group in the Cordilleran basins; Ellenburger
be present (Hamblin, 1961). and Arbuckle groups in the Southern Mid-
In the marginal basins of the Cordilleran and continent basins; and Knox Group and Beek-
Appalachian miogeosynclinal trends the sub- mantown Group in the Appalachian area).
Sauk surface typically involves a low-angle The cratonic interior areas are characterized
truncation of unmetamorphosed sediments of by dolomitized carbonates (Knox Megagroup
late Precambrian age. The major units under- of Swann and Willman, 1961) above the basal
lying the Sauk in the Cordilleran area are, sandstone (Potsdam Megagroup of Swann and
from north to south, the Windermere, Belt, Willman, 1961) with a marked increase in the
Uinta, Grand Canyon, and Pahrump. (These number and thickness of regressive sandstone
major rock units are "series" of the older tongues as the margin of the Shield is ap-
nomenclature, an improper term under the proached.
stratigraphic Code; as unconformity bounded TOP OF SAUK SEQUENCE : Over very large areas
successions they are sequences in the usage of the uppermost strata of the Sauk Sequence arc-
this paper.) In the Appalachian area the units Early Ordovician carbonates representing the
at the sub-Sauk surface are the Talladega Slate, most widespread transgression of Sauk sedimen-
the Ocoee Group, and their correlatives. Com- tation. In a few areas, however, there are pre-
plex structure and a thick vegative cover served the evidences of offlap involved in the
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SAUK SEQUENCE 97

regressive phase of late Sauk deposition which suggests that the differences in age among the
preceded emergence of the entire craton. In youngest Sauk strata preserved are not great.
the Wisconsin arch-Ozark region, for example,
there are sandstone tongues (New Richmond TIPPECANOE SEQUENCE
Sandstone, Roubidoux Sandstone) which rep- DEFINITION: The Tippecanoe Sequence
resent strand-line deposition in areas that were (Sloss and others, 1949) comprises those strata
previously the sites of long-continued offshore of the craton that rest upon an interregional
carbonate deposition. Similarly, as shown by unconformity cut on Sauk and older rocks and
Webb (1958), the Swan Peak Quartzite and that underlie an interregional unconformity at

EASTERN MONTANA MANITOBA

W i l l ! ston Bas i n

MINNESOTA NORTHERN ILLINOIS OHIO VIRGINIA

AppaIachl an
Wi scons i n Arch Kankakee Arch C i n c i n n a t i Arch

Figure 1. Diagrammatic cross sections of the Sauk Sequence (white) and the lower part
of the Tippecanoe Sequence (black)
other correlative sandstones of the Cordilleran the base of the overlying Kaskaskia Sequence.
area bear strikingly similar relationships to the The sequence is named from Tippecanoe
carbonates of the Pogonip Group and Copen- County, Indiana, where numerous well-
hagen Formation. documented drill holes penetrate the entire
The age of the youngest strata included in succession. The age of the Tippecanoe Sequence
the Sauk Sequence is controversial. There is ranges from Middle Ordovician (Chazyan) to
general agreement that all strata east of the Early Devonian.
Transcontinental arch included in the Sauk SUB-TIPPECANOE SURFACE: Figure 1 illus-
Sequence are pre-Chazyan; in the Cordilleran trates the Sauk Sequence, the base of the Tip-
area the trilobite and brachiopod faunas are pecanoe Sequence, and the gross relationships
somewhat different and lead to an assignment of the interregional unconformity between the
of early Chazyan age to the youngest Sauk two sequences. In the areas of the Middle
strata. It is likely, because of more complete Paleozoic marginal basins Lower Ordovician
pre-Tippecanoe preservation in the West, that strata are widely preserved, and, in general,
the Sauk Sequence may contain significantly less evidence of pre-Tippecanoe erosion exists
younger strata there than in the East. The than on the higher parts of the craton. There
obvious similarity in lithology and succession are local exceptions, as in central Idaho where
between closely adjacent sections on opposite the entire Sauk Sequence has been removed
sides of the Transcontinental arch strongly and Tippecanoe strata rest directly on pre-
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L. L. SLOSS—SEQUENCES IN CRATONIC INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA

Sauk rocks. The Middle Paleozoic basins of the position strikingly resemble transgressive sand-
cratonic interior also have tended to preserve a stones at the base of the Tippecanoe. In the
relatively complete succession of upper Sauk northeastern Great Basin area, for example,
strata, including much of the Lower Ordovi- the Swan Peak Quartzite (Sauk) is readily con-
cian. Exceptions are found, however, as in the fused with the younger Eureka Quartzite
Williston basin where significant pre-Tippe- (basal Tippecanoe). The Swan Peak bears
canoe erosion is shown by basal Tippecanoe transitional relationships to underlying car-
strata overstepping Sauk units and resting on bonates of the Garden City and Pogonip,
Precambrian from near the basin center to the whereas the Eureka grades upward into later
adjacent flanks of the Canadian Shield. Ordovician carbonates (Ely Springs Limestone,
Equivalent relationships are present in the Hanson Creek Limestone, and Fish Haven
James Bay Lowlands of Ontario. Dolomite). Failure to distinguish between the
Sauk strata have been deeply affected by two quartzite units would make it appear that
pre-Tippecanoe erosion in many of the cratonic no unconformity is present. Careful regional
Middle Paleozoic positive elements. Lower work, however, by Webb (1958) and others
Ordovician strata are absent, and the Upper has made the distinctions clear.
Cambrian has been eroded to varying degrees Similar problems are encountered in southern
on large areas of the Sweetgrass arch and the Wisconsin and northern Illinois where the St.
Wyoming shelf, for example. More local posi- Peter Sandstone (basal Tippecanoe) rests upon
tive axes related to the Wisconsin arch, the or is confused with the New Richmond and
Kankakee arch, the Ozark dome, and other Jordan sandstones (Sauk). In all such instances
elements exhibit more geographically re- it is impossible to make correct interpretations
stricted but equally severe effects of pre- from the data from limited outcrops or small
Tippecanoe erosion. groups of wells, and it is necessary to consider
In most cases the difficulty of recognition of regional relationships through the detailed
the sub-Tippecanoe unconformity arises from correlation and tracing of individual rock units.
one or more of the following factors: (1) lack of In a number of areas the nature of the sub-
a distinctive basal Tippecanoe lithology; Tippecanoe surface is obscured by the develop-
(2) confusion between regressive elements of ment of a solution topography covered by
the Sauk Sequence and transgressive units of residual clays reflecting extensive solution of
the Tippecanoe; (3) development of karst Sauk carbonates at the old erosion surface.
topography and slump structures at the un- There is further complication by dipping strata
conformity. related to algal mounds and by aberrant rela-
Over much of the Appalachian basin car- tionships caused by slumping. Where these
bonates of the Knox and Beekmantown groups elements are present in areas of limited ex-
arc overlain by basal Tippecanoe carbonates of posure, as on the Wisconsin arch, a very
the Lenoir Limestone, Mosheim Limestone, plausible case can be made (Flint, 1956) for
and their equivalents, with contacts that do conformity and transition between Sauk and
not commonly exhibit obvious evidences of Tippecanoe strata. However, regional in-
unconformity. However, detailed work (Kay, vestigations by R. W. Macomber (1959, M. S.
1942; 1956/Prouty, 1948; Bridge, 1956) in- thesis, Northwestern Univ.) demonstrate the
dicates the presence of an unconformity with unconformable relationships of the two se-
a relief measured in hundreds of feet. The quences in this area.
pattern in the Appalachian basin is particularly BASE OF TIPPECANOE SEQUENCE: Strata at the
well illustrated by cross sections prepared by base of the base of the Tippecanoe Sequence
Woodward (1961). A similar situation prevails (Ottawa Megagroup of Swan and Willman,
in the Ardmore basin where carbonates of the 1961) range in age from early Middle Ordovi-
foins Formation, the basal unit of the Simpson cian (Chazyan) in the basins of the craton
Group and of the Tippecanoe Sequence, lie on margins, to younger Middle Ordovician and
carbonates of the Arbuckle Group. Here, too, early Upper Ordovician (Black Riveran, Tren-
detailed work reveals the presence of the sub- tonian, and Edenian) over much of the cratonic
Tippecanoe unconformity. interior, to strata as young as Silurian in
The sub-Tippecanoe surface is difficult to limited areas at the margin of the Canadian
recognize in areas where pure quartz sandstones Shield and along the Transcontinental arch.
representing regressive phases of late Sauk de- West of the Cincinnati arch-Nashville dome
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TIPPECANOE SEQUENCE 99

axis the most typical and widespread lithology Tippecanoe sedimentation in the Appalachian
at the base of the Tippecanoe is pure quartz basin is dominated by clastic rocks derived
sandstone (Simpson Group, St. Peter Sand- from Taconic trends in the adjacent eugeosyn-
stone, Winnipeg Formation, Harding Sand- cline.
stone, Eureka Quartzite, and others). Dapples The sequence bears a record of numerous
(1955) and Kistler (in Sloss and others, 1960, minor episodes of emergence marked by local
Maps 10 and 11) have published regional and unconformities, particularly on the more posi-
interregional maps showing the distribution tive elements of the cratonic interior. None of
and character of these basal strata. these appears to be of interregional signifi-
A very significant span of time, measured in cance, and none involves either deep erosion
tens of millions of years and interrupted by and stripping of underlying strata or long
numerous partial regressions, was involved in hiatuses among the overlapping units. Re-
the Tippecanoe transgression. In the Mid- gional and interregional studies (Porter and
continent and Cordilleran areas, where trans- Fuller, 1959) at the Ordovician-Silurian con-
gression was accomplished in pre-Trentonian tact reveal a remarkable continuity of traceable
time, the basal strata are sandstones of the St. marker horizons above and below the systemic
Peter type. Cratonic elements of lesser sub- boundary, and the writer can detect no evi-
siding tendency, or those which appear to have dence for the interregional unconformity
undergone a slight degree of Middle Ordovi- shown at this position on many correlation
cian uplift, are overlapped by Trentonian and charts. The same charts suggest a very limited
younger carbonates (Fish Haven Dolomite, distribution of Upper Silurian strata, with an
Bighorn Dolomite, Viola Limestone, Trenton important unconformity separating Middle
Limestone) and lack the basal sandstones. East Silurian and Lower Devonian rocks. In this
of the Cincinnati arch-Nashville dome axis case as well, the physical continuity of key
and in the Appalachian basin Middle Ordovi- beds and marker horizons strongly indicates
cian carbonates (Mosheim Limestone, Lenoir that, on an interregional scale, there was rela-
Limestone, Chickamauga Formation, and their tively continuous deposition from Middle
correlatives) rest on the sub-Tippecanoe sur- Silurian into Early Devonian time (Shannon,
face without significant development of a basal 1962)
clastic zone. TOP OF TIPPECANOE SEQUENCE: Youngest
TIPPECANOE DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTER: Tippecanoe strata (Early Devonian) are pre-
The distribution of the Ordovician System served only in the basins at the cratonic margins
(Sloss and others, 1960, Map 7) is fairly repre- and in the more deeply subsiding interior
sentative of the distribution pattern of the basins. Where preserved, these Helderbergian
Tippecanoe Sequence. Major differences with strata are largely carbonates and provide no
respect to Sauk distribution are the degree of obvious indication of regressive conditions at
overlap of the Transcontinental arch and the the close of the depositional cycle represented
Canadian Shield in the Dakotas and the by the Tippecanoe Sequence. It seems logical
Prairie provinces and in the Hudson Bay area, to assume that the present distribution of these
and the area of nonpreservation on the Sweet- earliest Devonian carbonates represents but a
grass arch. A more highly developed tectonic small fraction of their former occurrence and
differentiation of the cratonic interior is in- that evidences of the terminal Tippecanoe re-
dicated by the appearance of interior basins gression were removed by the severity of pre-
(Michigan, Iowa, Williston). Kaskaskia erosion.
West of the Cincinnati arch-Nashville
dome axis and above the basal clastic rocks the KASKASKIA SEQUENCE
sequence is dominated by dolomitized car- DEFINITION: The Kaskaskia Sequence com-
bonates of very broad lateral continuity, prises strata of the North American craton that
characterized by numerous algal-coral-reef rest upon an interregional unconformity cut on
trends at the margins of the interior basins, Tippecanoe and older rocks and that underlie
particularly within the Silurian System. The an interregional unconformity at the base of
Silurian is also characterized by thick evapo- the overlying Absaroka Sequence. In the
rites within the more active interior basins with original definition (Sloss and others, 1949,
lesser evaporitic concentrations in the Ordovi- p. 115) the latter unconformity was assigned a
cian. Late Middle Ordovician and younger pre-Chesteran date; further work has made it
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100 L. L. SLOSS—SEQUENCES IN CRATONIC INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA

clear that the sequence boundary lies above conformity readily recognizable except where
Chesteran and below Springeran beds. Thus, basal carbonates are present (Amsden, 1960;
the age of the Kaskaskia ranges from as early as Shannon, 1962). The black shales of the Chat-
late Early Devonian to as young as latest (post- tanooga and New Albany formations also form
Chesteran) Mississippian. The sequence is a prominent and easily recognized base of the
named for the valley of the Kaskaskia River in Kaskaskia Sequence where these shales lie on
south-central Illinois. a complex pattern formed by the truncation
SUB-KASKASKIA SURFACE: The unconformity of older units on the flanks of the Cincinnati
between the Kaskaskia Sequence and the arch and Nashville dome.

MISSOURI
/uenster Arch Ozark U o l i f t
Fort Worth Basin Anadarko Basin

Figure 2. Diagrammatic cross sections of the Sauk and Tippecanoe sequences (white)
and the basal part of the Kaskaskia Sequence (black). Sequence boundaries are indicated
bv heavy wavv lines.

underlying sequences (Fig. 2) is one of the In the Appalachian basin, and to a lesser
most important within the Paleozoic rocks of extent in the Illinois and Michigan basins,
the craton. It has received a very large amount sandstones (Oriskany, Dutch Creek, Sylvania)
of attention, particularly in the Midcontinent are found at the base of the sequence and per-
area where Tarr (1955), Ham (1955), Maxwell mit easy recognition of the surface of uncon-
(1959), Shannon (1962), and others have pub- formity. Over much of the craton, however,
lished cross sections and subcrop maps showing the basal units of the Kaskaskia Sequence art-
relationships at the base of the Woodford For- carbonates; where these rest on older carbonate
mation which here forms the base of the Kas- rocks, the unconformity is difficult or impossi-
kaskia Sequence. The Woodford, with scat- ble to recognize in any single exposure or well.
tered occurrences of Misener Sandstone at its In many instances the underlying carbonates
base, is seen to rest on the truncated edges of have weathered to produce a clay and silt
all units from Sauk through Tippecanoe, in- residuum, commonly red and partially re-
dicating the degree of structural relief de- worked to form the basal few feet of the over-
veloped before the Kaskaskia overlap. The lying unit. Location of the precise surface of
dark shales of the Woodford, resting on unconformity under these circumstances is
the pre-Kaskaskia strata, make the un- difficult. An obscure unconformity of this type
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KASK.ASKIA SEQUENCE 101

prevails over major areas north and west of the Kaskaskia unconformity as here defined. In
Transcontinental arch. Despite the difficulty almost every area, however, the sub-Mississip-
of local recognition, regional investigations pian unconformity can be shown to be the
show that the Kaskaskia Sequence rests on result of continued transgression and overlap
Precambrian rocks on the Peace River arch, on which began near the close of Early Devonian
Sauk strata along the axis of the Sweetgrass time. Although the Mississippian lies on an
arch, and on pre-Silurian Tippecanoe beds over unconformity over extensive shelf areas in the
much of the Wyoming shelf, overstepping these absence of Devonian strata, where Late
to reach the Precambrian rocks again in Devonian strata are present beneath Early
southern Wyoming. In these western areas Mississippian rocks no interregionally signifi-
young Tippecanoe strata of Silurian and Early cant unconformity is demonstrable. In other
Devonian age are preserved below the uncon- words, the sub-Mississippian unconformity
formity only in the Cordilleran marginal basins prevails only where the Mississippian onlaps
and in the Williston basin. beyond the margins of distribution of the
BASE OF KASKASKIA SEQUENCE: As Figure 2 Devonian. Locally there are prominent uncon-
suggests, a considerable amount of time was in- formities within the Upper Devonian or
volved in the Kaskaskia overlap. In the basins between Devonian and Mississippian, as in
at the cratonic margin and in the axial portions central Utah (Rigby, 1959), but none of these
of certain of the interior basins, the basal units is of broad regional or interregional extent.
of the sequence are sandstones, carbonates, and Although stress is laid on the continuity of
cherty carbonates of late Early Devonian transgression from late Early Devonian through
(Deerpark) age. In other basinal sites the base Middle Mississippian time, the Kaskaskia
of the sequence is commonly represented by Sequence appears to represent a double tectonic
Middle Devonian carbonates. At the margins and depositional cycle with Devonian and
of many basins and extending over parts of the Mississippian phases. The subsiding tendencies
adjacent shelves, later Devonian carbonates of a number of cratonic basins reached an early
are the typical basal units, whereas areas of still climax in Middle Devonian time as evidenced
greater tectonic stability are broadly over- by common thick evaporites, particularly in
lapped by the dark shales of latest Devonian or the Williston and Michigan basins. Later
earliest Mississippian age. The climax of trans- Devonian time was characterized by lesser
gression appears to have been reached in early differentiation between basins and shelves
Middle Mississippian time when the maximum followed by widespread tectonic stability
overlap of the Transcontinental arch and other which culminated near the Devonian-Mississip-
positive features seems to have occurred. pian boundary, as indicated by the widespread
KASKASKIA DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTER: but thin dark shales of the Chattanooga Shale
The Kaskaskia Sequence includes the most and its equivalents. This cratonic stabilization
widely distributed units of both the Devonian which closed the Devonian phase of Kaskaskia
and Mississippian systems. The distribution deposition was not accompanied by general
patterns of these systems (Sloss and others, regression and erosion. Instead, it is apparent
1960, Maps 22 and 40) are in reasonable ac- that transgression continued. It was accompa-
cordance with the outlines of the earlier, or nied, in Middle Mississippian time, by re-
Devonian, phase of the sequence and the later, newed subsidence in the basins and a return to
or Mississippian, phase. The maps indicate the the deposition of thick evaporite successions.
degree of Mississippian onlap beyond the Beyond the confines of the basins of extreme
limits reached during Devonian time, an es- subsidence, the sequence is characterized by a
pecially noteworthy feature in view of the fact thick succession of bioclastic and biohermal
that Mississippian strata have been much more carbonates (the younger Devonian portion of
severly reduced in distribution by post- the Hunton Megagroup and the Mammoth
Kaskaskia erosion than have the units of Cave Megagroup of Swann and Willman,
Devonian age. 1961), interrupted near the Devonian-Missis-
The magnitude of the areas in which Missis- sippian contact by shales. The axial belts of
sippian strata form the base of the sequence basins at the cratonic margin were typically the
and lie with pronounced unconformity on sites of accumulation of dark shales and chert,
older units has led many workers to a belief showing complex intertonguing relationships
in a continent-wide unconformity at the base with carbonate units, the latter extending out-
of the Mississippian, distinct from the sub ward from the cratonic interior.
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102 L. L. SLOSS—SEQUENCES IN CRATONIC INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA

Further complication of a different type is recognized of all Mississippian horizons. (2) Al-
present in the Appalachian basin where clastic though Chesteran strata differ markedly from
wedges, derived from Acadian eugeosynclinal much of the older portion of the Kaskaskia
uplifts, displace and obscure normal cratonic Sequence, they bear intergrading relationships
relationships. A similar pattern in the Cordil- to underlying carbonates. (3) Although upper
leran basin reflects activity associated with the Kaskaskia strata closely resemble the overlying
Antler orogeny. In both areas the identity and Absaroka Sequence, it is now clear that the
character of the Kaskaskia Sequence is lost significant sequence boundary lies above the
among other sequences related to extracratonic Chester and below youngest Mississippian beds
events. of "post-Elvira" or Springeran age where these
TOP OF KASKASKIA SEQUENCE: In typical earliest Absaroka strata are present.
areas of exposure the degree of post-Kaskaskia
erosion has been such that carbonates of Early ABSAROKA SEQUENCE
and Middle Mississippian age commonly form DEFINITION: The Absaroka Sequence com-
the preserved top of the sequence. In the prises strata of the North American craton that
marginal basins, however, and in the more rest upon an interregional unconformity cut on
deeply subsiding interior basins, regressive de- Kaskaskia and older rocks and that underlie
posits of Chester age are preserved as evidence an interregional unconformity at the base of
of the closing offlap phases of Kaskaskia the overlying Zuni Sequence. The original
sedimentation preceding pre-Absaroka uplift placement of the Kaskaskia-Absaroka boundary
and erosion. Chester strata (the Pope Mega- (Sloss and others, 1949) has required emenda-
group of Swann and Willman, 1961), preserved tion, and the Absaroka is now considered to
in basins relatively close to the Canadian include no strata older than latest (post-
Shield and its appendages, are typified by a Chesteran) Mississippian. The youngest strata
succession with numerous cyclical repetitions recognized in the Absaroka Sequence are Early
of sandstone, shale, and limestone. The sand- Jurassic. The sequence is named from the
stones (P. Vail in Sloss and others, 1960, Map Absaroka Range in northwestern Wyoming
62) decrease in thickness and number as the and southern Montana. Here, between the base
margin of the craton is approached and pass as of the Amsden Formation and the top of the
relatively thin tongues into the dark shales Chugwater Formation, there are excellent ex-
occupying the axes of the marginal basins. It posures of a typical development of the se-
seems logical to assume that the sands were de- quence.
rived from the Shield, other interior positive SUB-ABSAROKA SURFACE: As Figure 3 suggests
elements, and locally active uplifts within the unconformity at the base of the Absaroka
extracratonic orogens such as the northern Sequence involves the most complex paleo-
Appalachian trend (Potter and Pryor, 1961). geologic patterns of any of the interregional
The sandstones appear to represent episodes of unconformities in the North American cratonic
erosion and transportation across newly emer- succession; Levorsen (1960) presents a number
gent areas exposed by regression of the Kaskas- of more detailed views. Pre-Absaroka and
kia depositional environments. intra-Absaroka uplift has been responsible for
The contacts between Chesteran and older the stripping of hundreds, even thousands,
Mississippian strata in the outcrop areas of of feet of older units from broad cratonic posi-
central Montana and at the edges of the Illinois tive elements such as the Ozark and Llano
basin are locally sharply defined. Unconforma- uplifts and the Transcontinental arch, and
ble relationships at the contacts and the abrupt from sharply delineated local uplifts of the
change in the character of deposition led to the southern Midcontinent and "Ancestral Rock-
choice of the Meramec-Chester contact as the ies" areas. These positive elements expose Sauk
upper limit of the Kaskaskia Sequence in its and Precambrian rocks at the sub-Absaroka
first definition (Sloss and others, 1949). Further surface. On the more stable shelves the surface
study of the subsurface of the Williston, is typically cut on carbonates (Mammoth
Illinois, and other interior basins and of Cave Megagroup) of the Kaskaskia Sequence.
Meramec-Chester relationships at the borders Upper Kaskaskia regressive clastic rocks are
of the marginal basins has revealed three con- preserved only in the marginal basins and in the
ditions: (1) No regional or interregional uncon- more actively subsiding basins of the cratonic
formity separates Chester and older strata. In interior.
fact, this is, in detail, one of the most difficultly BASE OF ABSAROKA SEQUENCE: The long dura-
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ABSAROKA SEQUENCE 103

tion and multiple character of the Absaroka The most widespread Absaroka transgressions
transgression is indicated by the ages, distribu- which have left a record on the craton are those
tion patterns, and relationships of basal of Atokan and younger Pennsylvanian age.
Absaroka units. These units range from young- This relationship is well shown in the Mid-
est Mississippian to Triassic; the oldest Absa- continent area where Springer and Morrow
roka units (Goddard, Jackfork, Princeton, strata (Sloss and others, 1960, Map 61) are
Parkwood formations) occur in basins at the limited to basinal areas, whereas Atoka and
cratonic margin, whereas Triassic strata form Des Moines units (Map 81) are widely repre-
the base of the sequence on the more active sented both in the basins and on the intervening

N.W.WYOMING S.E. MONTANA NORTH DAKOTA

V/yomi ng Shet f W i I Ii ston Basi n

COLORADO KANSAS MISSOURI ILLINOIS INDIANA

Front Range C. Kansas U p l i f t Nemaha R i d g e Ozark U p l i f t La SaI Ie Ant i c I i ne
Denver B a s i n 3 a I i n a Basin Forest City B.

Figure 3. Diagrammatic cross sections showing relationships of lower part of Absaroka

Sequence (black) to older units (white). Sequence boundaries are shown by heavy wavy
lines.
positive elements of the "Ancestral Rockies," shelves. This pattern is a familiar one in many
Peace River arch, and in the Appalachian Pied- areas of the craton, making a pre-Middle
mont and Atlantic coastal areas. Between these Pennsylvanian unconformity the commonly
extremes there is every evidence of numerous encountered lower boundary of the Absaroka
transgressive episodes separated by regression Sequence.
and erosion to form a complex of intraregional ABSAROKA DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTER:
and intrasequence unconformities. This com- The complexity and rapid rates of change both
plexity and the abundance of local uncon- in thickness and lithology of the Absaroka
formities marked by obvious truncation, chan- Sequence provide a kind of unity to the suc-
neling, and structural dislocation create a cession which sets it apart from the Kaskaskia
pattern of considerable confusion in which the Sequence below and the Zuni Sequence above,
outlines of the Absaroka Sequence are difficult while making it most dificult for one to draw
to recognize within a given area or part of a any broad generalizations as to the Absaroka
depositional province. Interregional studies Sequence itself. Of the systems represented in
indicate, however, that none of the intra- the sequence, the Pennsylvanian (Sloss and
sequence unconformities, no matter how im- others, 1960, Map 63) is the most widespread,
portant these may be at the local scale, can be partly because the maximum transgression ap-
shown to have craton-wide significance. pears to have occurred during Pennsylvanian
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104 I.. L. SLOSS—SEQUENCES IN CRATONIC INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA

time and partly because Pennsylvanian strata found unconformity cut on Pennsylvanian
have been less severely reduced in areal dis- strata. Exceptions occur along the axis of the
tribution by post-Absaroka erosion. Appalachian basin where Early Permian
Two major characteristics of the Absaroka (Dunkard) strata are preserved, and in isolated
Sequence distinguish it from earlier successions. basins of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the Ap-
One is the disappearance of the Transconti- palachian Piedmont, and the Maritime Prov-
nental arch as a controlling element in dis- inces, where there are Triassic rocks. If the
tribution, facies, and thickness of preserved Louann Salt of the Gulf Coast basin is Permian,
sediment. The second is the abrupt appearance as some stratigraphers believe, this, too, is an
of numerous intracratonic positive elements extension of the post-Pennsylvanian Absaroka
and adjoining yoked basins in the Midcon- into the eastern half of the continent.
tinent and central and southern Rocky Moun- Permian, Triassic, and Lower Jurassic units
tain areas. These elements profoundly alter the are preserved in the western cratonic areas,
tectonic pattern of much of the craton and the Permian having the widest distribution and
influence the thickness, character, and inter- and Lower Jurassic the least. The most com-
relationships of Absaroka strata. Erosion, ac- plete succession of the upper units of the
companying uplift of the many positive ele- Absaroka Sequence is preserved on the Colo-
ments and resulting from rejuvenation within rado Plateau and the adjacent flanks of the
the Canadian Shield, provided large volumes of Oquirrh Basin. Here the final regressive phase
clastic detritus to areas which had been the of the sequence is represented by nonmarine
sites of relatively pure carbonate deposition red beds and pure quartz sandstones (Nugget,
during much of the preceding portions of Navajo, etc.) with textures and structures sug-
Paleozoic time. These sources appear to have gesting that the last agent of transportation
provided by far the greater part of the clastic was wind. The more limited distribution of
rocks which dominate Absaroka deposition, Lower Jurassic strata as compared with the
but sands and shales derived from extra- Triassic is well shown by the paleotectonic
cratonic sources in the Ouachita and Appala- maps of these two systems (McKee and others,
chian trends are also evident among Pennsyl- 1956; 1959).
vanian sedimentary rocks.
Excepting the locally important sandstone ZUNI SEQUENCE
masses surrounding isolated positive elements, DEFINITION: The Zuni Sequence is here de-
the marginal basins of the Cordilleran and fined to include North American cratonic
southwestern Ouachita trends were sites of strata that lie between interregional uncon-
long-continued carbonate-evaporite marine de- formities marking the top of the Absaroka
position. Much of the cratonic interior bears a Sequence and the base of the Tejas Sequence.
record of cyclic repetitions of marine and non- The Zuni Sequence ranges in age from Middle
marine deposition with increasing dominance Jurassic to middle Paleocene. The name is de-
of continental environments toward the north- rived from the Zuni uplift on the Arizona-
east. Thus, the Pennsylvanian sections of New Mexico border, where exposures, supple-
Western Utah and West Texas are largely mented by wells in the adjacent San Juan
marine, the equivalent strata in Kansas are basin, make available a representative section.
roughly two thirds marine, those in Illinois are SUB-ZUNI SURFACE: Sediments of the last re-
about half marine and half continental, and gressional phase of the Absaroka Sequence are
those in Pennsylvania are dominantly continen- preserved only in a limited area centering on
tal. With advancing time during the span of the Colorado Plateau and adjacent basinal
Absaroka deposition there was an irregular re- areas to the northwest. Figure 4 illustrates the
treat of the seas toward the western basins, relationship between basal Zuni units and the
bringing deltaic environments and red-bed overstepped strata of earlier sequences from the
deposition to the Great Plains and Rocky Colorado Plateau northward along the Rocky
Mountain states by mid-Permian time and re- Mountain trend to Alberta. The progressive
sulting in nonmarme conditions in all cratonic northward truncation of older and older pre-
and marginal basin depositional areas by Late Zum strata is a long-recognized feature of
Tnassic and Early Jurassic time. Rocky Mountain stratigraphy (Condit, 1919).
TOP OF ABSAROKA SEQUENCE: Over IllOSt of D. Francis (in Sloss and others, 1960, Map 102)
the eastern half of North America the top of shows the complex pattern developed beneath
the Absaroka Sequence is marked by a pro- Jurassic strata in the Williston basin area where
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ZUNISEQUENCE 105

units as old as Devonian form the sub-Zuni unconformity transects pre-Upper Jurassic
surface. Throughout western North America strata (Louann Salt, Werner Anhydrite, and
Cretaceous strata onlap broadly beyond the Eagle Mills red beds) of undetermined age,
limits of the Jurassic and overstep units of all possibly including Permian, Triassic, or Early-
ages from Precambrian to Early Jurassic. The Jurassic. Although lack of adequate subsurface
resulting pattern of onlap and overstep is control prevents reconstruction of the details
exemplified by the sub-Cretaceous paleogeo- of the sub-Zuni surface in vast areas of the
logic map published by Glaister (1959). Gulf Coast overstep, it is obvious that the pat-
The lower diagram of Figure 4 is typical of tern is at least as complex as that known from

WYOMING MONTANA

LOUISIANA ARKANSAS ILLINOIS

G u l f Coast Basin M i s s i s s i p p i Embayment

Culf ttanooga to Chester

Comanche' . Peter to Clear Creek

Coahui la|
Cotton V a l ley!
Louark

Figure 4. Diagrammatic cross sections showing relationships of lower part of Zuni Sequence
(black) to older units (white). Sequence boundaries are shown by heavy wavy lines.

relationships between Zuni and older strata in outcrops and from numerous wells in areas
the Gulf Coast area, the Mississippi embay - where the Cretaceous forms the base of the
ment, and along the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Zuni Sequence.
Areal geologic maps of these areas reveal, at the BASE OF ZUNI SEQUENCE: Strata at the base
preserved margin of the Cretaceous overstep, of the Zuni Sequence range in age from Middle
the degree of pre-Zuni erosion and the pro- Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. Cratonic distribu-
fundity of the resulting unconformity. tion of Middle Jurassic strata is limited to the
The nature of the sub-Zuni surface in axial Cordilleran marginal basins and adjoining areas
portions of the Gulf Coast basin is less well of the Rocky Mountain-Great Plains states
documented and more subject to controversy. and provinces. Upper Jurassic units onlap be-
Deep wells drilled near the Arkansas-Louisiana yond the edge of the Middle Jurassic, forming
boundary and in adjoining areas of East Texas the base of the sequence in that part of the in-
and Mississippi penetrate Lower Cretaceous terior of the Gulf Coast basin that has been
and Upper Jurassic strata which do not extend penetrated by the drill. Similarly, Upper
to the outcrop in the United States portion of Jurassic units are at the base of the sequence on
the Gulf Coast area. A major unconformity parts of the Sweetgrass arch and other western
marking the base ol the Zuni Sequence lies areas of limited extent which either received
below the Upper Jurassic Louark Group. The no sediments during the Middle Jurassic or
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106 L. L. SLOSS—SEQUENCES IN CRATONIC INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA

underwent erosion during a minor pre-Oxford- basins, nor are they traceable in an interre-
ian regressive phase. gional sense. It is held, therefore, that the Zuni
Lower Cretaceous beds cover great areas be- Sequence as here defined is a natural, although
yond the margin of Upper Jurassic distribu- complex, cratonic unit, not subject to inter-
tion, as in the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast regional subdivision by persistent uncon-
areas, and over much of the Great Plains east formities.
of the limits of Jurassic advance. Glaister As noted, pre-Oxfordian Zuni sedimentation
(1959) illustrates the typical pattern of Early was limited to basins at and near the Cordil-
Cretaceous onlap and overstep as developed in leran cratonic margin. This early Zuni phase
the Great Plains area of Alberta. Remnants of of sedimentation, following fairly rapid Middle
Upper Cretaceous units are widely distributed Jurassic transgression of the basal unconformity,
over the continental interior and Canadian produced deposits not unlike those of the
Shield, indicating that rocks of this age origi- Absaroka Sequence. Extensive carbonates and
nally formed the base of the Zuni Sequence in evaporites were formed in the more westerly
an extraordinarily large area. basinal areas, interfingering to the east and
The base of the Zuni Sequence is an easily south with nonmarine sandstones and red
recognized horizon typically marked by a. basal beds. As during earlier geologic time, the
sandstone bearing residual fragments of under- sources of clastic debris appear to have been in
lying rock units except on the Colorado the continental interior.
Plateau and neighboring areas of preservation Following a minor pre-Oxfordian regression
of Lower Jurassic regressive sandstones of the a significant change in Cordilleran conditions
Absaroka Sequence. There are areas, however, occurred with the appearance in Oxfordian
where the basal sandstone is relatively incon- time of sandstones (Upper Sundance, Swift,
spicuous. Examples are found in the Rocky Kootenay formations) characterized by an
Mountain area where the base of the sequence abundance of chert grains and apparently de-
is formed by marine carbonates and shales rived from eugeosynclinal (Nevadian) uplifts
(Carmel, Sundance, Piper formations) which in the extracratonic area to the west. The Ox-
cover the old erosion surface with no more than fordian Stage marks the beginning of dom-
a few inches of conglomerate and sandstone at inance of Rocky Mountain sedimentation by
the base of the transgressive succession. A clastic wedges derived from western sources.
similar situation prevails in the Gulf Coast area The Oxfordian also represents, so far as
where carbonates and evaporites of the Upper present data indicate, the initiation of normal
Jurassic Louark Group lie at the base of the cratonic sedimentation in the Gulf Coast area,
Zuni Sequence. In general, where Cretaceous a region previously occupied, at least in part,
units form the base of the sequence, easily by the geosynclinal trends of the Ouachita and
recognizable sandstones (Blairmore, "Dakota," Appalachian systems. The Oxfordian overlap
Trinity, Paluxy, Tuscaloosa formations) are of the Gulf Coast basin initiated a pattern of
prevalent. deposition which continued in that area
ZUNI DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTER: The throughout the span of the Zuni Sequence.
Zuni Sequence, like the Kaskaskia Sequence, The pattern is characterized by alternations of
bears a record of at least two major tectonic and dark shale, carbonates, and evaporites in the
transgressive episodes, one roughly coinciding interior of the basin, interfingering updip with
with Middle and Late Jurassic time and an- littoral sandstones and nonmarine deposits
other with a Cretaceous climax. The degree near the basin margin.
to which Cretaceous units onlap the Jurassic Jurassic distribution and facies patterns are
and rest with pronounced unconformity on given by McKee, and others (1956, Pis. 5-7);
earlier strata has led to belief in a great pre- data on the Jurassic and Cretaceous are pre-
Cretaceous episode of uplift and erosion. The sented by Sloss and others (1960, maps 99-150).
evident discordance in the Gulf Coast outcrop These maps reveal the extent of Cretaceous
belt between Lower and Upper Cretaceous overlap beyond the limits of Jurassic units and
rocks led to recognition of the Comanchean pertinent details of Cordilleran, Great Plains,
Period and System in the first decade of this Gulf Coast, and Atlantic Coastal Plain deposi-
century. However, the writer believes that tion. In the most generalized terms it may be
none of the many unconformities between noted that Zuni marine transgression reached a
Middle Jurassic and upper Paleocene strata can Late Jurassic climax (pre-Oxfordian in the west,
be demonstrated to persist across the cratonic early Oxfordian in the east) followed by wide-
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ZUNISEQUENCE 107

spread displacement of the seas by nonmarine from the basement complex to the top of the
conditions near the Jurassic-Cretaceous bound- Zuni Sequence at the sub-Tejas surface. The
ary and by renewed marine transgression to a resulting sub-Tejas unconformity is one of the
Late Albian climax. The complex intertongumg most spectacular features of Rocky Mountain
of western sandstones (Mesaverde, etc.) and the geology and one of the most easily identified
net eastward advance of these sands in later surfaces of many other areas.
Cretaceous and lower Paleocene units clearly TEJAS DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTER: Figure
indicates a gradual regression of Zum seaways 5 illustrates part of the Rocky Mountain-
caused, at least in part, by the advance of Great Plains area. The cross section makes no
clastic wedges of extracratonic derivation attempt to show the stratigraphic intricacies
from the west. present within the youngest sequence, and the
TOP OF ZUNI SEQUENCE: The youngest Zuni diagram is offered only to indicate the inter-
strata preserved are the early and middle Pale- regional extent of the sub-Tejas unconformity
ocene units of the Fort Union Group and its and the magnitude of the structural relief de-
correlatives in the Great Plains and Rocky veloped before transgression of the basal units
Mountain basins. These strata mark the ulti- of the sequence. The Tejas Sequence is char-
mate regressive elements of Zuni deposition acterized by similarity to the Absaroka Se-
and, almost everywhere, they rest with transi- quence of Midcontinent and Rocky Mountain
tional and conformable contacts on the very areas. Deposition was strongly controlled by a
similar nonmarine strata of youngest Cre- sharply differentiated tectonic framework
taceous age (Hell Creek Formation and cor- developed during late Paleocene and subse-
relatives). The difficulty of precise placement quent time, dominated by numerous sharply
of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary within defined positive and negative elements which
this succession is witness to its homogeneity and differ in position and trend from those of the
strongly supports the placement of these Pale- pre-existent framework. The positive elements,
ocene beds in the Zuni Sequence. In the Gulf many of which were initiated during the early
Coastal area, the absolute equivalents of Fort stages of Tejas deposition, are largely isolated,
Union strata appear to have been removed by discordant uplifts bounded by high-angle faults.
post-Zuni erosion, and the top of the sequence These uplifts, the structures which they repre-
is formed by an erosion surface cut on the sent, and their spatial and temporal inde-
Navarro Group and older Cretaceous strata. pendence from one another and from the geo-
synclinal trends are strongly reminiscent of the
TEJAS SEQUENCE "Ancestral Rockies" and Midcontinent uplifts
DEFINITION: The Tejas Sequence is here de- active during Absaroka deposition. Similarly,
fined as cratonic strata that rest upon an inter- the asymmetrical yoked basins display a strong
regional unconformity cut on the Zuni kinship to Absaroka basins in their relation-
Sequence and older strata and extend to in- ships to adjacent positive elements in terms of
clude present-day deposits. Therefore, deposits provenance of detrital fill and structural his-
of the Tejas Sequence include all cratonic sedi- tory. In the Rocky Mountains-Great Plains
mentary and volcanic rocks of late Paleocene area the Tejas Sequence, although internally
and younger age. The sequence is named from highly complex, is distinguished from the
Texas, where there is a classic development of underlying Zuni Sequence by the overriding
the great wedge of Tertiary and Quaternary effects of cratonic mobility during Tejas
sediments filling the Gulf Coast basin. In an deposition.
effort to avoid unnecessary confusion, the The degree of pre-Tejas truncation of older
older alternative spelling and Spanish pronun- units on the positive elements of the Gulf
ciation are applied. Coast complex is shown (Fig. 5, lower dia-
SUB-TEJAS SURFACE: The subcrop geology gram), as is the late Paleocene overstep and the
of the surface upon which the sequence was broad onlap by Eocene units. The uncon-
laid resembles the sub-Absaroka surface in pat- formity at the base of the Midway Group is a
tern and character. Late Paleocene and younger readily apparent feature of Gulf Coast stratig-
Tertiary uplift of numerous cratonic positive raphy, but there is not so great a degree oi
elements, strikingly similar to those developed difference between Zuni and Tejas sedimenta-
in the Pennsylvania!!, was responsible for the tion in the Gulf Coast area as is evident in the
stripping of thousands of cubic miles of pre- Rocky Mountains-Great Plains province. The
Tcjas rocks and for the exposure of all units same relationships between up-dip littoral and
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108 L. L. SLOSS—SEQUENCES IN CRATONIC INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA

deltaic sands and down-dip marine shales are continental shelves and in the Hudson Bay
present, forming complex, cyclical inter- depression—areas which appear to have been
tongues. The Tejas Sequence lacks carbonates emergent and subject to erosion between the
and evaporites in the western and central Gulf depositional cycles of earlier sequences. How-
regions, but these rock types are important in ever, even without further continental uplift,
peninsular Florida. Other distinctions from the continuation of the present erosional regime
Zuni Sequence are found in the complex effect would vastly alter the areal geology of North
of concurrent faulting and salt-dome emplace- America, and, upon ultimate peneplanation

WYOMING SOUTH DAKOTA

Absaroka Range Bighorn Mtns. Black H i l l s
Bighorn Basin Powder R i v e r B a s i n
-

MISSISSIPPI ARKANSAS
Jackson Dome Monroe Up I i f t
pujf_Coast Basin
Clalborne

Figure 5. Diagrammatic cross sections showing relationships of lower part of Tejas Sequence
(black) to older units (white).

ment. These effects complicate the local Tejas and renewed transgression, an unconformity at
stratigraphy in any given area of study. least as profound and as interregional in scope
The generalized picture in the area is one of as that of any of the earlier sequence boundaries
rapid Eocene transgression and overlap fol- would be formed. The writer believes, there-
lowed by a reversion to regressive tendencies. fore, that we are witnessing the closing regres-
Regression interrupted by numerous minor sive phases of the Tejas Sequence, although it
transgressions but with a net effect of post- is not possible to predict the number and
Eocene offlap continues to the present time. duration of glacially controlled minor trans-
The Late Cenozoic marine regression of the gressions and regressions which may complicate
Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast borders is the immediate future. It is also impossible to
matched by elevation of the continental in- anticipate the date of ultimate peneplanation
terior above base level and by the institution or the time of initiation of the next sequence.
of an erosional regime throughout much of the Judging by the record of the geologic past it
North American craton. Exceptions are found would be logical to assume a span of tens of
among Cordilleran basins of closed drainage, millions of years before reversal of the present
but the deposits now forming therein must be trend.
considered ephemeral in view of the elevations A proper evaluation of the Tejas Sequence
of most of the temporary base levels now is beyond the competence of the present
operative. Sedimentation also continues on the writer. He believes, however, that the sequence
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TEJAS SEQUENCE 109

as defined is a natural major unit in the stratig- The black areas of the diagram represent
raphy of the North American craton and that hiatuses, the geographic and chronologic posi-
it represents a significant, although complex, tions of nondeposition. The white or stippled
cycle of era tonic history. Wheeler (1956) and areas indicate those portions of geologic time
other workers of wide acquaintance with Ter- and those geographic positions represented by
tiary stratigraphy believe that a major mid- the deposition of sediment. (The stippled pat-
Tertiary break of fundamental interregional tern is applied only to aid the eye in differen-
significance is indicated. Wheeler contends that tiating the vertically successive depositional
two sequences are represented in the Tejas of episodes.)
the present writer. According to Wheeler Each white or stippled area of Figure 6
represents an estimate of the space-time dis-
". . . the earlier sequence is essentially 'latest tribution of a complete interregional trans-
Eocene and Oligocene' in the western interior on
the basis of vertebrates, but 'latest Eocene to gressive-regressive depositional succession, a
middle Miocene' (marine microfaunal) in the holostrome in the terminology proposed by
coastal region. The following hiatal and erogenic Wheeler (1958). In this sense, and along the
episode occupies most of the vertebrate 'Miocene,' approximate geographic co-ordinate selected,
but only a short interval (commonly unrecognized) all the past half-billion years of geologic time
in the marine microfaunal 'late-middle Miocene.' is accounted for, in terms of either deposition
The later sequence contains abundant 'late Miocene or nondeposition. The diagram does not record
and early Pliocene' vertebrates but is largely con- the effects of erosion (vacuity) that have re-
fined to the marine 'late Miocene'." duced the original rock records of the deposi-
Wheeler's criteria for subdivision of the Tejas tional episodes to their present much more
Sequence are impressive, and it is entirely limited extent and thickness. Those parts
possible that a truly interregional hiatus is which are preserved are the sequences, and if
present, but masked by disparities in bio- the time-length value of these were shown,
stratigraphically defined dates, as is the case separated by hiatus plus vacuity, the area of
at other sequence boundaries. the diagram representing lack of record would
In common with any other stratal unit, the be many times larger than the area representing
Tejas Sequence is subject to emendation and preserved stratigraphy. Figure 6 as presented,
redefinition. It is not unlikely that stratigra- is, therefore, a gross reconstruction, but by
phers familiar with Tertiary problems will find recording the age of the youngest units pre-
reason to modify the lower boundary of the served in each sequence, and by differentiating
sequence as here defined. the evidences of transgression and regression
one can arrive at an approximation of the sedi-
TIME-STRATIGRAPHIC mentary record as it existed before attack by
RELATIONSHIPS OF THE SEQUENCES recurrent episodes of erosion.
The descriptions of the sequences are based The Sauk and Zuni sequences have much in
almost entirely on the physical relationships common. Both followed hiatuses of long dura-
among rock units. Given a sufficient density tion, both required extraordinary lengths oi
of outcrop and subsurface control one would time in achieving their maximum overlap, and
be able to delineate the sequences as natural both closed with rapid regression. In contrast,
groupings in lithostratigraphy without neces- the Absaroka and Tejas sequences were both
sary recourse to paleontologic dates. The se- deposited during times of marked tectonic
quences, however, as is true of other rock- mobility on the craton, reached their maxi-
stratigraphic units, occupy positions in a mum transgressions at an early date following
temporal (chronostratigraphic) framework as closely upon short-lived hiatuses, and are domi-
well as in purely spatial dimensions (Figs. 1-5). nated by evidence of long-continued regression
In Figure 6 the vertical dimension is an approx- involving the greater part of their time spans.
imation of geologic time with the boundaries of The Tippecanoe Sequence appears to represent
Paleo/.oic and younger periods shown. The an almost symmetrical cycle with maximum
lateral dimension is a west-east geographic co- overlap near the middle of the time span
ordinate, and, although the illustration is no involved.
more than a diagram, it is possible to consider
the left margin to lie in the Cordilleran basin CRATONIC AND EXTRACRATONIC
in central Nevada, the center of the diagram to SEQUENCES
represent the Midcontinent area, and the right If Figure 6 were extended westward and east-
margin to he within the Appalachian basin. ward to include areas farther removed from the
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110 L. L. SLOSS—SEQUENCES IN CRATONIC INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA

cratonic margins, other natural major group- fine the limits beyond which the cratonic
ings of strata separated by hiatuses would be sequences lose applicability and significance.
apparent. These extracratonic sequences, con- At the same time, we can anticipate the recog-
trolled by erogenic events in the geosynclinal nition of eugeosynclinal sequences (Taconic,
trends, bear no necessary relationship to the Acadian, Antler, Franciscan, Ouachita are
cratonic sequences and demand an independent geosynclinal terms already attached to sedi-
status and an independent terminology. All mentary successions) and the delineation of

QUATERNARY
TERTIARY

PERMIAN
ABSAROKA
PENNSYLVANIAN

SILURIAN TIPPECANOE

ORDOVICIAN

CORDILLERAN MIOGEOSYNCLINE APPALACHIAN MIOGEOSYNCLINE

Figure 6. Time-stratigraphic relationships of the sequences in the North American craton.
Black areas represent nondcposltional hiatuses; white and stippled areas represent deposi-
tion. (Stippling introduced only to differentiate successive depositional episodes.)

rock-stratigraphic units have lateral limits, de- the cutoffs between geosynclinal and cratonic
fined by erosion and truncation or by lateral units.
passage into other natural groupings defined
by other boundaries. In the latter case arbi- SEQUENCE TERMINOLOGY
trary cutoffs are applied to define the areas of A number of stratigraphers have questioned
recognition and application of two or more sets the usefulness of the sequence names and some
of units and their terminology. Sequences are further explanation is required.
no exception to this rule, and the cratonic Consider the first sequence (Fig. 1); the
sequences discussed in this paper are strictly unconformity at its base cannot properly be
limited to those portions of the North Ameri- termed Precambrian since in some areas it
can craton and its margins in which they exist separates units of Precambrian age and in
as natural groupings of strata separated by other areas the erosion surface is covered by
demonstrable interregional unconformities. Early Ordovician strata. The rocks of the first
Further work at the cratonic margins will dc- sequence cannot be clearly identified by any
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SEQUENCE TERMINOLOGY 111

time-stratigraphic terminology. They cannot The concept and practice is as old as organ-
be called Cambrian since both Precambrian ized stratigraphy. The classical geologic sys-
and Early Ordovician rocks are included. They tems of Great Britain and Western Europe
cannot be called Cambro-Ordovician because were first recognized as natural groupings of
of the inclusion of Precambrian strata and be- strata separated by interregional unconformi-
cause the sequence may be entirely Early ties. Such units were applied to the problems
Ordovician in some areas. Identification of the of practical geology for many years before they
strata involved as the Sauk Sequence removes reached their 19th Century status as repre-
these difficulties and permits unequivocal sentatives of fundamental subdivisions of earth
reference to the specific strata in question. history. On this side of the Atlantic, as else-
Similarly, the erosion surface at the base of where outside of the area of original derivation
the Sauk Sequence may be identified as the of the classical systems, they are not natural
sub-Sauk unconformity without the confusion groupings of strata but, as time-stratigraphic
inevitable with an attempt at time-stra- units, they serve in as satisfactory a manner as
tigraphic placement and without the complex- any other set of subdivisions for a universal
ity which would occur if the unconformity geologic calendar. As long as stratigraphic in-
were identified in terms of the local rock units vestigations in North America were confined
with which it is involved. to the outcrop belts, and as long as pale-
In a like manner, it is much simpler to refer ontologic analysis remained the only means of
to the second sequence as the Tippecanoe than establishing the time-equivalency of strata, the
it would be to attempt a time stratigraphic European systems appeared as "natural" and
label, such as "Middle Ordovician-Lower as practical as any other major units of more
Devonian" which would be completely mis- local derivation.
leading in many areas. Any attempt to identify As noted, a number of nonpaleontologic cor-
the basal unconformity of the Tippecanoe relation methods have been developed, and
Sequence in time terms would also be mislead- these cast serious doubt on certain critical but
ing or inaccurate since the erosion surface in long-accepted cases of apparent synchrony. At
question cuts rocks of Precambrian, Cambrian, the same time the opening of the subsurface
and Early Ordovician age and is overlapped by has revealed that, among the myriad of dis-
strata of all ages from early Middle Ordovician continuities observable in outcrop, only a
to Silurian. The multiplicity of local names handful of interregional unconformities persist
applied to the components of the Tippecanoe across the sedimentary basins and are traceable
Sequence indicates the difficulties that would from province to province. These two develop-
be encountered if the sequence were identified ments have led to the recognition of the
in terms of any local stratigraphic succession. cratonic sequences and to their practical ap-
The same kind of a case can be made for the plication.
validity, usefulness, and, indeed, necessity of Although sequences have a greater time-
all of the six sequence names applied. stratigraphic significance than classical rock
units (Swann and Willman, 1961), there is no
CONCLUDING REMARKS implication in the sequence concept of an
The sequence concept is not new and was attempt to establish a North American, as op-
already old when it was enunciated by the posed to a Western European, time scale.
writer and his colleagues in 1948. It has long Ulrich (1911) long ago recognized the sub-
been recognized that the classical systems are division of the Ordovician at the sub-Tippe-
not natural groupings of strata on the North canoe unconformity, but his Canadian "sys-
American craton and stratigraphers are familiar tem" has not withstood the test of time. Ulrich
with such hyphenated terms as Cambro- was also aware of the abrupt demarkation at
Ordovician, Permo-Carboniferous, Permo- what is here termed the base of the Absaroka
Triassic, Jura-Triassic, Jura-Cretaceous, and Sequence, but his use of this boundary as the
similar terms applied where natural units span base of the Mesozoic section was never widely
system boundaries. The importance of inter- accepted.
regional unconformities was implicit in Levor- The cratonic sequences are rock units de-
scn's (1943) ideas on "layer cake" geology, and fined by unconformities and of broad although
many other workers of wide experience have finite, lateral extent. Therefore, the utility of
informally applied the sequence concept since the six sequences of the present paper in in-
at least the 1920's. terpreting the geologic history of the North
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112 L. L. SLOSS—SEQUENCES IN CRATONIC INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA

American craton not withstanding, (examples Precambrian. Here are numerous natural
of application of the sequence concept are pre- groupings of strata defined by major uncon-
sented by Langenheim, 1952; Wheeler, 1958; formities (James 1960) and representing sig-
1960; Martin 1959; Churkin 1962; Shannon, nificant episodes in depositional and tectonic
1962; Sloss, 1950; 1955; 1956) they have no history. In the writer's view such assemblages of
necessary applications to the rock stratigraphy strata as Belt "series," Keweenaw "series,"
and time stratigraphy of extracratonic or extra- Animikie "series," and many other major
continental areas. units within the Precambrian are stratigraphic
The existence of geosynclinal sequences has sequences in the sense that the term is used
already been mentioned. If the sequence con- in this paper,
cept is acceptable it also has applications in the

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MANUSCRIPT RECEIVED BY THE SOCIETY, NOVEMBER 13, 1961