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PALEOCLIMATE DURING DEPOSITION OF THE GREATER TWILIGHT PARK CONGLOMERATE, UPPER DEVONIAN, SOUTHEAST NEW YORK
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2023-12
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Geology
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http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/9498
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The Acadian Foreland Basin formed from the collision of various exotic terranes with the continent of Laurentia, primarily during the Devonian Period. This created the southward propagating Acadian Orogeny. Formation of the basin and the cratonward-prograding Catskill clastic wedge promoted deposition of the Devonian siliciclastic rocks of the Catskill Mountain region of southeastern New York. The first major progradation of synorogenic gravels in this region appears during the deposition of the Frasnian-aged Oneonta Formation. The Oneonta Fm. is generally interpreted to be early Late Devonian in age and contains shale, sandstone, and conglomerate layers known as the Greater Twilight Park Conglomerate (GTPC). Paleosols between layers of the GTPC are important archives of past climate. At four locations, floodplain facies exhibiting pedogenesis were selected for analysis due to their proximity to layers of the GTPC. Field observations of paleosols show vertic features and clay translocation, indicating seasonal wetting and drying, with sufficient precipitation for an udic moisture regime. Petrographic analyses reveal oriented clay fabrics, as well as iron-oxide and clay translocation, reinforcing macromorphological interpretations of seasonality. Climofunctions and paleoclimate models on bulk geochemistry from B horizons most proximal to GTPC layers produce average mean annual precipitation (MAP) estimates of 873 ± 209 mm to 1147 ± 108 mm. Whereas the same proxies on Givetian-age paleosols yield estimates between1071 ± 209 mm, and 1382 ± 108 mm. Sparing the absence of a drastic increase in precipitation during the Givetian-Frasnian Transition (GFT), a substantial global or regional regressive sea-level change and orogenic activity are possible drivers of conglomerate deposition, likely associated with the onset of a new tectophase of the Acadian Orogeny.
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