Date of Award
8-1981
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Geological and Environmental Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. William B. Harrison III
Second Advisor
Dr. Thomas Straw
Third Advisor
Dr. John Grace
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
The Lower Silurian Brassfield Formation which outcrops in the Tri-state area of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky is a transgressive sequence consisting of a series of interbedded shales, limestones and dolostones. Evidence from depositional environments, petrography and spatial relationships of dolomitized and undolomitized rock suggests dolomitization in southwestern Ohio was a two-stage process. Initial dolomitization was restricted to the basal Belfast Member and probably occurred penecontemporaneously on small supratidal islands in a manner analagous to that which occurs in the modern sabkha environment of the Persian Gulf. Regional dolomitization was a later diagenetic event related to the formation of a fresh-seawater mixing zone beneath a landmass created by upwarping of the Cincinnati Arch at the close of the Silurian. Intensity of dolomitization in the outcrop belt is controlled by the proximity of the original carbonate to the source of dolomitizing fluids in the mixing zone.
Recommended Citation
Varga, Lisa L., "Dolomitization of the Brassfield Formation (Lower Silurian) in Adams County, Ohio" (1981). Masters Theses. 1843.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1843