Date of Award
8-1986
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Geological and Environmental Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. William B. Harrison HI
Second Advisor
Dr. W. Thomas Straw
Third Advisor
Dr. John D. Grace
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
The Filer Sandstone, a multistory assemblage o£ lenticular sand bodies, is a member of the Middle Devonian Amherstburg Formation of the Detroit River Group in the subsurface of the western and central portion of the Michigan Basin. It is distinguished from the reworked eolian and nearshore marine sand facies of the underlying Sylvania Sandstone by recognition of its barrier island facies relationships and stratigraphic position within enclosing carbonates unique to the Amherstburg Formation. Lithologically, the Filer ranges from a fine-grained, carbonate-cemented, supermature quartzarenite at its upper shoreface facies, to a texturally-inverted sandy carbonate at its lagoonal facies. Facies distribution was controlled by sea floor topography. Source area for the sand is believed to be Cambrian and Ordovician sandstones of the Wisconsin Highland region to the northwest. From there, wind and streams distributed the sand to oscillating strandlines with attendant barrier islands in the Amherstburg Sea.
Recommended Citation
Rodwan, John Charles, "Stratigraphic and Sedimentologic Analysis of the Middle Devonian Filer Sandstone" (1986). Masters Theses. 1349.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1349