Chronostratigraphic correlation of the Upper Silurian Salina Group for the Michigan and Appalachian Basins through coupled (δ13Ccarb) chemostratigraphy and subsurface geophysical analyses

Abstract

The Upper Silurian Salina Group of eastern North America is well known for its thick evaporite successions and hydrocarbon resources. These strata have been assigned to numerous chronostratigraphic schemes within Ohio and Michigan and are currently identified by varying subsurface and outcrop nomenclatural schemes. These chronostratigraphic challenges have persisted for over 50 yr and dramatically inhibit the correlation of events recorded in the Silurian section of eastern North America with the global record of Silurian biogeochemical events. To help resolve the chronostratigraphic correlation of these units, we provide new high-resolution δ13Ccarb chemostratigraphic analyses of a core located in central Ohio for strata assigned to the Greenfield and Tymochtee Formations and integrate existing biostratigraphic, chemostratigraphic, and subsurface geophysical data in western, southern, and eastern Ohio. The new data presented here, integrated for the first time with basinwide subsurface geophysical data, demonstrate a mid-late Homerian Stage global sea-level lowstand, suggest a short interval of tectonic stability within the study area at the beginning of “Salina B–G” deposition, during which accommodation was occupied by the Greenfield Formation and laterally equivalent strata, and provide chronostratigraphic constraints for basin flexure and potential forebulge migration associated with renewed tectonic activity. The new chronostratigraphic correlation of these strata provides a broader picture of Silurian environmental change across the eastern half of the Laurentian paleocontinent.