Masters Theses
Abstract
“The Salem Limestone (Meramecian) of Mississippian age in the vicinity of St. Louis, Missouri is composed of a variable sequence of limestones deposited in shallow waters adjacent to scattered positive elements. This unit varies in thickness from zero up to 160 feet.
A medium to coarse-grained calcarenite is the dominant rock-type of the thesis area and is most abundant in the central and southwest regions. Stratigraphic sections in the northern region are more dolomitic, increasingly brecciated, and contains numerous secondary features. The southeast region is thinly bedded and composed of greater amounts of micrite formed by algal activity or direct precipitation from marine waters.
A general increase in depositional energy occurred westward into the St. Louis and Jefferson counties. An open, shallow shelf of low energy existed east of the Mississippi River. Moderate to high energy, shallow shelf environments with good circulation of marine waters defined the central and southern regions of the thesis area. Tidal flat lagoons with poor circulation of marine waters were fond in the northern regions and as isolated regions throughout the entire area.
The criteria for recognizing the lateral relations of the major sedimentary facies of the Salem was based on variations in constituent carbonate grain-types, mud-sparite ratios, fossil abundance and diversity, and presence of primary sedimentary structures. A model for carbonate sedimentation within an epeiric sea is used to establish the depositional regime. This model involves five transgression/regression sequences that produced the carbonate units”--Abstract, pages ii-iii.
Advisor(s)
Alfred C. Spreng, 1923-2012
Committee Member(s)
Robert C. Laudon
Cary L. McConnell, 1945-
Department(s)
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Degree Name
M.S. in Geology and Geophysics
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Publication Date
Summer 1987
Pagination
x, 93 pages, map
Note about bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-77).
Rights
© 1987 Douglas J. Van Brunt, All rights reserved.
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
File Type
text
Language
English
Thesis Number
T 5549
Print OCLC #
17455277
Recommended Citation
Van Brunt, Douglas J., "A paleoenvironmental study of the Salem Limestone in the vicinity of St. Louis, Missouri" (1987). Masters Theses. 4308.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/masters_theses/4308
Correlation of Salem Limestone Sections in the St. Louis, Missouri Area
Comments
One plate, folded in the back pocket of the manuscript, is provided here as a supplemental file. Due to its large size, this file may take more time to download.