Masters Theses
Abstract
"The upper Mississippian Fayetteville Formation in northern Arkansas is primarily a calcareous black shale, but in some localities the upper one third to one half of the formation is made up of alternating black shales and limestones. Comparable lithologies have been suggested by some (Hallam, Ricken, Kent, and Sujkowski) to have been created by the diagenetic segregation of carbonate from calcareous shale.
Petrographic thin section analysis reveals that the lowest limestone beds of the rhythmic upper Fayetteville are made up almost entirely of microspar and all fossil material is recrystallized, even to the point of obliteration in some cases. The intervening calcareous shales contain generally smaller but better preserved fossils and are usually somewhat dolomitic. Faunal differences between the limestones and shales were observed. The limestones and shales immediately below the rhythmic part of the section are generally much more fossiliferous and more phosphatic than the rhythmic lithology.
The organic material present is amorphous and most likely algal in origin. Hydrocarbon analysis indicates that oil generation has occurred and that free or adsorbed hydrocarbons are present in the rock.
Evidence of diagenetic segregation such as destruction of fossils in shaley beds, lateral variation in limestone bed thickness, and lack of correlation between carbonate rhythms and sedimentary or faunal variations was not found. Primary structures and faunal variations suggest that a change in the depositional environment initiated deposition of the rhythmic lithology, and that periodic changes in sediment deposition created the rhythmic lithology"--Abstract, pages ii-iii.
Advisor(s)
Spreng, Alfred C., 1923-2012
Committee Member(s)
Laudon, Robert C.
Hanna, Samir B.
Department(s)
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Degree Name
M.S. in Geology and Geophysics
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Publication Date
Fall 1987
Pagination
ix, 92 pages
Note about bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-91).
Geographic Coverage
northern Arkansas
Time Period
Mississippian
Rights
© 1987 Edith Ann Starbuck, All rights reserved.
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
File Type
text
Language
English
Thesis Number
T 5614
Print OCLC #
17681533
Electronic OCLC #
1003490233
Link to Catalog Record
Recommended Citation
Starbuck, Edith Ann, "A petrographic investigation of the rhythmically bedded upper Fayetteville Formation (Mississippian) in northern Arkansas" (1987). Masters Theses. 4333.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/masters_theses/4333
Marshall Arkansas Fayetteville Shale, high resolution
Outcrop_Low_Resolution.tif (39592 kB)
Marshall Arkansas Fayetteville Shale, quick download
Comments
Photographs of the Marshall Ark. Fayetteville Shale are included as a supplementary file, with photos stitched together. The detached photos are available in Curtis Laws Wilson Library in an envelope next to the thesis.
A low-resolution is also available as a supplementary file for quicker download.