Evaporative sea-level drawdown in the Silurian Michigan basin

Abstract

Research Article| May 01, 1988 Evaporative sea-level drawdown in the Silurian Michigan basin Karen Rose Cercone Karen Rose Cercone 1Geoscience Department, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania 15705 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Karen Rose Cercone 1Geoscience Department, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania 15705 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (1988) 16 (5): 387–390. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1988)016<0387:ESLDIT>2.3.CO;2 Article history First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Karen Rose Cercone; Evaporative sea-level drawdown in the Silurian Michigan basin. Geology 1988;; 16 (5): 387–390. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1988)016<0387:ESLDIT>2.3.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Evaporites deposited within the Michigan basin during late Wenlockian time appear to record a significant drop in sea level, whereas coeval carbonates deposited on the topographically higher Wabash platform of Indiana do not. The conflicting evidence from basin and platform can be resolved by a hypothesis of isolated evaporative drawdown within the basin. This hypothesis postulates that high evaporation rates and constriction of ocean inlets between the Michigan basin and North American epeiric seas caused sea levels inside the basin to drop significantly white external sea levels remained nearly constant. During drawdown, supratidal Silurian carbonates on the basin margin acted as a rim separating normal and hypersaline seas allowing recharge of seawater and discharge of brine through restricted inlets and through restricted inlets and through the subsurface. Geologic evidence for sea-level drawdown includes subaerial exposure of preevaporitic carbonates within the basin , extensive dolomitization of carbonates at the basin margin, and reduced deposition of sulfate and magnesium salts in the basin center. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.