TITLE:
Shallow-Water Origin of a Devonian Black Shale, Cleveland Shale Member (Ohio Shale), Northeastern Ohio, USA
AUTHORS:
Saeed Alshahrani, James E. Evans
KEYWORDS:
Black Shales, Tempestites, Hyperpycnites, Devonian, Appalachian Basin, Catskill Delta
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Geology,
Vol.4 No.12,
December
26,
2014
ABSTRACT: Black shales are usually
interpreted to require anoxic bottom waters and deeper water sedimentation.
There has long been a debate about whether the Devonian Cleveland Shale Member
of the Ohio Shale (CSM) was deposited in shallow- or deep-water depositional
environments. This study looked at the CSM at 3 stratigraphic sections and 5
well cores in northeastern Ohio. The CSM mostly consists of sapropelite
(interbedded carbonaceous black mudstones and gray calcareous claystones). The
black and gray “shales” are rhythmically bedded at micro- (≥35 km,
while hyperpycnites are too thin (≤50 m depth).