The Influence of Basement Structures on Upper Devonian Deposition in New York State

Gerald J. Smith¹ and Robert D. Jacobi^2
1 SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
² University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY

The Catskill Delta Complex is the major clastic depocenter in the northern Acadian foreland basin. In the Upper Devonian, sedimentary deposits in western New York parallel the trends of two major basement structures: 1)Phanerozoic reactivation of the north-south trending Clarendon-Linden Fault System, which follows a Grenvillian (1.2 Ga) suture zone in western New York State; and 2) the northern edge of the northeast-trending Iapetan opening/Rome Trough fault system in southwestern New York.

Our study area in western New York coincides with the intersection of these major structure trends. Interactions between the structural trends gave rise to an extensive zone of semi-independent structural blocks that have moved and rotated during periods of tectonic stress. The motion on these blocks generated localized regions of varying accommodation that strongly influence the nature and orientation of sedimentary deposits. Growth faults recognized in stratigraphic cross-sections based on well logs and outcrops sections confirm that both northeast and north-south trending structures were active throughout the Paleozoic. Our previous work has shown the influence of the Clarendon-Linden Fault System on the deposition of Famennian-aged sediments. The occurrence of northeast-trending sedimentary deposits such as shorelines and sand ridges were assumed to follow the paleoshoreline. However, the coincidence between the basement structure and the location of the sedimentary deposits suggested that the paleoshoreline itself may have been controlled by reactivation of the Iapetan opening/Rome Trough fault system.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005