Genetic Significance of Variations in the Limestones of the Coffeyville and Hogshooter Formations (Missourian), Northeastern Oklahoma

Abstract

ABSTRACT Terrigenous material, faunal assemblages, and abrasion of skeletal material in limestone units of the Coffeyville and Hogshooter Formations (Missourian) in northeastern Oklahoma, support the genetic interpretations suggested by Folk (1959). Sparry calcite cement and micrite-bearing units are closely associated in this sequence. In the sparry calcite-cemented units, large percentages of coarse terrigenous material, severely abraded skeletal material, and a crinoidal-algal-molluscan faunal assemblage suggest that these units were deposited in high-energy environments. The micrite-bearing units contain less and finer terrigenous material. A predominance of unabraded skeletal material and a brachiopod-bryozoan-foraminiferal faunal assemblage indicate these units were deposited in lower en rgy environments. By applying Folk's (1959) genetic interpretations to several units in the Coffeyville-Hogshooter sequence, different origins for these units are formulated than have been previously proposed. The Canville and Lost City limestone units (formerly considered to represent the lower portion of the Hogshooter Formation) have characteristics suggesting that they are facies of the highly terrigenous Coffeyville Formation. These accumulations are similar to those described by Ginsburg and Lowenstam (1958) in Florida Bay. The lithologies of the Canville and Lost City suggest deposition in areas baffled by primitive plants (possibly algae) while highly terrigenous units were being deposited contemporaneously in adjacent un-baffled high-energy environments. The stratigraphic sequence around a ree in the Hogshooter Formation near Ramona, Oklahoma, suggests development in a relatively high-energy environment. The reef cores are composed of micritic material, whereas adjacent stratified beds are dominated by sparry calcite-cemented beds become less abundant. A few miles from the cores, the stratigraphic sequence is dominated by micrite-bearing units. This gradation from sparry calcite cement to micrite suggests a decrease in the energy in the depositional environment away from the reef cores. The micritic cores were probably preserved in the high-energy environment by the baffling effect of algae and bryozoans.