Sedimentary environments and stratigraphy of the Stipinai Formation (Upper Frasnian, northern Lithuania): a sedimentary record of sea-level changes in the Main Devonian Field of the East European Platform

Piotr Jaglarz,Alfred Uchman,Paweł Filipiak,Tomasz Rychliński,Julius Vainorius

doi:10.7306/gq.1621

Abstract

The Frasnian carbonate-siliciclastic deposits of the Stipinai Formation exposed in two quarries at Petrašiūnai and Klovainiai (northern Lithuania) show considerable vertical facies changes. The lower part of this succession is dominated by argillaceous dolomitic facies with subordinate fine siliciclastic deposits. They display haloturbation and bioturbation structures, represent a hypersaline lagoonal environment, and record the beginning of the transgression. The middle part of the succession consists of secondary dolostones containing moulds of brachiopods, tetracorals, stromatoporoids and trace fossils of deposit feeders; these were deposited in a shallow subtidal marine environment and represent the deepest sedimentary environment of this succession. This was followed by a lagoonal environment (episodic hypersaline), represented by dolomudstones and marly dolomudstones. The upper part of the succession is built of bedded dolostones which document a shallowing trend. Intercalations of clays and palaeosol horizons record emergence events. Palynostratigraphic data tentatively indicate that the Stipinai Formation represents the Upper Frasnian. The succession can be interpreted as a record of the upper part of a T-R cycle (related to the semichatovae transgression) in the Main Devonian Field of the East European Platform. The Stipinai Formation is distributed across western and central Latvia and has a correlative in the Pomerania Basin (northern Poland).

Highlights

The Devonian Baltic Basin (Pontén and Plink-Björklund, 2009) or Baltic Devonian Basin (Lukševiès et al, 2011) was formed as a consequence of the collision of eastern Avalonia and Baltica in the Late Ordovician (Poprawa et al, 1999)
The main goal of the paper is the determination of age of the Stipinai Formation via palynostratigraphy, and interpretation of facies changes through the succession
According to Avkhimovitch et al (1993), Auroraspora speciosa, Diducites radiatus and Membrabaculisporis radiatus appear for the first time in Eastern Europe in the CVe (Cymbosporites vetlasjanicus) Subzone (middle part of the OG (Archaeoperisaccus ovalis – Verrucosisporites grumosus) Miospore Zone, defined for the Middle Frasnian; Fig. 10) but their constant, more frequent presence is noticed from the succeeding MR (Membrabaculisporis radiatus) Subzone, until the end of the Frasnian

Summary

Introduction

The Devonian Baltic Basin (Pontén and Plink-Björklund, 2009) or Baltic Devonian Basin (Lukševiès et al, 2011) was formed as a consequence of the collision of eastern Avalonia and Baltica in the Late Ordovician (Poprawa et al, 1999). During the Devonian, its northwestern part was uplifted and eroded, while in its central and eastern part, two NE–SW trending depocentres developed in which intermittent continental, deltaic, estuarine, lagoonal and shallow marine sedimentation took place (e.g., Paškevièius, 1997; ¤saitytÅ, 2000; Lukševiès et al, 2012; Stinkulis et al, 2020). This sedimentation was controlled by eustatic sea level changes at subequatorial latitudes (Bachtadse et al, 1995; Be3ka and Narkiewicz, 2008). This area belongs to the Baltic Syneclise

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