Tectonic and eustatic signals in the sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Devonian Canadaway Group, New York state

Abstract

We have refined the late Frasnian to early Famennian relative sea level curve based on detailed stratigraphic data from more than 1200 outcrops in the Appalachian basin of western New York. This curve is constructed from considerations of lithologies, bedforms, and ichnofacies. We document 3 sequences and 48 parasequences in the Canadaway Group, part of the marine component of the Catskill delta complex. Several apparent lowstands and one transgression are localized along the syndepositionally active Clarendon-Linden fault system; we infer that these systems tracts are forced, and result from interaction between fault-block motion and eustatic sea level changes. This detailed study thus demonstrates that sea level curves inferred from local foreland basins may have a stronger tectonic signal than formerly perceived.