The Shoal Arm Formation, north-central Newfoundland: Fe- and Mn-enriched sediments underlying black shales and flysch

The Middle Ordovician Shoal Arm Formation is located in the central volcanic belt of north-central Newfoundland and consists of a sequence of hematitic argillites overlain by grey cherts and then black shales directly underneath a late Ordovician/early Silurian flysch sequence. The hematitic argillites are enriched in Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Co. Geochemically definable components within related lithologic groups were discriminated using principal component analysis and factor analysis. These procedures indicate the presence of (1) biogenic, (2) mixed detrital, (3) hydrothermal, and (4) Mn-carbonate components. The base of the hematitic part is marked by a sharp increase in the hydrothermal component, which then decreases stratigraphically upward. The Mn-carbonate component also decreases upwards, but persists up to the grey cherts. The clastic component changes from mixed mafic/pelagic clay-like detritus to Zr-, Nb- and Y-rich detritus in the top hematitic part. The grey cherts mark a transitional stage between the hematitic sediments (oxic) and the black shales (anoxic). The change to increasingly O[sub 2]-deficient conditions is explained by (a) an increase of biological productivity and related O[sub 2]-drain by C[sub org]-oxidation and/or (b) diachronous subsidence of the basin floor into a deep-water anoxic layer as a result of the loading of themore » basin floor by an approaching thrust stack. The similar stratigraphic sequence and geochemistry of the Middle Ordovician sediments in the Taconic Allochthon of New York State suggest that these processes also acted at other locations along the continental margin of the Iapetus Ocean. This uniformity may reflect the strong influence of the warm Middle Ordovician climate on the sediment facies or, alternatively, the control by the specific tectonic environment.« less