Charles Ver Straeten

New York State Museum · Research and Collections

Marine strata of the classic Middle Devonian Hamilton Group (lower to middle Givetian) in eastern New York State consist of thick siliciclastics, which range up to over 0.5 km in thickness. These strata remain little known relative to the classic Hamilton Group strata in central to western New York. The authors present stratal and faunal data that...

This chapter explores the geology and paleobiology of lower Middle Devonian (Eifelian and lowermost Givetian) strata of the Onondaga Formation and Marcellus subgroup of the Hamilton Group (Union Springs and coeval Oatka Creek and Mount Marion formations), in New York State and correlative strata across the Appalachian Basin. Lower Middle Devonian...

Middle to upper Lower Devonian strata in New York are comprised of seven formations, in four distinct vertical packages. They were deposited over an interval of approximately 18.2 million years. The lowest strata (lower Pragian-age Port Jervis Limestone) occur only in the Tristates area, southeastern New York. Overlying upper Pragian-age units are...

Late 18th to early 19th century reports on the rocks of the Catskill Mountains in eastern New York were followed by over 180 years of geological and paleobiological studies of the Devonian terrestrial succession, in the state and up and down eastern North America. Yet, nearly 230 years later these estimated ca. 2.4 km- (1.5 mi-) thick, homogenous s...

An overview of the Devonian Period globally, in North America/Laurentia, and New York State, followed by three chapters on Lower and Lower Middle Devonian strata in New York and beyond. Also includes Preface and Dedication.

Four chapters focused on Upper Devonian (Frasnian and Famennian) geology and paleobiology of New York and beyond; and a fifth chapter, on Middle to Upper Devonian (Givetian to Famennian) terrestrial geology and paleobiology in New York State.

An overview of the three volume set, "Devonian of New York".

The three chapters of Volume 2 of "Devonian of New York" explores the geology and paleobiology of: 1) middle to upper parts of the classic Middle Devonian Hamilton Group (lower to middle Givetian); of 2) the much less-known marine Hamilton strata in eastern New York; and of 3) overlying middle Givetian marine strata of the coeval Tully Limestone an...

The three volumes of "Devonian of New York" are dedicated to Dr. Lawrence (Larry) V. Rickard, retired geologist/paleontologist with the New York State Geological Survey/Museum in Albany, New York. During his 30 year career at the New York State Geological Survey (1956–1986), he was responsible for studies and mapping of Silurian and Devonian strata...

The Devonian strata in New York State were the standard section for North America for over 100 years, and remain a significant reference for regional to global correlation and research. Since publication of L. V. Rickard’s (1975) New York Devonian correlation chart, various higher-resolution stratigraphic analyses have been employed, sometimes at b...

The origin of trees and forests in the Mid Devonian (393-383 Ma) was a turning point in Earth history, marking permanent changes to terrestrial ecology, geochemical cycles, atmospheric CO2 levels, and climate. However, how all these factors interrelate remains largely unknown. From a fossil soil (palaeosol) in the Catskill region near Cairo NY, USA...

The Devonian Period witnessed the expansion of vascular land plants and an atmospheric oxygenation event associated with enhanced organic mass burial. The deposition of organic-rich shales (e.g. black shales of the Marcellus subgroup) and several biotic crises in the marine realm have been linked to Devonian ocean anoxia. However, it is not clear h...

The type area for the Marcellus subgroup, a major target for natural gas in the Appalachian Basin, is located near the village of Marcellus, Onondaga County, New York. The Marcellus crops out in several road and stream exposures, but the type section designated by Cooper in 1930 is incomplete; the Union Springs Formation and the lower Oatka Creek F...

Integrating data from the foreland basin and hinterland of an orogen has tremendous potential for tectonic reconstructions. The foreland basin contains a detailed, time-integrated record of sediment transfer from the hinterland, mediated by elevation differences, climate, and drainage patterns. The hinterland provides direct evidence for subduction...

New U-Pb detrital zircon data from the classic Devonian stratigraphic sequence in the Catskill region of New York State document the evolution of terrigenous clastic sources during the assembly of the Appalachian Orogen. Zircon populations from middle to upper Lower Devonian (Pragian and Emsian Stages) strata are dominated by Grenville (ca. 1400-10...

During recent studies of the Basal Choteč Event (BCE) at its type locality (Na Škrábku Quarry at Choteč Village, Prague Basin of the Barrandian area, Czech Republic) and selected sections of time-equivalent strata in the Appalachian Basin (USA), palynomorphs and dacryoconarids have proven responsive to changing environmental conditions. To date, th...

The Devonian-age bedrock of the Catskill Mountains has been the focus of many studies. This paper reviews the character and composition of the rocks of the Catskills, and examines weathering (rock decay) processes and their implications in the Catskills. Rocks of the Catskills and closest foothills consist of siliciclastic rocks (sandstones, mudroc...

: Exceptionally abundant specimens of Conularia aff. desiderata Hall occur in multiple marine obrution deposits, in a single sixth-order parasequence composed of argillaceous and silty very fine sandstone, in the Otsego Member of the Mount Marion Formation (Middle Devonian, Givetian) in eastern New York State, USA. Associated fossils consist mostly...

Palaeogeography, 304 (2011) 21-53. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.10.009

Delineation of stratigraphic sequences and their component systems tracts in mudrock-dominated facies is generally difficult due to the relatively homogenous, fine-grained nature of the strata. In this study, we apply a multi-proxy analytical approach to a thick Devonian mudrock-dominated succession through detailed analysis of sedimentologic, pale...

Foreland basin rocks of the northern Appalachian basin in New York and adjacent areas contain a signifi cant Upper Silurian to Devonian record of Acadian oro genesis. Sediment composition, stratal geometry, stratigraphic anomalies, and distribution of volcanic air-fall tephras through time and space provide insights into patterns of tectonism and q...

Johnson et al.’s (1985) seminal paper provided a testable model for global Devonian sea-level changes. However, since that time, their model has been largely accepted as is, with perhaps too little critical examination. In some intervals, a paucity of detailed data led Johnson et al. (1985) to lump multiple cycles together, most notably in their up...

The formation and preservation of airfall volcanogenic tephras is the result of various interacting factors. Explanations of the depositional history of individual tephra beds lie along a spectrum between two end-member models of a primary single event and a complex depositional history. Nonrecognition of the history of a tephra bed may lead to err...

A new synthesis of the Lower to Middle Devonian (upper Pragian, Emsian and Eifelian) succession across the Appalachian Basin has been developed by high resolution event and sequence stratigraphic analysis. The correlation of numerous marker beds and a hierarchy of cycles in the interval of the Oriskany Sandstone to lower Hamilton Group provide a re...

The late Eifelian–earliest Givetian interval (Middle Devonian) represents a time of significant faunal turnover in the eastern Laurentia and globally. A synthesis of biostratigraphic, K-bentonite and sequence stratigraphic data indicates that physical and biotic events in the Appalachian foreland basin sections in New York are coeval with the predo...

High resolution event and cyclic stratigraphic study of Pragian-, Emsian- and Eifelian-age strata across the Appalachian Balsin (New York to southwestern Virginia and Ohio) indicates a need for some changes in stratigraphic nomenclature. Following procedures of the International and North American Stratigraphic codes, new units are proposed, older...

High resolution event and cyclic stratigraphic study of Pragian-, Emsian- and Eifelian-age strata across the Appalachian Basin (New York to southwestern Virginia and Ohio) indicates a need for some changes in stratigraphic nomenclature. Following procedures of the International and North American Stratigraphic codes, new units are proposed, older u...

High resolution event and cyclic stratigraphic study of Pragian-, Emsian-and Eifelian-age strata across the Appalachian

A fourth major cluster of Devonian pyroclastic beds is reported from the Appalachian Basin. The name "Sprout Brook K-bentonites" is proposed for approximately 15 altered Lower Devonian volcanic ashes found in the basal part of the Esopus Formation in New York. Scattered occurrences of impure K-bentonites also occur in the central and southern parts...

Lower to Middle Devonian marine strata in the Appalachian foreland basin feature up to 80 or more thin K-bentonites that represent ancient volcanic ashes. The time vs. space distribution of K-bentonites through the Lochkovian to Eifelian Stages (representing ∼30 m.y.) shows a distinct pattern of clustered multiple beds, several scattered beds, and...

A new consensus on the processes responsible for organic carbon burial in ancient epeiric seas has emerged. More firmly grounded in the uniformitarian framework of modern oceanography and biogeochemistry, this consensus recognizes the interdependent roles of sedimentation, primary production, and microbial metabolism in favor of earlier end-member...

Detailed stratigraphic analyses of Late Emsian and Early Eifelian (Lower to Middle Devonian) carbonate-dominated strata in the northern Appalachian Basin indicate anomalous, locally varying relative sea level changes and inversions of topography. The distribution of a major basal-bounding unconformity, basinal pinnacle reefs, local absence of paras...

Newly determined U–Pb zircon ages of volcanic ashes closely tied to biostratigraphic zones are used to revise the Devonian time-scale. They are: (1) 417:6 š 1:0 Ma for an ash within the conodont zone of Icriodus woschmidti=I. w. hesperius (early Lochkovian); (2) 408:3 š 1:9 Ma for an ash of early Emsian age correlated with the conodont zones of Po....

Newly determined U–Pb zircon ages of volcanic ashes closely tied to biostratigraphic zones are used to revise the Devonian time-scale. They are: (1) 417.6±1.0 Ma for an ash within the conodont zone of Icrioduswoschmidti/I. w. hesperius (early Lochkovian); (2) 408.3±1.9 Ma for an ash of early Emsian age correlated with the conodont zones of Po. dehi...

Recurring alternations of siliciclastic- and carbonate-dominated strata in the upper Lower and Middle Devonian (late Pragian to Givetian; ~395-375Ma) of the northern and central Appalachian foreland basin directly relate to three tectonically active to quiescent phases of the Acadian Orogeny (Acadian Tectophases I, II, and III of Ettensohn, 1985)....

Carbonate-dominated strata equivalent to the Onondaga Formation of New York are widely known across eastern North America, from the James Bay Region of Ontario to southeastern Quebec to Georgia to Illinois. Relationships between Onondaga-equivalent strata within the Appalachian Basin itself, however, have been poorly understood. Detailed stratigrap...

An interval in the shale-dominated lower pan of the Mount Marion Formation in eastern New York State has at least twenty-three regionally correlatable event beds and short-term to isochronous faunal and lithologic units within a relatively unfossiliferous, shale-dominated sequence. A local coral-brachiopod biostrome, units with characteristic fossi...

The K-bentonite-rich interval of the Esopus Formation (eastern New York and northeastern Pennsylvania) overlies the coeval Oriskany/Glenerie/Ridgely Formations and ranges from 1 to 6.3 m in thickness. Six to seventeen soapy-feeling, yellow, tan, green, or gray clay to claystone beds (0.001 to 0.5 m-thick) interbedded with thin siltstone and chert b...

The Cherry Valley Limestone (CVL) records an interval of regional shoaling in Middle Devonian (Eifelian) prodeltaic he dark shale and sandstone facies in eastern NYS. Sections in five counties (Ulster to Otsego) demonstrate important lateral changes in facies and thicknesses of the CVL and underlying units. In its type area, the 1.3 m-thick CVL con...

Typescript (photocopy). Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 1996. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references.