Earth Sciences Commons^™

Stable Isotopes Of Carbon As An Invaluable Stratigraphic Tool: An Example From The Cambrian Of The Northern Appalachians, Usa, Bosiljka Glumac, Malkah L. Spivak-Birndorf

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

This study illustrates the usefulness of carbon isotopes in stratigraphic interpretations of poorly fossiliferous strata beyond the resolution possible by biostratigraphy. The Upper Cambrian strata of the lower Gorge Formation in northwestern Vermont have been interpreted as highly condensed continental-slope deposits with a hiatus bracketed by the trilobite fauna of the Dunderbergia zone (Steptoean) and the Saukia zone (upper Sunwaptan). This interpretation was based on information from two thin fossiliferous intervals, the occurrence of one of them being unconfirmed in a recent study. Carbon isotopes provide a means for testing this interpretation because marine carbonate rocks deposited during the Steptoean …