MIDDLE-UPPER DEVONIAN SEDIMENTATION IN THE CANADIAN ARCTIC ISLANDS AND THE

ELLESMERIAN OROGENY 2

A. F. EMBRY 1

ABSTRACT
Middle and Upper Devonian clastic strata of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago were deposited in a foreland basin which developed in front of the
southward advancing Ellesmerian Orogeny. Three unconformity-bounded sequences are recognized in the preserved clastic wedge and are early Eifelian-
earliest Frasnian, early Frasnian-late Frasnian, and late Frasnian-mid Famennian in age. The sequences are interpreted to reflect major tectonic episodes
in the adjacent Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt. Each sequence was initiated by the widespread occurrence of accelerated subsidence related to crustal
shortening and loading in the adjacent orogenic belt. The unconformities which cap the sequences are interpreted to have formed during times of tectonic
quiescence when regional uplift took place due to forebulge expansion and crustal rebound related to the removal of tectonic loads by erosion. The
orogenic front advanced southwestwards with each tectonic pulse and the fluvial-deltaic plain expanded in that direction with the progradation of deltaic
deposits along the foreland basin.
Vitrinite reflectance values up to 1.1 in the youngest preserved strata (early-mid Famennian) indicate that a thick succession of late Famennian-
Tournaisian strata formed the final deposits of the foreland basin, with a depocentre in the western Banks Island area. The concluding stage of the
Ellermerian Orogeny occurred in latest Famennian-Tournaisian and resulted in deformation and uplift of the foreland basin.
Plate reconstruction reveals that the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt had a sinuous shape through Arctic North America, extending from northern
Greenland to a terminus in northern Yukon. This shape generally follows the original configuration of the lower Paleozoic continental margin. Oblique
plate collision, implied by diachronous foreland sedimentation, along this margin resulted in the southwesterly migration of tectonism from Middle
Devonian to earliest Carboniferous.

INTRODUCTION areas of southern Ellesmere, Devon, Bathurst, Melville,

Prince Patrick and Banks islands (Fig. 1). Outliers are also
Middle-Upper Devonian clastic strata are widely pre-
present on northern Ellesmere Island and Cornwallis
served in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and are up to
Island. Forty-two wells have penetrated the strata and
4000 m thick. The strata comprise a large clastic wedge
numerous surface sections are described in the literature
deposited in a foreland basin which lay south and east of an
(Embry and Klovan, 1976). In most areas the clastic strata
orogenic belt. Embry and Klovan (1976) described the strat-
are gently folded and faulted, with deformation having
igraphy and depositional history of the clastic wedge and
occurred mainly during the final phase of the Ellesmerian
reviewed all previous work on the strata. Subsequent to the
Orogeny in Early Carboniferous. The Ellesmerian Orogeny
publication of that paper additional lithostratigraphic and
was named by Thorsteinsson (1970) and included all
biostratigraphic data on the clastic wedge have been pub-
orogenic activity in the Arctic Archipelago coincident with
lished (Trettin, 1978; Mayr, 1980; McGregor and Camfield,
and directly following deposition of the clastic wedge (i.e.
1982; Rice, 1982,1985; Goodbody, 1985) and these data have
Middle Devonian-earliest Carboniferous). Severely
led to minor revisions of the stratigraphic framework. Fur-
deformed pre-Middle Devonian strata which comprise the
thermore, thermal maturation data (mainly vitrinite
hinterland portion of the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt out-
reflectance values) have been obtained for portions of the
crop on northern Ellesmere, northern Axel Heiberg and
clastic wedge (F. Goodarzi, pers. comm., 1987) and these
northwestern Melville Island, but for the most part are
allow estimates of the original thickness of the clastic
covered by late Paleozoic to Tertiary strata of the Sverdrup
wedge. Finally, over the past decade geodynamic models
Basin.
which relate the development and depositional history of a
foreland basin to tectonic activity and crustal loading in the The time stratigraphic framework for the Middle-
adjacent orogenic belt have been advanced (Beaumont, Upper Devonian clastic wedge is illustrated on Figure 2. The
1981). biostratigraphic data used for this chart are mainly from
Chi and Hills (1976) with the only notable change to their
In this paper the revised stratigraphy and depositional
work being the assignment of an Eifelian rather than an
history of the clastic wedge are briefly reviewed, estimates
early to middle Givetian age to the macromanifestus zone
of the original thickness of the wedge are made and the
(McGregor and Camfield, 1982). Figure 3 illustrates the
tectonic significance of the clastic wedge is interpreted in
general lithostratigraphy and sedimentology of the clastic
light of recent geodynamic models.
wedge. Detailed descriptions of the formations as well as
stratigraphic cross sections through the wedge can be found
STRATIGRAPHY AND DEPOSITIONAL HISTORY
in Embry and Klovan (1976).
Middle-Upper Devonian clastic strata underlie large The clastic wedge can be conveniently divided into three

1
Geological Survey of Canada, 3303-33rd St. N. W., Calgary, Alberta Canada T2L 2A7
2
Geological Survey of Canada Contribution No. 17288.

Copyright 2009 by the Canadian15Society of Petroleum Geologists.

Memoir 14 (1988)
16 Embry

Middle-Upper Devonian clastic wedge

at surface or in subsurface

Outcrop Section

Well

Figure 1: Distribution of Middle-Upper Devonian clastic strata, Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Figure 2: Time correlation chart, Middle-Upper Devonian strata.

sequences separated by two regional unconformities within
the wedge (Fig. 3). These unconformities occur at the base
of the Beverley Inlet Formation and its equivalents, and at
the base of the Parry Islands Formation. In the following
sections the stratigraphy and depositional history of each
sequence is described. The reader is referred to Embry and
Klovan (1976) for documentation of the interpretations pre-
sented.
H E C L A BAY SEQUENCE
This sequence consists of six formations and five facies
which represent a broad spectrum of depositional environ-
M-UDevonian Sedimentation, Arctic Canada 17

sw NE
Banks Melville Bathurst Grinnell Ellesmere
Island Island Island Peninsula Island

N o t to
scale

Iv'.-Xvl B r a i d e d stream Y" A Marine slope N 11 C a r b o n a t e shelf

Cm Meandering stream ^ B a s e Qf s | o p e ^ starved basin
\~js\ Deltaic-Marine Unconformity

Figure 3: Schematic cross-section, Middle-Upper Devonian clastic wedge.

ments ranging from deep marine to fluvial plain (Fig. 4).
The sequence conformably overlies shallow water carbon-
ate strata in the east and deep water, black, siliceous shales
in the west. The age range of the sequence is early Eifelian to
earliest Frasnian (Fig. 2).
In the northeast the sequence consists entirely of fluvial
strata. Interbedded very fine to fine grained quartzose
sandstone, siltstone and red shale of meandering stream
origin (Strathcona Fiord Formation) occur in the lower
portion and fine to medium grained quartzose sandstone
with minor siltstone, shale and coal of braided stream origin
(Hecla Bay Formation) are present in the upper portion.
Southwestwards, interbedded very fine to fine grained
sandstone, siltstone and shale arranged in coarsening
upward cycles and of marine shelf origin (Bird Fiord For-
mation) form the basal unit of the clastic wedge. These
marine strata are facies equivalents of the Strathcona Fiord
strata and the contact between the two units rises strat-
igraphically to the west, with the Strathcona fiord Forma-
tion eventually pinching out in the Cornwallis Island area
(Fig. 4).
Westward, in the Bathurst-Melville Island area, the
sequence consists of a progradational succession of three
main lithofacies: grey siltstone and shale of marine slope
origin (Cape De Bray Formation), repetitive coarsening
upward cycles of very fine to fine grained sandstone, silt-
stone and shale of marine shelf-deltaic margin origin (Bird
Fiord and Weatherall formations) and fine to medium
grained quartzose sandstone with minor siltstone, shale and
coal of delta plain to braided stream origin (Hecla Bay
Formation). The contacts between these units rise strat-
igraphically to the west (Figs. 2, 4) and the Hecla Bay
Formation pinches out south and west of Melville Island. In
the far west (western Melville, Prince Patrick, western
Banks Island) a unit of rhythmically interbedded, very fine
to fine grained sandstone and shale with characteristics of
turbidites (Blackley Formation) and up to 700 m thick
forms the basal unit of the sequence.
Recorded thickness variations (Embry and Klovan,
1976) of the sequence allow some insight into differential
subsidence patterns during deposition. On Ellesmere Island
the thickness of the fluvial-dominated sequence increases
northwestwards towards the orogenic belt. The sequence
thins over the Cornwallis Fold Belt in the central Arctic and
then thickens markedly again farther west. Much of the
increased thickness to the west is due to the infilling of the
18 Embry

SW 10 9 8 NE
12 11 Winter Richardson Bent
Kusrhaak Dundas Harbour Point Horn Hotspur Helena a^WtT, rfiV-fln kse Vendom Strathcona
B
D-16 C-80 No.1 G-12 N-72 J-20 Island ? c Vl u r H s t B
G
J'[llVL Bay Fiord Fiord

L i m e s t o n e , minor
d o l o m i t e and C a r b o n a t e marine shelf
terrigenous elastics

Figure 4: Stratigraphic cross-section, Hecla Bay sequence.

pre-existing craton margin basin by deep water deposits
(Blackley and Cape De Bray formations). Fluvial and shal-
low marine strata, however, do display a general northward
thickening on Melville and Bathurst islands, suggesting that
an increase of tectonic subsidence towards the orogenic belt
occurred in these areas also.
The main source areas for the clastic sediment of the
sequence are interpreted to have been the Precambrian
Shield of Greenland, the uplifted foreland basin deposits of
the Caledonian Orogenic System of east Greenland and the
Caledonian Mountains themselves (Fig. 5). This interpreta-
tion is based on the highly quartzose nature of the sedi-
ments, ubiquitous west-southwest paleocurrents and
general north-northwest shoreline trends. The Ellesmerian
Orogenic Belt to the north also contributed sediment as
indicated by an increase in chert content in the fluvial sand-
stones northwards.
The early Eifelian to earliest Frasnian interval records a
major southwestward progradation of a thick clastic suc-
cession across the Franklinian miogeocline. Clastic influx to
the miogeocline greatly increased in early Eifelian following
a transgression, and a deltaic plain characterized by mean-
dering streams (Strathcona Fiord Formation) prograded
southwestward over marine shelf sediment (Bird Fiord For-
mation). As these depositional systems reached the western
Arctic slope mud and silt (Cape De Bray) began to fill deep
marine areas. In the far west turbidites, perhaps derived
from both the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt and the Greenland
Shield, were deposited on the basin floor. The climate from
early to late Eifelian was "savanna", that is temperate to
tropical with seasonal rainfall, as evident by red shales and
caliche deposits in overbank strata. In late Eifelian the
climate became much more humid and the water and sedi-
ment supply to the coastal plain and shelf greatly increased.
The fluvial system was transformed into a braided one and
plant debris accumulated in overbank areas (Hecla Bay
Formation). The deltaic-coastal plain continued to expand
westward over marine shelf deposits (Weatherall Forma-
tion) and marine slope deposits (Cape De Bray Formation)
infilled deep marine areas in the west. By earliest Frasnian
time the deltaic plain had reached southern and western
Melville Island area and the marine shelf extended over
Prince Patrick and Banks islands (Fig. 5). Much of the
fluvial-deltaic plain was undergoing broad uplift and ero-
sion at this time.
BEVERLEY INLET SEQUENCE
This sequence consists of six formations and three facies
which represent coastal plain to shallow marine shelf
environments (Fig. 6). The contact with the underlying
Hecla Bay sequence is interpreted to be unconformable in
M-UDevonian Sedimentation, Arctic Canada 19

Measured Paleocurrents

Clastic Influx

Marine

Figure 5: Late Givetian paleogeography.

most areas and is marked by an abrupt lithological and
mineralogical change as well as a thin paleosol at some
localities. The Beverley Inlet sequence ranges in age from
early to late Frasnian.
In the east the sequence consists of three formations, all
of fluvial origin. The lowest formation, the Fram, consists
of repetitive fining upward cycles of very fine to medium
grained sandstone, siltstone and shale, each 5-10 m thick.
The argillaceous units with dominate the succession are red
and green in the lower portion of the formation and become
more carbonaceous and coal-bearing in the upper portion.
The strata are interpreted to be of meandering stream ori-
gin. The overlying Hell Gate Formation consists mainly of
fine to medium grained, cross-bedded sandstone with thin
intervals of carbonaceous siltstone and shale. The strata are
of braided stream origin. The uppermost formation, the

sw NE
1
Eastern
NE B a n k s Robertson Bent Horn Helena Grinnell Okse
Island Anticline N-72 Island Peninsula Bay
D 300 km 1 5 0 km 7 5 km 200 km 175 km

Figure 6: Stratigraphic cross-section, Beverley Inlet sequence.

20
Nordstrand Point, consists of fining upward cycles similar
to those of the Fram and is of meandering stream origin.
On northern Ellesmere Island an isolated occurrence of
300 m of repetitive fining upward cycles of meandering
stream origin are present (lower Okse Bay Formation)
(Mayr et al., 1982). These strata are relatively undeformed
and although their base is not exposed, they presumably rest
unconformably on highly deformed Silurian and older
strata. They are interpreted to be preserved in an intermon-
tane basin within the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt and there-
fore are not part of the foreland basin succession.
In the western Arctic strata of this sequence are included
in the Beverley Inlet Formation on Bathurst and Melville
islands and in the upper Weatherall Formation on Prince
Patrick and Banks islands. The Beverley Inlet Formation
consists mainly of very fine to medium grained sandstone,
siltstone, shale and minor coal of meandering stream origin.
Interbeds of marine shelf strata occur within the formation
on southern Melville Island. To the southwest marine shelf
strata become predominant in the sequence and these strata
are assigned to the upper portion of the Weatherall Forma-
tion.
The main area of subsidence for this sequence was in the
eastern Arctic, where the strata are about 3000 m thick. In
the western Arctic the sequence is much thinner and displays
northward thickening to a maximum of 777 m.
The main source areas for the sediments of this
sequence were the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt to the north,
and the Precambrian Shield, uplifted Caledonian molasse
and Caledonian Mountains, all of which lay to the east. In
contrast to the previous sequence the Ellesmerian Orogenic
Belt contributed a substantial amount of sediment as evi-
dent by the common occurrence of chert and rock frag-
ments and by southerly directed paleocurrents. Chert
content increases progressively westward, suggesting that
southerly flowing streams from the Ellesmerian Mountains
0 ,,
km 3 .0 0
Measured Paleocurrents
<^y Clastic Influx
Figure 7: Middle Frasnian paleogeography.
Embry
joined westerly flowing streams which originated on the
flanks of the Caledonian Mountains to the east.
In early Frasnian the foreland basin underwent renewed
subsidence, with very high rates occurring in the northeast
adjacent to the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt. This coincided
with a notable increase in sediment supply from the
Ellesmerian Mountains, a change in climate from very
humid to savanna and possibly the initiation of intermon-
tane basins within the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt. All of
these changes indicate that major tectonic activity occurred
in the orogenic belt at this time.
The fluvial system on the coastal plain responded to the
drier climate by changing from a braided pattern(Hecla Bay
Formation) to a meandering one (Fram, Beverley Inlet for-
mations). Only minor coastal plain progradation occurred
during deposition of the sequence because most of the
incoming sediment remained within the fast subsiding
coastal plain area (Fig. 7). Much of the foreland basin was
undergoing gentle uplift and erosion in late Frasnian,
although areas close to the orogenic belt may have con-
tinued to subside.
PARRY ISLANDS SEQUENCE
This sequence consists of two formations and three
facies which include braided and meandering stream depos-
its and shallow marine shelf sediments (Fig. 8). The contact
with the underlying Beverley Inlet sequence is unconforma-
ble over most of the area, except in northernmost exposures
(northern Bathurst Island area) where it is possibly confor-
mable. The sequence ranges in age from late Frasnian to
middle Famennian and its upper surface is everywhere the
present erosion surface.
Within the foreland basin the sequence consists of a
single formation, the Parry Islands, which is preserved in
the cores of synclines in widely separated areas. Three
members are recognized in the Parry Islands Formation:
M-UDevonian Sedimentation, Arctic Canada 21

sw NE
5 1
Northern Eastern Cameron Eastern
Helena
Banks Melville Island Grinnell
Island
Island Island Peninsula
300 km
1 00
200

Figure 8: Stratigraphic cross-section, Parry Islands sequence.

Burnett Point, Cape Fortune and Consett Head (Fig. 8).
The Burnett Point is the basal member and consists of
coarse grained pebbly sandstone of braided stream origin
overlain by fining upward cycles of very fine to medium
grained sandstone, siltstone, shale and coal of meandering
stream origin. Grain size and pebble content increase north-
ward in the member. The Cape Fortune Member consists of
very fine to fine grained sandstone, siltstone and shale with
brachiopods and crinoids and is of marine shelf origin. The
upper member, the Consett Head, consists of fine to
medium grained sandstone, siltstone, shale and coal of
fluvial plain origin. All of the sandstone units in the Parry
Islands Formation are distinguished by high chert and rock
fragment content.
The upper portion of the Okse Bay Formation, pre-
served in an outlier on northern Ellesmere Isalnd, is tenta-
tively assigned to this sequence and consists mainly of fine
to coarse grained pebbly sandstone of braided stream ori-
gin.
Due to the very limited preservation of this sequence
regional subsidence trends are poorly understood. The
Burnett Point Member thickens markedly to the north
towards the orogenic belt, suggesting that tectonic subsi-
dence rates increased in that direction.
22
Figure 9: Early Famennian paleogeography.
Figure 10: Vitrinite reflectance values from early Famennian strata.
The high chert and rock fragment content of the strata,
in conjunction with southerly-directed paleocurrents and
an overall grain size increase northwards, indicates that the
main source area was the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt. East-
erly sources also contributed sediment as indicated by an
increase in quartz content to the east.
This sequence was initiated in late Frasnian by renewed
subsidence over the foreland basin and the preservation of
fluvial strata over the basal unconformity. The fluvial-
deltaic plain was gradually transgressed as subsidence (and
possibly eustatic sea-level rise) outstripped sediment sup-
ply, and marine shelf conditions were widespread by early
Famennian. Following this the rate of sediment supply
exceeded subsidence and the fluvial-deltaic plain prograded
southward in early-middle Famennian time (Fig. 9). This is
the last event preserved in the clastic wedge.
LATE FAMENNIAN-TOURNAISIAN DEPOSITION
Strata of late Famennian-Tournaisian age have not
been identified in the Arctic Islands, so that any interpreta-
Embry
tion of the geological history of the area during this time
interval is speculative. The occurrence of reworked late
Famennian-Tournaisian spores in Upper Carboniferous
and younger strata of the Sverdrup Basin (J. Utting, pers.
comm. 1986) indicates that strata of this age were originally
present as the uppermost deposits of the foreland basin
succession and that they were subsequently eroded. The
original thickness of these strata can be estimated by deter-
mining the maximum depth of burial of early-middle Fam-
ennian strata using vitrinite reflectance data. Such burial
could have been achieved only by late Famennian to Tour-
naisian sedimentation because the area of the foreland basin
was emergent during most of Late Carboniferous to Terti-
ary time.
Vitrinite reflectance values for early Famennian strata
from the western portion of the foreland basin (F. Good-
arzi, pers. comm., 1987) are illustrated on Figure 10. The
values everywhere exceed 0.5, with the highest levels of
maturity in Famennian strata (1.1) occurring on western
Banks Island. Calculation of maximum burial depth was
done by converting the reflectance values to maximum bur-
ial temperatures using the graphs of Middleton (1982) and
Barker and Pawlewicz (1987) and assuming a geothermal
gradient of 26 mk/m. This gradient was chosen because it
was used by Friedman (1987) for the Devonian foreland
basin of the Appalachians and because present day geother-
mal gradients in the area of the foreland basin vary between
20 and 30 mk/m (T. Gentzis, pers. comm., 1987). The
preferred gradient implies a pre-existing thickness of
2500-3000 m for since-eroded late Famennian-Tournaisian
strata in the Bathurst-Melville Prince Patrick Islands area
and a thickness of 5000-6000 m on western Banks Island.
The rather high estimate for the Banks Island area is sup-
ported by very high vitrinite reflectance values of 4.5 for
strata directly underlying the wedge and the presence of
graphite in the rocks (Crain, 1977). Such reflectance values
indicate maximum burial depths of 8000-10000 m. Because
M-UDevonian Sedimentation, Arctic Canada 23

the thickness of the preserved clastic wedge in this area is

only 4000 m it would appear that 4000-6000 m of section
have been removed.
From the above analysis it seems that a thick succession
of late Famennian-Tournaisian strata originally formed the
upper portion of the clastic wedge. Some insight into the
composition of these now-eroded strata can be gained from
compositional data of the Upper Carboniferous Canyon
Fiord Formation which comprises the initial deposits of the
Sverdrup Basin in the Melville Island area. The strata con-
sist mainly of fine to coarse grained, chert-rich sandstone
and chert-pebble conglomerate (Tozer and Thorsteinsson,
1964). Chert pebbles are commonly highly fractured and
show evidence of having been originally derived from
deformed strata. However, unpublished paleocurrent data
and facies trends demonstrate that Canyon Fiord sediments
were derived from the south where no deformed chert- Figure 11: Relationship between foreland basin tectonics and deposi-
bearing strata are known. The derivation of the chert peb- tion and crustal loading in the adjacent orogenic belt (a) crustal loading
episode; (b) tectonic quiescence; (c) renewed crustal loading (modified
bles is best explained by reworking of pebbles from upper from Tankard, 1986).
Famennian-Tournaisian pebbly sandstones and conglome-
rates, which themselves were initially derived from
tinues to subside due to both the tectonic and sedimentary
deformed chert-bearing strata in the Ellesmerian Orogenic
loads, but the forebulge expands and migrates towards the
Belt to the north. Because the upper Famennian-Tournai-
orogenic belt (Fig. lib). Thus the area of subsidence within
sian strata were the final and most proximal deposits of the
the foreland basin gradually shrinks. Regional uplift at this
foreland basin it is interpreted that they consisted mainly of
time may also be accentuated by crustal rebound related to
coarse, chert-rich clastic strata of alluvial fan-fluvial plain
the removal of tectonic loads by erosion. Renewed crustal
origin and derived primarily from the Ellesmerian Orogenic
shortening and loading in the orogenic belt reestablishes
Belt to the north. As will be discussed later, the orogenic belt
widespread subsidence and a new stratigraphic cycle begins
probably extended southward, west of Banks Island, and a
in the expanded basin (Fig. lie).
westerly source for these elastics is also probable. The main
Applying the above model to the Arctic clastic wedge
area of subsidence and deposition for these strata appears to
the three stratigraphic sequences described earlier are inter-
have been in the western Banks Island area.
preted to reflect three major cycles of crustal shortening
followed by relative tectonic quiescence. In this interpreta-
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELLESMERIAN DEFORMATION
tion each sequence was initiated by widespread, accelerated
A N D FORELAND BASIN STRATIGRAPHY
subsidence caused by an episode of crustal shortening in the
Recent tectonic and stratigraphic studies of the Cor- orogenic belt. The unconformities which separate the
dilleran and Appalachian foreland basins have shown that sequences would have formed by the expansion of the fore-
the development and tectonic evolution of a foreland basin, bulge and crustal rebound during the tectonic quiescent
as interpreted from its stratigraphy, are closely related to phase. Certainly the abrupt changes in sediment sources,
tectonic activity and crustal loading in the adjacent orogenic subsidence patterns and climate regimes across the
belt (Beaumont, 1981; Quinlan and Beaumont, 1984; Tank- sequences boundaries lend support to such an interpreta-
ard, 1986). The stratigraphy of the Devonian clastic wedge tion. Thus it would appear that the Ellesmerian Orogenic
of the Arctic Islands can thus provide some insight into the Belt was affected by major episodes of crustal shortening
tectonic evolution of the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt during and loading in early Eifelian, earliest Frasnian and late
the Middle and Late Devonian. Frasnian. Other stratigraphic changes noted in the strat-
Beaumont's (1981) foreland basin model, which assumes igraphy of the wedge, such as the shift from meandering
viscoelastic behaviour of the crust, predicts downwarping stream deposition to braided stream deposition in late
and widespread subsidence within the foreland basin when Eifelian and the change from braided stream to meandering
crustal shortening and loading are actively occurring in the stream deposition in middle Frasnian, may reflect less
adjacent orogenic belt (Fig. 11a). Subsidence rates are high- intense tectonic events in the orogenic belt.
est adjacent to the tectonic front and they gradually decline Furthermore, the increases in grain size and chert and
towards the craton, with the cratonic edge of the basin being rock fragment content of the sandstones of each succeeding
an area of gentle uplift (forebulge). Following the tectonic sequence indicate progressive southward migration of the
loading episode the orogenic highlands are eroded and sup- thrust front with each successive orogenic pulse. There were
ply abundant sediment to the foreland basin. During this likely additional tectonic episodes during the late Famen-
time of relative tectonic quiescence the foreland basin con- nian-Tournaisian interval, but all that can be surmised for
24
this period is that the tectonic front appears to have con-
tinued its southwesterly migration, which resulted in the late
Famennian-Tournaisian depocentre being situated in the
western Banks Island area.
The final tectonic episode recorded by the clastic wedge
is the climax of the Ellesmerian Orogeny which deformed
and uplifted the clastic wedge. This likely occurred in the
latest Famennian-Tournaisian because the initial deposits
of the extensional Sverdrup Basin which overlies the
orogenic belt are Visean in age (Thorsteinsson, 1974).
REGIONAL TREND O F T H E ELLESMERIAN OROGENIC BELT
The trend of the Middle Devonian-earliest Car-
boniferous Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt in Arctic North
America is not well established because much of the area is
covered by Upper Carboniferous and younger strata. Fur-
thermore, the opening of the Amerasian portion of the
Arctic Ocean in Cretaceous time separated areas which were
contiguous in the Devonian. The trend of the orogenic belt
in the Arctic has been interpreted from plots of:
1. the distribution and structural trends of folded and
faulted lower Paleozoic and Proterozoic strata which
were deformed in mid-Paleozoic time,
2. the distribution and ages of Devonian turbidite strata,
and
3. the distribution, structural trends and paleocurrent
directions of Middle-Upper Devonian fluvial to shallow
marine strata.
Figure 12: Distribution and structural trends of highly deformed pre-Middle Devonian strata and Devonian clastic strata, Arctic North America.
Embry
The present day distribution in the Arctic of lower
Paleozoic strata which were deformed in mid-Paleozoic
time is shown on Figure 12. The strata are present over a
large area in the northern portion of the Arctic Islands, with
structural trends indicating a curved orogenic front (Embry
and Klovan, 1976; Trettin and Balkwill, 1979). On the
mainland a broad belt of deformed lower Paleozoic strata
extends from northern Yukon to the Chukchi Sea, west of
Alaska (Bell, 1974; Grantz et ah, 1982). Structural trends
appear to be mainly east-west and wrap around the eastern
terminus of the deformed belt in northern Yukon and adja-
cent Northwest Territories (Bell, 1974). Structural trends
are in part north-south in the Chukchi Sea (Grantz et al.,
1982; W. Masterson, pers. comm., 1988).
The distribution of Devonian turbidites in the Arctic is
shown on Figure 13. As shown, these trends for the most
part follow those of the highly deformed lower Paleozoic
strata and it is interpreted that the strata represent sedi-
ments deposited in foredeeps in front of the advancing
orogen. The turbidite strata become younger southwest-
ward, suggesting that Ellesmerian orogenesis migrated in
that direction.
The distribution of Middle-Upper Devonian fluvial-
shallow water strata, as well as paleocurrent directions and
structural trends, are shown on Figure 12. Most of the strata
occur in the Canadian Arctic Islands and have been
described in this paper. The structural trends show a sin-
uous trend and parallel the trend of the orogenic belt from
M-UDevonian Sedimentation, Arctic Canada 25

Devonian turbidites

Figure 13: Distribution of Devonian turbidite strata, Arctic North America.

Ellesmere Island to Melville Island. However, on Banks southeast and this area appears to be an isolated frag-
Island the structures in the elastics trend north-south and ment of foreland basin.
become more complex to the west (Klovan and Embry, In order to clarify the original trend of the Ellesmerian
1971). Upper Devonian elastics also occur to the south on Orogenic Belt and to resolve the above anomalies the Devo-
the Canadian Mainland where they are assigned to the nian structural and stratigraphic data were plotted on a pre-
Imperial Formation. The source area for these strata is not Cretaceous plate reconstruction of the Arctic areas (Fig.
well established. Regional facies trends suggest they were 14). The reconstruction used is that of Harland et al. (1984),
derived from the north and east (G. K. Williams, pers. which places the continental margin north of Alaska and
comm., 1986). Fluvial-shallow water Upper Devonian adjacent northeastern Siberian against the margin north-
strata also are present in northern Alaska (Nilsen and west of the Canadian Arctic Islands. It is the most widely
Moore, 1982). These strata were derived from the orogenic accepted reconstruction for pre-Cretaceous Arctic North
belt which lay to the northeast. A number of anomalous America (Grantz and May, 1983; Lawver et al., 1985) and it
stratigraphic and structural relationships are apparent on reconciles upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic facies belts and
Figures 12 and 13, including: structural trends (Embry, 1987).
1. two separate areas of Ellesmerian orogenesis present in On this reconstruction the southwestern orogenic front
Arctic North America, with no obvious connection has a continuous, sinuous trend from northern Ellesmere
between them, Island to northern Yukon, indicating that the Ellesmerian
2. a north-south foredeep and north-south structural Orogenic Belt is a single entity. Also of note in this recon-
trends occur on Banks Island but these trends cannot be struction is that the isolated piece of foreland basin in the
related to an adjacent orogenic belt. West of Banks Chukchi Sea becomes part of the regional foreland basin
Island Cretaceous strata unconformably overlie tilted and the orogenic belt in northern Alaska becomes paired
and gently deformed lower Paleozoic-Proterozoic strata with the mildly deformed foreland basin in the Banks Island
(J. Dietrich, pers. comm., 1985). Devonian clastic strata area. Furthermore, the fluvial paleocurrents show a general
were likely deposited in this area but were subsequently longitudinal trend along the foreland basin. This recon-
eroded when the margins of the Amerasian Basin were struction satisfies a number of structural and stratigraphic
uplifted during its rift phase in Jurassic-Lower Cre- anomalies and presents a reasonable trend for much of the
taceous (Embry, 1987), and Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt in Arctic North America.
3. a wedge-shaped area of mildly deformed Devonian The position and trend of the other side of the orogenic
clastic and older carbonate strata occurs in the north- belt is poorly defined due to the cover of thick Mesozoic-
eastern portion of the Chukchi Sea (Grantz et al., 1982). Tertiary deposits. Its trend in northern Yukon and north-
Severely deformed strata occur to the west, south and eastern Alaska is reasonably well established, but westward
 Embry
26

Highly deformed
Lower Paleozoic
strata
Middle-Upper
Devonian clastic
strata
Structural trend
Paleocurrent
Cratonward limit of
/A turbidites
Figure 14: Distribution and structural trends of highly deformed lower Paleozoic strata and Devonian clastic strata plotted on pre-Cretaceous Arctic
plate reconstruction of Harland era/. (1984).

its position is speculative. It is interesting to note that the
Upper Devonian clastic wedge of Alaska was apparently
deposited in a foreland basin on the side of the orogenic belt
opposite to that of the Canadian Arctic Islands.
The Middle Devonian-earliest Carboniferous plate
movements which created the compressional stresses of the
Ellesmerian Orogeny are speculative because the north-
western side of the orogen is not well established, as men-
tioned above. Presumably the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt
was formed by plate collision along most of its length.
However, the size, shape and nature of the plate or plates
which collided with Arctic North America in Devonian to
Early Carboniferous are unknown. The sinuous shape of
the orogenic belt follows lower Paleozoic depositional
trends and thus reflects the shape of the lower Paleozoic
continental margin. The presence of a marked bend in the
margin likely was due to rifting processes and geometries of
the initial stage of margin formation (latest Proterozoic?)
and would be analogous to similar bends in the present
Atlantic margin (Fig. 15a). The southwesterly migration of
orogenic activity suggests that ocean closure and plate colli-
sion were oblique to the margin and progressed to the
southwest (Fig. 15b, c).
SUMMARY A N D CONCLUSIONS
Middle-Upper Devonian clastic strata of the Canadian
Arctic Archipelago are up to 4000 m thick and were depos-
ited in a foreland basin which developed south and east of
the Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt. Three sequences are recog-
nized in the clastic wedge and are early Eifelian-earliest
Frasnian, early-late Frasnian and late Frasnian-middle
Famennian in age. Marked changes in clast composition,
climatic indicators and subsidence patterns occur across the
sequence boundaries, which are commonly unconformities.
The development of the sequences reflects, and is a conse-
quence of tectonic activity in the adjacent orogenic belt,
with each sequence being initiated by an episode of crustal
shortening and loading. The orogenic front migrated
southwestwards from Middle Devonian to earliest Car-
boniferous. The clastic wedge also prograded in that direc-
tion in front of the advancing orogen.
Thick late Famennian to earliest Carboniferous depos-
M-UDevonian Sedimentation, Arctic Canada 27

SEAFLOOR SPREADING
A
FORMA
CONTINE
CAM

OBLIQUE CLOSURE
OCEAN
MIDDLE DEVONIA

Sediment
Transport

OCEAN CLOSURE COMPLETE

EARLIEST
CARBONIFEROUS

Sediment
Transport.

CLASTIC
FORELAND
OCEAN BASIN

CONTINENTAL CRUST

NA - Northern Alaska M - Melville Island NG - Northern Greenland

Y - Yukon Territory B - Banks Island E - Ellesmere Island

Figure 15: Schematic representation of a hypothetical model of oblique plate collison which resulted in the formation and migration of Ellesmerian
orogenic activity (a) initial formation of cratonic margin (latest Proterozoic-earliest Cambrian?), (b) oceanic closure and plate collision by Middle
Devonian, (c) oceanic closure and plate collison by earliest Carboniferous.
28
its are interpreted to have formed the upper portion of the
clastic wedge and to have been subsequently removed by
post-Early Carboniferous erosion. Vitrinite reflectance
values up to 1.1 for early Famennian strata suggest that these
upper Famennian-lowermost Carboniferous deposits may
have been up to 5000 m thick in the western Banks Island
area. The foreland basin was uplifted and deformed during
the final stage of the Ellesmerian Orogeny in Tournaisian
time.
The Ellesmerian Orogenic Belt has a sinuous shape on a
plate reconstruction which places northern Alaska and
adjacent northeastern Siberia against the Canadian Arctic
islands. The orogenic belt extended from northern Green-
land to northern Yukon and likely was formed by oblique
plate collision which progressed to the southwest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Discussions with J. E. Klovan, D. K. Norris, M. P.
Cecile and J. C. Harrison on the relationship between
Ellesmerian orogenesis and clastic sedimentation have
improved my thinking on the subject. J. C. Harrison and N.
J. McMillan critically read the manuscript and suggested
many improvements. B. Chiang typed the manuscript and
E. Snow drafted the figures. Their efforts are greatly appre-
ciated.
REFERENCES
Barker, C. E. and Pawlewicz, M. J., 1987. The correlation of vitrinite
reflectance with maximum temperature in humic organic matter. In:
Buntebarth, G. and Stegena, L. (Eds.), Paleogeothermics, Lecture
Notes in Earth Sciences, v. 5, p. 79-93.
Beaumont, C , 1981. Foreland basins. Geophysical Journal of the Royal
Astronomical Society, v. 65, p. 291-329.
Bell, J. S., 1974. Late Paleozoic Orogeny in the Northern Yukon. In:
Aitken, J. D. and Glass, D. J. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Symposium
on the Geology of the Canadian Arctic, Canadian Society of Petroleum
Geologists, p. 25-38.
Chi, B. I. and Hills, L. V., 1976. Biostratigraphy and taxonomy of Devo-
nian megaspores, Arctic Canada. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum
Geology, v. 24, p. 640-818.
Crain, E. R., 1977. Log Interpretation in the High Arctic. In: Transactions
of the CWLS Sixth Formation Evaluation Symposium, Canadian Well
Logging Society, Calgary, Alberta, p. S1-S32.
Embry, A. F., 1987. Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic evolution of Arctic North
America (abstract). American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Bulletin, v. 71, p. 554.
and Klovan, J. E., 1976. The Middle-Upper Devonian clastic wedge
of the Franklinian Geosyncline, Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geol-
ogy, v. 24, p. 485-639.
Friedman, G. R., 1987. Burial diagenesis: its implications for vertical
movements of the crust uplift of the lithosphere and isostatic unroofing
a review, Sedimentary Geology, v. 50, p. 67-94.
Goodbody, Q. H., 1985. The Bird Fiord Formation, Canadian Arctic
Islands: A spectrum of shelf environments, Geological Association of
Canada, Program with Abstracts, Joint Annual Meeting, p. A22.
Grantz, A., Dinter, D. A., Hill, E. R., Hunter, R. E., May, S. D.,
McMullin, R. H. and Phillips, R. L., 1982. Geologic Framework,
Hydrocarbon Potential, and Environmental Conditions for Explora-
Embry
tion and Development of proposed oil and gas Lease Sale 85 in the
central and northern Chukchi Sea, United States Geological Survey,
Open File Report 82-1053.
Grantz, A. and May, S. P., 1983. Rifting history and structural develop-
ment of the continental margin north of Alaska. In: Watkins, J. S. and
Drake, C. L. (Eds.), Studies in Continental Margin Geology, American
Association of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 34, p. 77-100.
Harland, W. B., Gaskell, B. A., Heafford, A. P., Lind, E. K. and Perkins,
P. J., 1984. Outline of Arctic post-Silurian continental displacements.
In: Spencer, A. M. (Eds.), Petroleum Geology of the North European
Margin, Norwegian Petroleum Society, p. 137-148.
Klovan, J. E. and Embry, A. F., 1971. Upper Devonian stratigraphy,
northeastern Banks Island, N.W.T., Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum
Geology, v. 19, p. 705-729.
Lawver, L. A., Grantz, A. and Meinke, L., 1985. The Tectonics of the
Arctic Ocean. In: Dyer, I. and Chryssostomidis, C. (Eds.), Arctic
Technology and Policy, p. 147-158.
Mayr, U., 1980. Stratigraphy and correlation of Lower Paleozoic forma-
tions, subsurface of Bathurst Island and adjacent smaller islands,
Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin
306.
Mayr, U., Trettin, H. P. and Embry, A. F., 1982. Preliminary geological
map and notes, part of Tanquary Fiord map-area (NTS 340D), Geo-
logical Survey of Canada, Open File Report 835.
McGregor, D. C. and Camfield, M., 1982. Middle Devonian miospores
from the Cape de Bray, Weatherall and Hecla Bay formations of
northeastern Melville Island, Canadian Arctic, Geological Survey of
Canada, Bulletin 348.
Middleton, M. F., 1982. Tectonic history from vitrinite reflectance. Geo-
physical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, v. 68, p. 121-135.
Nilsen, T. H. and Moore, T. E., 1982. Fluvial-facies model for the Upper
Devonian and Lower Mississippian (?) Kanayut Conglomerate, Brooks
Range, Alaska. In: Embry, A. F. and Balkwill, H. R. (Eds.), Arctic
Geology and Geophysics, Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists,
Memoir 8, p. 1-12.
Quinlan, G. M. and Beaumont, C , 1984. Appalachian thrusting,
lithospheric flexure, and the Paleozoic stratigraphy of the eastern
interior of North America, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 21,
p.973-996.
Rice, R. J., 1982. Sedimentology of the Late Middle and Upper Devonian
Okse Bay Group, southwestern Ellesmere Island: a progress report. In:
Current Research, Part A, Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 82-1A,
p. 79-82.
, 1985. Sedimentology of the Middle and Upper Devonian Okse Bay
Group, southwestern Ellesmere Island and North Kent Island, Arctic
Archipelago, Geological Association of Canada, Program with
Abstracts, Joint Annual Meeting, p. A51.
Richardson, J. B. and McGregor, D. C , 1986. Silurian and Devonian
Spore Zones of the Old Red Sandstone Continent and ajacent regions.
Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 364.
Tankard, A. J., 1986. On the depositional response to thrusting and
lithospheric flexure: examples from the Appalachian and Rocky
Mountain basins. In: Allen, P. A. and Homewood, P. (Eds.), Foreland
Basins, International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Pub-
lication No. 8, p. 369-392.
Thorsteinsson, R., 1970. Geology of the Arctic Archipelago. In: Douglas,
R. J. W. (Ed.), Geology and Economic Minerals of Canada, Geological
Survey of Canada, Economic Geology Report 1, 5th ed., p. 547-590.
Thorsteinsson, R., 1974. Carboniferous and Permian Stratigraphy of Axel
Heiberg and western Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago,
Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 224.
Tozer, E. T. and Thorsteinsson, R., 1964. Western Queen Elizabeth
Islands, Arctic Archipelago, Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir
332.
Trettin, H. P . , 1978. Devonian stratigraphy, west-central Ellesmere
Island, Arctic Archipelago, Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 302.
and Balkwill, H. R., 1979. Contributions to the tectonic history of
the Innuitian Province, Arctic Canada, Canadian Journal of Earth
Sciences, v. 16, p. 748-769.