Tippecanoe sequence

The Tippecanoe sequence was the cratonic sequence--that is, the marine transgression--that followed the Sauk sequence; it extended from roughly the middle Ordovician to the early Devonian.

Sedimentary characteristics

After the regression of the Sauk Sea early in the Ordovician, the exposed craton for a time underwent vigorous erosion, due to being located in a tropical climate; indeed, at this point in the Phanerozoic the North American continent roughly straddled the equator.(Monroe and Wicander, 533-4)

The Tippecanoe transgression ended this period of erosion, beginning with the deposition of clean sandstones across the craton, followed by abundant carbonate deposition.(Monroe and Wicander, 534-5) In the east these carbonates gradually become shales, representing sediments eroded from highlands created in the Taconic orogeny.(Monroe and Wicander, 534-5)

The Tippecanoe sequence may have been the deepest of the Phanerozoic. At one point during the Silurian period, the Taconic highlands--which later became the Appalachian Mountains--were the only part of North America that was not submerged.(Monroe and Wicander, 537) The massive evaporite deposits of the Michigan Basin were created during this period.(Monroe and Wicander, 537-8)

The Tippecanoe sequence ended with a regression in the early Devonian, to be followed later by the Kaskaskia sequence.

See also:

• Cratonic sequence

Reference:

• Monroe, James S., and Reed Wicander. The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution, 2nd ed. Belmont: West Publishing Company, 1997. ISBN 0314095772