Sedimentary processes and organic matter dynamics of Late Cretaceous fluvial floodplains, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada
| dc.contributor.author | Goonetilleke, Muditha K. | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Schindler, Michael (Earth Sciences) | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Brink, Kirstin (Earth Sciences) | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Durkin, Paul R. | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Silva, Ricardo L. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-04-23T16:35:25Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-04-23T16:35:25Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-03-25 | |
| dc.date.submitted | 2025-03-25T22:37:05Z | en_US |
| dc.degree.discipline | Earth Sciences | |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Science (M.Sc.) | |
| dc.description.abstract | Fluvial floodplain deposits preserve evidence of autogenic processes and allogenic signals, providing insights into paleoenvironments and paleoclimates. However, compared to channel deposits, these are underexplored, and studies of sedimentary organic matter within floodplains has been underutilized for extracting information about local processes and allogenic signals. The Upper Campanian Dinosaur Park Formation (DPF) in Dinosaur Provincial Park (DPP), Alberta, provides an ideal setting to explore organic matter dynamics and their paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic implications. This thesis uses exposures from DPP to contribute to answering the overarching research question: can fossil sedimentary organic matter from fluvial rocks reveal detailed paleoenvironments and paleoclimates? This question is divided into two sub-research questions with hypotheses and objectives in the DPF context. The first sub-research question was: can palynofacies discriminate floodplain sub-environments? The hypothesis is that low-thermal maturity floodplain sediments preserve kerogen assemblages reflecting floodplain depositional processes. Objectives included characterizing kerogen distributions within a DPF floodplain sequence, developing a lithofacies-coupled palynofacies model, resolving ambiguities in fluvial palynofacies interpretations, and refining paleoenvironments in the DPF. Results indicated that the section preserved different organic matter assemblages with varying abundance. This understanding, together with sedimentary indices, helped extract floodplain sub-environments, such as levees, swamps, and proximal-distal floodplains, contributing to establishing a lithofacies–palynofacies model for meandering fluvial environments. The model, compared with modern and paleo-fluvial systems, demonstrates compatibility, highlighting organic matter's potential to reveal fluvial paleoenvironments while confirming the hypothesis. The second sub-research question was: can δ13C from floodplain organic matter serve as a chemostratigraphic tool for correlating Upper Campanian terrestrial deposits globally? The hypothesis is that organic matter in floodplain deposits records global carbon cycling processes. Objectives included obtaining an δ13CTOC record from a DPF floodplain sequence and comparing it with global δ13C curves. The δ13CTOC record from the lower DPF aligned with global δ13C trends, capturing the Late Campanian Event, a negative δ13C excursion. This confirms the hypothesis and highlights floodplain deposits as valuable archives of global carbon cycle processes. Recognizing the deposition of DPF during a global carbon cycle disruption helps future studies understand the impact of Earth system disturbances on dinosaurs and other contemporary groups. | |
| dc.description.note | May 2025 | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | University of Manitoba Canadian Energy Geoscience Association | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1993/39037 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.subject | Sedimentology | |
| dc.subject | Organic matter | |
| dc.subject | Floodplains | |
| dc.subject | Late Cretaceous | |
| dc.subject | Dinosaur Park Formation | |
| dc.title | Sedimentary processes and organic matter dynamics of Late Cretaceous fluvial floodplains, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada | |
| local.subject.manitoba | no | |
| oaire.awardNumber | RGPIN-2018-06026 and RGPIN-2024-04888 | |
| oaire.awardTitle | Discovery Grant | |
| project.funder.identifier | NSERC: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000038 | |
| project.funder.name | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada |