Episodic sedimentation on an early Silurian, storm-dominated carbonate ramp, Becscie and Merrimack formations, Anticosti Island, Canada

The 150–160 m thick lowermost Silurian (Rhuddanian) Becscie and Merrimack formations of Anticosti Island, Canada, represent continuous deposition on a shallow, open marine carbonate ramp. Several rock types are identified: (a) laminated and homogenous mudstone; (b) laminated and homogenous packstone; (c) argillaceous mudstone and packstone; (d) calcareous shale; (e) laminated calcisiltite; (f) medium- to fine-grained grainstone; and (g) bio/intraclastic rudstone. These rock types are arranged into five distinct lithofacies: (LF1) calcareous mudstone-shale; (LF2) laminated-homogenous mudstone; (LF3) calcareous grainstone-shale; (LF4) laminated mudstone-grainstone; and (LF5) laminated calcisiltite-grainstone. The sequence reflects deposition on a low-energy, muddy, carbonate to argillaceous ramp subject to short-lived, episodic high-energy storms. These events produced fining-upwards storm units 5–80 cm thick, or tempestites, consisting of: a sharp scoured base overlain by intra/bioclastic rudstone grading upwards into medium-grained grainstone, finely laminated calcisiltite and mudstone, or shale. These are interbedded with low-energy, fairweather mudstones and calcareous shales. Deposition progressed from a carbonate mud-dominated ramp in the Becscie Formation to an argillaceous mud-dominated ramp in the Merrimack Formation. Lateral tempestite proximality trends and lithofacies distribution indicate that the Anticosti Basin deepened to the south-east into the Iapetus Ocean and shallowed towards a SW—NE-orientated shoreline to the north-west. Vertical tempestite proximality trends and lithofacies changes identify third-order eustatic sea-level changes. After an initial deepening at the base of the formation, a shallowing-deepening event dominated the sequence. Several higher order fluctuations, defined by lithofacies and tempestite proximality trends, are superimposed on these changes. The fluctuations identified with the aid of tempestite proximality trends are of an order of magnitude higher than those identified by either lithofacies or palaeontological methods.