Palaeosols and palaeokarst beneath subaerial unconformities in an Upper Devonian isolated reef complex (Judy Creek), Swan Hills Formation,west‐central Alberta,Canada

Subaerial unconformities are used widely for palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographic reconstructions, sequence stratigraphy and petroleum reservoir assessments. Recognition and interpretation of these unconformities, particularly those with associated palaeosols, may be problematic in Lower and Middle Palaeozoic carbonate successions because of the collective effect of limited land plant development, superficial similarities between some pedogenic and marine features, and overprinting by later diagenesis. The isolated Judy Creek reef complex in the Lower Frasnian Swan Hills Formation in west‐central Alberta, Canada, contains two subaerial unconformities, R0.5 and R4, which formed as a consequence of relative sea‐level falls of at least regional scale. Deposits beneath these unconformities have distinctive palaeosol and palaeokarst features. The lower unconformity, R0.5, occurs at the top of a progradational reefal phase of stromatoporoid rudstones–floatstones and peloidal packstones–grainstones and has been recognized in at least one other isolated Swan Hills reef complex (Snipe Lake). Palaeosol–palaeokarst profiles beneath this unconformity extend as deep as ca 2 m below the unconformity. These profiles are characterized by the presence of small rhizoliths, laminar calcretes, ferroan dolomite glaebules, desiccation cracks, breccias, green shale and solution vugs. The upper unconformity, R4, occurs at the top of a backstepping phase of reef growth and has been correlated widely between isolated reefs and carbonate banks on both the western and eastern shelves of the Central Alberta Basin. Palaeosol–palaeokarst profiles, extending as deep as ca 9·5 m beneath the R4 unconformity, are distinguished by abundant, sub‐horizontal desiccation cracks filled with green shale, occurring in peloidal wackestones–packstones. Comparison of the R0.5 and R4 profiles indicates that the major intrinsic controls on the development and modification of the profiles are parent‐material lithology, particularly the prior degree of induration and particle size; the low topographic relief at the top of the reef interior; and limited vegetation of the exposed reef top due to unfavourable growth conditions and geographic isolation. In addition to climate, the major extrinsic controls are the extent of relative sea‐level fall, estimated to be 2·5 to 3 m and 13 to 14 m associated with the R0.5 and R4 unconformities, respectively, and the degree of shoreface erosion during the ensuing marine transgression, estimated to be up to 3 m. This study highlights the complex interplay of mainly physical and chemical processes influencing the formation of subaerial unconformities in carbonate environments during the Devonian, before major evolutionary innovations among vascular land plants led to more intense pedogenesis.