Nd isotopes of Atoka Formation (Pennsylvanian) turbidites displaying anomalous east-flowing paleocurrents in the frontal Ouachita Belt of Oklahoma; implications for regional sediment dispersal

Within the Pennsylvanian Atoka Formation of Oklahoma, strata in the frontal Ouachita belt deposited by east-flowing turbidity currents yield the same epsilon (sub Nd) values as strata in more interior parts of the Ouachita orogen deposited by west-flowing turbidity currents. The congruence of epsilon (sub Nd) values throughout the Atoka Formation is consistent with wide-spread Paleozoic dispersal and recycling of detritus from the evolving Appalachian orogen across the surface of the Laurentian craton and along its margins. Sandstone in the olistostromal Johns Valley Shale underlying the Atoka Formation yields a similar epsilon (sub Nd) value, reflective of reworking Appalachian-derived sediment from the Paleozoic Oklahoma shelf succession.