CRETACEOUS STUDIES IN ALABAMA
by David T. King, Jr.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

    I. Overview of Cretaceous Studies

                    Brief summary of my research efforts
                    Tribute to Dr. Juergen Reinhardt
                    Sources of funding for my work

    II. Encyclopedia Cretacea

                    Sedimentology
                    Stratigraphy
                    Paleoenvironmental facies
                    Sequence stratigraphic relations
                    Relative sea-level changes
                    Paleogeography
                    Dinosauria

    III. Bibliographia Cretacea

                    Journal papers
                    Guidebook articles
                    Books
                    Technical reports
                    Abstracts
                    Theses directed 
 

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Overview of Cretaceous Studies
by David T. King, Jr.
 

Brief summary of my research efforts

    During 1981-1995, most of my research efforts at Auburn University were directed toward studies of Upper Cretaceous outcrop stratigraphy in Alabama's Coastal Plain area. My overall goal in this work was to understand this area's paleoenvironmental facies relations and sequence stratigraphy in light of relative sea-level change. In Late Cretaceous, this area's passive-margin setting was a place where clastic and carbonate facies co-existed in close proximity, and thus I was afforded an excellent opportunity to study such facies relationships. I think that the Gulf Coastal Plain was overall a more tectonically quiet region than its better known contemporary basin, the Western Interior Seaway, which has received much more attention in stratigraphic research literature.

    My total Cretaceous research efforts to date, which were supported by research grants from the sources listed below, produced a total of 28 journal papers, 6 guidebook articles, 2 books, 2 technical reports, 59 abstracts, and 7 theses directed. For a complete listing of these, please view my Bibliographia Cretacea.

    My work passed through several phases that are evident in the progression of topics in my bibliography of published work and theses directed. Initially, efforts were directed at basic paleoenvironmental analysis, facies relations, and relative sea-level history of the constituent formations. Work started with the Tuscaloosa and Eutaw Formations. Shortly thereafter, work commenced on the Mooreville Chalk and its Arcola Limestone Member, then progressed to the laterally equivalent Blufftown Formation. Next, the laterally equivalent units, Cusseta Sand and Demoplis Chalk were studied. Finally, work was completed on the laterally equivalent Providence Sand and Prairie Bluff Chalk [click here for stratigraphic section]. My work includes a published stratigraphic revision of the Cusseta Sand in Alabama (Skotnicki and King, 1989a). In this total effort, my students and I used a section-measuring and serial section-projection (correlation) technique that I developed especially for work in Coastal Plain monoclinal stratigraphy wherein exposures are limited mostly to small road-cuts and gullies. This technique, which is discussed in some detail in my Southeastern Geology (1987) paper, worked well for us and was a good substitute for continuous section and well core (which was not available in this area). Sequence stratigraphy summaries based on this work were eventually published by me in AAPG Memoir 53 (1992), GSA Special Paper 287 (1994), and the Journal of Sedimentary Research (1994). Several papers were published on marl-limestone couplets in the Arcola interval of the Mooreville Chalk, including a paper in Geology (1990) that has been cited in several reference sources. A few papers of mine deal with relative sea-level change and the role of eustacy versus tectonics in Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy of Alabama and inter-regional correlations. Several papers of mine deal with applied aspects of this stratigraphy including work on fractures in chalk, origin of constituent aquifer facies, and groundwater modeling. Some later papers dealt with the stratigraphic distribution of dinosauria and their remains in Upper Cretaceous strata of the study area.

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Tribute to Dr. Juergen Reinhardt

    I wish to remind readers of the pioneering stratigraphic work done by the late Dr. Juergen Reinhardt (1946-1991), of the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia, who completed the first detailed study of paleoenvironmental facies and relative sea-level changes in eastern Alabama and western Georgia using what we generously call "outcrops" in this area. Juergen was a good friend who was always very willing to offer guidance and encouragement to me when I started my work in 1981, and that continued for the next decade. Juergen's work, begun in the late 1970s, was both an inspiration and a starting point for further inquiry. His untimely death in a motor-vehicle accident, which occurred only a few weeks into his new position as State Geologist of Wisconsin, was a great loss to all who knew him and to the science of stratigraphy. I never go in the field to look at outcrops of Upper Cretaceous strata in this area without thinking about Juergen who seemed to remember every detail of each exposure by heart. [WGNHS link]
 


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Sources of funding for my work

    National Geographic Society: Geological study of the Eutaw aquifer in central Alabama (1996-1998).
    Atlantic Richfield Company, Inc. (Houston): Upper Cretaceous sequence stratigraphy: outcrop to subsurface correlation project (1993-1996).
    Kimerling Charitable Foundation (Birmingham): Upper Cretaceous sandy aquifer facies research, Alabama (1992-1995).
    American Chemical Society/Petroleum Research Fund: Nature and origin of marl-limestone sequences comprising the Upper Cretaceous Arcola         Limestone, central and eastern Alabama (1989-1993).
    USDA/CSRS (through Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station): Investigation of aquifer sand bodies in the Ripley-Providence aquifer, central and eastern Alabama (1989-1991).
    Vice President for Research (Discretionary Fund): Field research on the Upper Cretaceous Ripley Formation of Alabama (1988-1989).
    USGS/Water Resources Research Institute of Alabama: Fracture analysis and sedimentary petrography of Coastal Plain chalks and marls (the Selma Group of Dallas, Lowndes, and Montgomery Counties, Alabama) (1987-1988; Co-PI with E. Bittner).
    Vice President for Research (Competitive Grant-in-Aid): Field studies on the Cretaceous in east and central Alabama (1984-1985).
    Vice President for Research (Competitive Grant-in-Aid): Field studies on the chalks and marls in the inner Coastal Plain of central Alabama (1982-1984).
    General Crude Oil Minerals Company (Houston): Facies analysis of the Tuscaloosa Group (Cretaceous) in Alabama-Georgia (1981-1984).

    Grants to my graduate students who worked on Cretaceous studies for their M.S. theses:
        Geological Society of America
                    Anne I. Nelson (M.S., 2000)
        Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies
                    Anne I. Nelson (M.S., 2000)
                    H. Alexander R. Wood, III (M.S., 1999)
                    Ira F. Holston, Jr. (M.S., 1987)
                    Jerry A. Wylie (M.S., 1986)
        Alabama Academy of Sciences
                    Stephen P. Castleman (1984-1987)
                    Jerry A. Wylie (M.S., 1986)
        Sigma Xi - Scientific Research Society of North America
                    Stephen P. Castleman (1984-1987)
                    Michael C. Skotnicki (M.S., 1985) 

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Encyclopedia Cretacea

by David T. King, Jr.
 

    This page has brief overviews of selected topics. For more information, see my published work referenced in Bibliographia Cretacea below.

Sedimentology

    Sedimentology of Upper Cretaceous strata in central and eastern Alabama [click here for map] can be summarized by saying that there is a close relationship between grain size and water depth. In nearshore facies, medium to very fine sands dominate. Where wave energy was relatively low, lignitic clayey sands prevail. Where wave energy was relatively high, better sorted more quartzose sands are present. In shallow subtidal and shelfal environments, a mixture of very fine sand, micaceous clay, and calcareous sediment is common. With increasing water depth in the shelfal realm, marl (clay-carbonate mixtures) and marly chalk are more common. No true chalk exists in the study area's stratigraphic section, even though that word is used as a lithic rank term in some unit names (e.g., Mooreville Chalk). For the most detailed information on sedimentology, I recommend reading papers by Skotnicki and King (1987), King (1987), King et al. (1991), and King and Skotnicki (1994).

    One is always at a loss as to how to describe definitively these strata in this study area, as they are not really rocks or sediments. Instead, they are best thought of as 'moderately compacted sediments, which are not cemented.' They are what some have called "near rocks." Early studies of the area referred to the clastics as "sands" and the carbonates as "rotten limestone." The latter term implies that the strata here were once limestone that is now rotten, whereas in fact these strata were never hard, cemented material. Perhaps some day there will be an adequate term for the type of material we have here.

    I wonder what our current petrologic nomenclature for sedimentary rocks would have been like if it had been developed in this region rather than at Penn State and the University of Texas by people who worked with hard, Paleozoic rocks. The sediments here display mixtures of all proportions of sand, clay, and carbonate, and thus blur the traditional lines between petrologic categories of sediments and sedimentary rock types.

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Stratigraphy

    The Upper Cretacous stratigraphic section in central and eastern Alabama is approximately 450 m (1475 ft) in total thickness. This section is a gentle monocline that dips south to southwest at a rate of approximately 7.5 m/km (35 ft/mi).

    While there are several references out there that depict Alabama's central and eastern Coastal Plain Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy in different ways, I prefer the diagram that is Figure 1 in the guidebook article by King and Skotnicki (1989). This figure [click here] shows the physical relationships between units in the manner that is consistent with all our observations to date. The strata are divided into five "intervals" with one stratigraphic unit or one set of laterally equivalent units per interval. These intervals, in stratigraphic order, are: Eutaw; Mooreville-Blufftown; Demopolis-Cusseta; Ripley; and Prairie Bluff-Providence. Contacts at the top of the Eutaw, Mooreville-Blufftown; Demopolis-Cusseta; and Prairie Bluff-Providence intervals are relatively flat (low relief), and the contacts at the base of the Eutaw and Prairie Bluff-Providence intervals are highly irregular (high relief). This rendering of Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy is not dressed up with sequence stratigraphic interpretation, and is the mental picture that I hope future researchers will carry into the field with them.

    In two main papers, I have tried to connect global sequence stratigraphic boundaries with key stratigraphic surfaces in central and eastern Alabama's Upper Cretaceous section. This approach was first presented and discussed by King and Skotnicki (1994) and reviewed again by King (1994). These papers describe 13 Upper Cretaceous depositional sequences, which span late Santonian (85 Ma) to latest Maastrichtian (76 Ma). Each depositional sequence is composed of paralic and shelfal paleoenvironmental facies. The key figure summarizing these relations [click here] is reproduced in both papers cited above.

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Paleoenvironmental facies

    One remarkable thing about central and eastern Alabama's Upper Cretaceous stratigraphic section is that the same set of paleoenvironmental facies occurs over and over again in different units. Barrier-island paleoenvironmental facies in one unit look very much like barrier-island facies in another. Same applies to lagoonal facies, shelfal, etc. The set of paleoenvironmental facies for the study area includes: back-island (lagoonal); barrier-island; lower-shoreface; inner-shelf; and shelf. Descriptions of these basic facies are given in articles by King and Skotnicki (1992 and 1994). Brief descriptions of these facies are also posted here [click here].

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Sequence stratigraphic relations

    In my Journal of Sedimentary Research paper (King, 1994), I discuss the close relationship of Upper Cretaceous stratigraphic breaks in this area and global sequence stratigraphy. This relationship is summarized in two figures (Figure 3 and 4) in that paper. As shown in Figure 3 of that paper [click here], there is a direct correlation between what I call "depositional sequences" of this area and the global coastal onlap sequences of the current global sea-level cycle chart. As shown in Figure 4 of that paper [click here], there is an evident connection between both local and plate-wide tectonic events and coeval development of depositional sequences in the study area.

    Within each depositional sequence, there is a transgressive systems tract (TST), a high-stand systems tract (HST), or both [click here for figure]. TSTs generally become more fine-grained in an upward direction, and they have a basal transgressive sand layer. HSTs tend to become more fine-grained in an upward direction, and they commence at a shelfal condensed section (or zone) or a paralic maximum flooding surface [click here].

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Relative sea-level changes

    I think that central and eastern Alabama, like most areas of the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain during Late Cretaceous, was a relatively stable area as compared to, for example, the Western Interior Seaway. Relative sea-level changes in the Gulf Coast show an apparently strong connection with global eustasy, except for those relatively brief intervals where tectonic stresses appear to challenge the reign of eustasy as master of stratigraphic cyclicity [click here for summary figure from King, 1994].

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Paleogeography

    During a little over half of the time interval represented by Upper Cretaceous strata of Alabama Coastal Plain monocline (late Santonian to latest Maastrictian, or approximately 18 million years), the strike of shoreline was approximately northwest-southeast. However, during the balance (latest Campanian and almost all of Maastrictian), the shoreline was more nearly east-west [click here for figure]. This shoreline dynamic was apparently due to effects of Appalachian headland topography, which resulted in a more northwest-southeast strike during second-order high-stands of relative sea level and more east-west during second-order low stands [click here for figure from King, 1994]. In addition to regional depositional strike variations, local variations and shifts in the relative positions of parallel shorelines characterize some intervals [click here for figure].

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Upper Cretaceous aquifers

    Upper Cretaceous aquifers of the Coastal Plain monocline in central and eastern Alabama are mainly barrier-island tidal inlet and shoreface paleoenvironmental facies within clastic dominated lithostratigraphic units, particularly Eutaw Formation, Blufftown Formation, Cusseta Sand, Ripley Sand, and Providence Sand. These aquifers have porosities that are typically about 100 darcys [see table from King, 1994].

    Aquifers in the study area are confined by their association with clay-rich and(or) carbonate-rich facies within both transgressive and high-stand systems tracts of each depositional sequence (King, 1994). Most aquifers are within barrier-island paleoenvironmental facies and thus have a generally linear, strike-oriented aspect and a predictable stratigraphic distribution in the sequence-stratigraphic context [click here for tables from King, 1994]. Other, minor aquifer sands may have a linear, dip-oriented aspect, or a sheet or lobe geometry.

    There are two basic scenarios for outcrop and shallow subsurface occurrence of Upper Cretaceous confined aquifers within a depositional sequence framework. A figure in King (1994) shows these scenarios, one with east-west depositional strike, and the other with northwest-southeast strike [click here for figure from King, 1994].

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Dinosauria

    There are four main groups of dinosaurs known from Alabama and other southeastern states. These are the hadrosaurs, albertosaurids, nodosaurs, and ornithomimids. Of these groups, the hadrosaurs are the most numerous. Twenty-one dinosaurs have been found in Alabama, including one albertosaurid that I found in Montgomery County.

    Dinosaur bones are not found where they lived in Alabama or other southeastern states, but rather they are found in sediments where they floated offshore after death and became entombed in soft sediment or in nearshore deposits. Because of this "bloat and float" mechanism, many heavier bones are missing from southeastern dinosaur skeletons. Most southeastern dinosaur skeletons are far from complete.

    Dinosaur bones occur in two main ways in Upper Cretaceous strata of the study area. The first is in barrier-island paleoenvironmental facies (especially shoreface deposits) wherein the bones have been reworked and are totally disarticulated. These bones are typically worn and occur in association with shallow-marine organisms. The second is in shelfal deposits where the bones were part of a sinking carcass that made its way out onto the continental shelf from land.

    The narrow strip of land that separated Appalachian highlands from the continental shelf waters covering Alabama's Coastal Plain region was a "dinosaur superhighway" during Late Cretaceous. This superhighway allowed dinosaurs to move from a vast area behind the Appalachians and east of the Western Interior Seaway and go to broader Atlantic Coastal Plains extant at that time.

    If you want to know more than this brief introduction to southeastern dinosaurs allows, I have a separate page on Alabama dinosaurs that you can link to by going back to my main page and looking under "Alabama dinosaurs." 

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Bibliographia Cretacea
by David T. King, Jr.
 

Journal papers

King, D. T., Jr., 1998, Primary marl-limestone parasequences lacking orbital periodicity, Upper Cretaceous, Alabama, U.S.A.: Theophrastus' Contributions to Advanced Studies in Geology (Athens, Greece), v. II, p. 15-29.

King, D. T., Jr. and E. D. Jones, 1997, Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of the southeastern United States: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 47, p. 263-269.

King, D. T., Jr., 1995b, Dinosaurian stratigraphy and modes of occurrence in the Alabama-Georgia Gulf Coastal Plain: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 45, p. 327-332.

King, D. T., Jr., 1995a, Primary, non-Milankovitch marl-limestone parasequences, Upper Cretaceous, Alabama, U.S.A.: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 45, p. 333-339.

King, D. T., Jr., 1994b, Upper Cretaceous marine depositional sequences in Alabama and their probable correlation with the Western Interior Seaway: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 44, p. 315-320.

King, D. T., Jr., 1994a, Upper Cretaceous depositional sequences in the Alabama Gulf Coastal Plain: their characteristics, origin, and constituent clastic aquifers: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. B64, p. 258-265.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1994b, Parasequence-bounding sandy event beds, Upper Cretaceous, Alabama: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 44, p. 321-326.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1994a, Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy and sea-level history, Gulf Coastal Plain of central and eastern Alabama: Geological Society of America Special Publication 287, p. 27-42.

Savrda, C. E., and D. T. King, Jr., 1993, Transgressive log-ground and Teredolites lagerstatte in the Upper Cretaceous (lower Campanian) Mooreville Chalk, central Alabama: Ichnos, v. 3, p. 69-77.

King, D. T., Jr., 1993d, Eustasy and tectonics: the late Santonian to end-Cretaceous section in Alabama: GCS-SEPM Foundation 14th Annual Research Conference Proceedings, p. 69-75.

King, D. T., Jr., 1993c, Eustatic and tectonic effects within sequence stratigraphy of the outcropping paralic-marine section, Upper Cretaceous, Alabama: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 43, p. 157-164.

King, D. T., Jr., 1993b, Depositional sequence analysis and the characteristics of some confined clastic aquifers, Upper Cretaceous, Alabama: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 43, p. 165-172.

King, D. T., Jr., 1993a, Paleogeography of upper Santonian to uppermost Maastrichtian coastal-onlap stratigraphy, Alabama Gulf Coastal Plain: GCS-SEPM Foundation 13th Annual Research Conference Proceedings, p. 69-75.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1992, Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy and relative sea-level changes, Gulf Coastal Plain of eastern and central Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 53, p. 317-331.

King, D. T., Jr., M. C. Skotnicki, and J. P. Abbott-King, 1991, Sedimentary facies, sea-level history, and paleogeography of the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Providence Sand, central and eastern Coastal Plain of Alabama: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 41, p. 364-373.

King, D. T., Jr., and M.C. Skotnicki, 1990, Upper Cretaceous sequence stratigraphy, Alabama: in Armentrout, J.M., et al., editors, Sequence stratigraphy as an exploration tool. Concepts and practices in the Gulf Coast: GCS-SEPM Foundation 11th Annual Research Conference Proceedings, p. 199-212.

King, D. T., Jr., 1990c, Facies stratigraphy and relative sea-level history -- Upper Cretaceous Eutaw Formation, central and eastern Alabama: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 40, p. 381-388.

King, D. T., Jr., 1990b, Genesis of Upper Cretaceous marl-limestone bedding, Alabama: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 40, p. 389-396.

King, D. T., Jr., 1990a, Upper Cretaceous marl-limestone sequences of Alabama: Possible products of sea-level change, not climate forcing: Geology, v. 18, p. 19-22. [Reprinted in Journal of Geoscience Translations (China), v. 9 (1992), p. 40-45]

Holston, I., and D. T. King, Jr., 1989, Depositional facies, porosity loss, and cementation in the Upper Cretaceous Mooreville and Demopolis chalks, central Alabama: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 39, p. 105-112.

Skotnicki, M. C., and D. T. King, Jr., 1989b, Depositional facies and eustatic effects in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Ripley Formation, central and eastern Alabama: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 39, p. 275-284.

Skotnicki, M. C., and D. T. King, Jr., 1989a, Facies analysis and stratigraphic revision of the Cusseta Sand, eastern Coastal Plain of Alabama: Southeastern Geology, v. 29, p. 235-253.

Bittner, E., I. Holston, and D. T. King, Jr., 1988, Prediction and detection of potential high-permeability zones within the Alabama Coastal Plain chalky marls: Bulletin of the Association of Engineering Geologists, v. 25, p. 508-514.

King, D. T., Jr., J. P. Abbott-King, G. L. Bell, Jr., J. P. Lamb, Jr., J. L. Dobie, and D. R. Womochel, 1988, Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the Turnipseed Dinosaur Site in the Upper Cretaceous Demopolis Chalk of Montgomery County, Alabama: Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, v. 59, p. 34-48.

Bittner, E., D. T. King, Jr., and I. Holston, 1988, Fracturing in the Upper Cretaceous Selma Group chalky marls, Inner Coastal Plain of Alabama: Stratigraphic (facies) control of joint development and regional joint-strike orientations: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 38, p. 277-282.

King, D. T., Jr., 1987, Sedimentary facies, depositional environments, and sea-level history -- Mooreville Chalk, Lower Campanian of east-central Alabama: Southeastern Geology, v. 27, p. 141-154.

Skotnicki, M. C., and D. T. King, Jr., 1986, Depositional facies and sea-level dynamics of the Blufftown Formation, Lower Campanian of east Alabama: Southeastern Geology, v. 27, p. 53-67.

King, D. T., Jr., and J. A. Wylie, 1986, Sedimentary facies and sea-level cycles of the Upper Cretaceous Mooreville Chalk, central Alabama: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 36, p. 489-495.

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Guidebook articles

King, D. T., Jr., 1997, The Wetumpka impact crater and the Late Cretaceous impact record: Alabama Geological Society Guidebook 34c, p. 25-56.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1989, Stratigraphic relations of Upper Cretaceous formations in the inner Coastal Plain: The view from eastern and central Alabama: Alabama Geological Society Guidebook 26, p. 102-105.

Reinhardt, J., L. W. Smith, and D. T. King, Jr., 1986, Sedimentary facies of the Upper Cretaceous Tuscaloosa Group in eastern Alabama: Geological Society of America, DNAG Centennial Field Guide, Southeastern Region, p. 363-367.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1986, Facies relations and depositional history of the Upper Cretaceous Blufftown Formation in eastern Alabama and coeval shelf sediments in central Alabama: in Reinhardt, J., editor, Stratigraphy and sedimentology of Continental Nearshore, and marine Cretaceous sediments of the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain: Atlanta, Georgia Geological Society, Guidebook for the Annual Meeting of SEPM/AAPG, Field Trip No. 3, p. 10-18.

Smith, L. W., and D. T. King, Jr., 1983, The Tuscaloosa Formation: Fluvial sedimentary facies, their correlation, and relationship to basement configurations: Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Alabama Geological Society Guidebook 20, p. 11-15.

King, D. T., Jr., 1983, Shelf sedimentary facies, their cycles, and correlation: Lower Selma Chalk of Montgomery County, Alabama: Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Alabama Geological Society Guidebook 20, p. 21-25.

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Books

King, D.T., Jr., 1996, Alabama dinosaurs, 2d. ed.:  Auburn, Alabama, Auburn University Custom Publishing, 186p. [ordering information]

King, D.T., Jr., 1993, Alabama dinosaurs:  Auburn, Alabama, 21p.

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Technical reports

H.A.R. Wood, III, D.T. King, Jr., and M.-K. Lee, 1999, Stratigraphy and groundwater modeling of the Eutaw aquifer in Montgomery, Alabama: National Geographic Society, Final Research Report for Grant No. 5649-96, 9p.

Bittner, E., and D. T. King, Jr., 1988, Fracture analysis and sedimentary petrography of Coastal Plain chalks and marls (the Selma Group of Dallas, Lowndes, and Montgomery Counties, Alabama): Auburn, AL, Water Resources Research Institute, Auburn University, Completion Report No. 3, 23p.

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Abstracts

Wood, H. A. R., III, D. T. King, Jr., and M.-K. Lee, 1998, Paleoenvironments and hydrogeology of the Eutaw aquifer in Montgomery, Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 82, p. 1795.

Wood, H. A. R., III, D. T. King, Jr., and M.-K. Lee, 1997, Paleoenvironments and hydrogeology, Eutaw aquifer, Alabama: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 29, no. 6, p. A-428.

King, D. T., Jr., 1997b, Basal Paleogene (KT boundary) facies in the Gulf region: Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 29, no. 3, p. 28.

King, D. T., Jr., 1997a, Upper Cretaceous alluvial-plain facies, eastern Alabama: Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 29, no. 3, p. 27-28.

Jones, E. D., and D. T. King, Jr., 1997b, Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of the southeastern United States: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 81, p. 1578-1579.

Jones, E. D., and D. T. King, Jr., 1997a, Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of the southeastern United States: Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 29, no. 3, p. 26-27.

King, D. T., Jr., 1996c, Sequence stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous alluvial plain facies, Tuscaloosa Formation, eastern Alabama: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 46, p. 469-470.

King, D. T., Jr., 1996b, Sequence stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous alluvial plain facies, Tuscaloosa Formation, Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 80, p. 1506.

King, D. T., Jr., 1996a, Heirarchical scales in sequence stratigraphy, Upper Cretaceous, eastern Gulf of Mexico, USA: Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 28, no. 2, p. 18.

King, D. T., Jr., 1995e, Dinosaurian stratigraphy and modes of occurrence in the Alabama-Georgia Gulf Coastal Plain: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 27, no. 6, p. A-387.

King, D. T., Jr., 1995d, Heterogeneity in barrier island and associated facies, Cretaceous regional aquifer system, Alabama: 1st SEPM Congress on Sedimentary Geology, Congress Program and Abstracts, p. 76.

King, D. T., Jr., 1995c, Dinosaurian stratigraphy and modes of occurrence in the southeastern region, U.S.A.: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 79, p. 1591.

King, D. T., Jr., 1995b, Primary, non-Milankovitch marl-limestone parasequences, Upper Cretaceous, Alabama, U.S.A.: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 79, p. 1591.

King, D. T., Jr., 1995a, Sequence stratigraphy and heterogeneity in the Upper Cretaceous regional aquifer system, Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Annual Convention Program, v. 4, p. 50A.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1994, Parasequence-bounding sandy event beds in the Upper Cretaceous, Alabama: their origin, periodicity, and hydrogeologic significance: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 78, p. 1462-1463.

King, D. T., Jr., 1994b, Overview of Upper Cretaceous marine depositional sequences in Alabama and their probable correlation with coeval depositional sequences in the Western Interior Seaway: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 78, p. 1462.

King, D. T., Jr., 1994a, Sedimentologic characteristics of some U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers, a facies-analysis approach: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Annual Convention Program, v. 3, p. 187-188.

King, D. T., Jr., 1993c, Eustatic and tectonic effects in the upper Santonian to uppermost Maastrichtian, Cretaceous aquifer system, Alabama Gulf Coastal Plain: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 25, no. 6, p. A404.

King, D. T., Jr., 1993b, Sedimentary facies analysis and the characteristics of some Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 77, p. 1590.

King, D. T., Jr., 1993a, Eustatic and tectonic effects in sequence stratigraphy of the paralic-shelfal marine section, Upper Cretaceous, Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 77, p. 1589-1590.

King, D. T., Jr., 1992b, Paleogeography of upper Santonian to uppermost Maastrichtian coastal-onlap stratigraphy, Alabama Gulf Coastal Plain: GCS-SEPM Foundation 13th Annual Research Conference, Programs and Abstracts, p. 36-37.

King, D. T., Jr., 1992a, Paleogeography of Upper Cretaceous (85 to 67 Ma) paralic and shelfal facies, Alabama Gulf Coastal Plain: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 23, no. 5, p. A292.

Savrda, C. E., and D. T. King, Jr., 1992, A boring story: Teredolites and xylic substrates in transgressive marine deposits, Mooreville Chalk (Upper Cretaceous), central Alabama: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 24, no. 7, p. A67.

King, D. T., Jr., 1991b, Stratigraphy of sandy aquifer facies in monoclinal (Coastal Plain) settings: a U.S. Gulf Coast example: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 23, no. 5, p. A294.

King, D. T., Jr., 1991a, Marl-limestone parasequences in high-stand systems tract stratigraphy (Upper Cretaceous, U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain): Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 23, no. 5, p. A256.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1991, Predicting the distribution of Upper Cretaceous aquifers using sea-level analysis and regional paleogeography, Alabama Coastal Plain: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [AAPG Meeting Abstracts], v. 75, p. 609-610.

King, D. T., Jr., M. C. Skotnicki, and J. P. Abbott-King, 1991, Sedimentary facies and relative sea-level analysis of the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Providence Sand, central and eastern Coastal Plain of Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 75, p. 1528.

King, D. T., Jr., 1990d, Marl-limestone bedding and sea-level change, Upper Cretaceous of Alabama, U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain: 13th International Sedimentological Congress, Abstracts of Papers, p. 121-122.

King, D. T., Jr., 1990c, Genesis of Upper Cretaceous marl-limestone bedding, Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 74, p. 1500.

King, D. T., Jr., 1990b, Facies stratigraphy and relative sea-level history -- Upper Cretaceous Eutaw Formation, central and eastern Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 74, p. 1499-1500.

King, D. T., Jr., 1990a, Marl-limestone bedding and sea-level change, Upper Cretaceous of Alabama Coastal Plain: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [AAPG Meeting Abstracts], v. 74, p. 695.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1990c, Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy and relative sea-level changes, Gulf Coastal Plain, Alabama: GCS-SEPM Foundation 11th Annual Research Conference, Program and Abstracts, p. 199.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1990b, Upper Cretaceous sedimentary facies analysis and regional paleogeography: Prediction of sandy aquifer distribution in the Alabama Coastal Plain: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 22, no. 7, p. A234.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1990a, Facies stratigraphy of the Ripley-Providence aquifer in Alabama: Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 22, no. 4, p. 22.

King, D. T., Jr., J. P. Abbott-King, and J. P. Lamb, Jr., 1990, Sedimentology of a rare, nearly complete tyrannosaurid dinosaur in chalky marl, Upper Cretaceous of Alabama: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 22, no. 7, p. A236.

King, D. T., Jr., 1989, Marl-limestone bedding and sea-level change in the Upper Cretaceous of Alabama: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 21, no. 6, p. A167.

Skotnicki, M. C., and D. T. King, Jr., 1989, Depositional facies and eustatic effects in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Ripley Formation, central and eastern Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 73, p. 1193.

Holston, I., D. T. King, Jr., and E. Bittner, 1989, Porosity and cementation in Upper Cretaceous Mooreville and Demopolis Chalks, central Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 73, p. 1184.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1989d, Sequence stratigraphy of the outcropping Upper Cretaceous strata in eastern and central Alabama: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 21, no. 6, p. A311.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1989c, Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Maastrichtian) stratigraphic breaks in Alabama Coastal Plain: Criteria for recognition: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [AAPG Meeting Abstracts], v. 73, p. 372.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1989b, Upper Cretaceous (Campanian and Maastrichtian) stratigraphic breaks in Alabama Coastal Plain: Criteria for recognition and relationship to eustatic sea-level change: Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 21, no. 3, p. 24.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1989a, Upper Cretaceous facies stratigraphy and eustatic effects, Coastal Plain of Alabama: Michael T. Halbouty Continental Margins Conference (Galveston, Texas), Abstracts Volume, p. K1.

Bittner, E., D. T. King, Jr., and I. Holston, 1988b, Facies analysis and prediction of fracture zones and enhanced permeability in chalky marls of the Alabama Coastal Plain: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 20, no. 7, p. A177.

Bittner, E., D. T. King, Jr., and I. Holston, 1988a, Fracturing in the Selma Group chalky marls, Inner Coastal Plain of Alabama: Stratigraphic (facies) control of joint development and regional joint-strike orientations: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 72, p. 1109-1110.

King, D. T., Jr., I. Holston, and A. Espy, 1988, Scanning electron microscopy of the Cretaceous Selma Chalk in Dallas County, Alabama: Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, v. 59, p. 145.

King, D. T., Jr., M. C. Skotnicki, and J. A. Wylie, 1988, Overview of sedimentation and sea-level change in the Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) of the northern margin, Gulf of Mexico: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [AAPG Meeting Abstracts], v. 72, p. 206.

Holston, I., E. Bittner, and D. T. King, Jr., 1988, The Selma Chalk aquaclude -- Basement-related fracture systems and stratigraphy of fracture-bearing chalky marl facies and porous sandy beds: Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 20, no. 4, p. 270-271

Skotnicki, M. C., and D. T. King, Jr., 1987, Turbidite-emplaced, storm-generated detrital event beds in the Cretaceous of Alabama: Basinward correlation across 25 km: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 19, no. 7, p. 847.

Bittner, E., I. Holston, and D. T. King, Jr., 1987, Geophysical, stratigraphic, remote-sensing analysis of the Selma Group chalks and marls, Inner Coastal Plain of Alabama: Association of Engineering Geologists, Abstracts and Programs, p. 34.

Castleman, S. P., and D. T. King, Jr., 1987, Cretaceous limestone/marl couplets of the Arcola interval: A case for episodic sea-level dynamics, south-central Alabama: Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 19, no. 2, p. 78.

Violette, D. L., and D. T. King, Jr., 1987, Storm-associated sand beds of the Santonian Eutaw Formation of the Chattahoochee River Valley area: Preliminary descriptions and significance: Journal of the Alabama of Academy Science, v. 58, p. 97.

King, D. T., Jr., and J. P. Abbott-King, 1987, Stratigraphic relations, age, and depositional environments of the Turnipseed Dinosaur Site in the Demopolis Chalk (Upper Cretaceous), Montgomery County, Alabama: Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, v. 58, p. 97.

King, D. T., Jr., M. C. Skotnicki, J. A. Wylie, and S. P. Castleman, 1986, Upper Cretaceous clastic to hemipelagic carbonate facies relations along a 200 km dip section in the Coastal Plain of Alabama: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 18, no. 6, p. 657.

King, D. T., Jr., and M. C. Skotnicki, 1986, Facies stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous chalk-to-clastic transition zone and discontinuity-bounded genetic packages created by rapid sea-level change on Campanian shelf of central and eastern Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [AAPG Meeting Abstracts], v. 70, p. 607.

Castleman, S. P., and D. T. King, Jr., 1986, Depositional environment of limestones and intercalated marls, Arcola interval (Campanian) of Mooreville Chalk, Upper Cretaceous, central Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [AAPG Meeting Abstracts], v. 70, p. 572.

Wylie, J. A., and D. T. King, Jr., 1986b, Mooreville Chalk - Upper Cretaceous sedimentary facies and sea-level cycles, west-central Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [AAPG Meeting Abstracts], v. 70, p. 665.

Wylie, J. A., and D. T. King, Jr., 1986a, Sedimentary facies and sea-level cycles of the Upper Cretaceous Mooreville Chalk, west-central Alabama: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin [GCAGS Meeting Abstracts], v. 70, p. 1190-1191.

King, D. T., Jr., 1985, Stratigraphic significance of the Teichichnus sands in the Mooreville Chalk (Campanian, east-central Alabama): Journal of the Alabama of Academy Science, v. 56, p. 99.

King, D. T., Jr., 1984, Upper Cretaceous shelf and shelf bar facies and sedimentary cycles in lower part of the Selma Group, central Alabama: Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting Abstracts with Programs, v. 16, no. 6, p. 559.

* * * * *
Theses directed

Nelson, A.I., 2000, Geological mapping of Wetumpka impact crater area, Elmore County, Alabama [unpublished M.S. thesis]:  Auburn, Alabama, Auburn University, 187p.

Wood, H.A.R., III, 1999, Three-dimensional groundwater modeling of the Eutaw aquifer in Montgomery, Alabama [unpublished M.S. thesis]: Auburn, Alabama, Auburn University, 198 p.

Holston, I.F., Jr., 1991, Post-depositional diagenetic and structural history of the Mooreville and Demopolis Chalks, Dallas County area, Alabama [unpublished M.S. thesis]: Auburn, Alabama, Auburn University, 99 p.

Castleman, S.P., 1987, Correlation and depositional environments of the intercalated calcispheric limestones and fossiliferous marls, Arcola interval of the Mooreville Chalk, Upper Cretaceous (Campanian), south-central Alabama [unpublished thesis draft]: Auburn, Alabama, Auburn University, 182 p. {Note: This thesis was not completed and defended for an M.S. degree.}

Wylie, J.A., 1987, Sedimentary facies, depositional environments, and sea-level cycles of the Upper Cretaceous Mooreville Chalk (Campanian), west-central Alabama [unpublished M.S. thesis]: Auburn, Alabama, Auburn University, 127 p.

Skotnicki, M.C., 1985, Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the Upper Cretaceous Blufftown Formation, eastern Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama [unpublished M.S. thesis]: Auburn, Alabama, Auburn University, 149 p.

Smith, L.W., 1984, Depositional setting and stratigraphy of the Tuscaloosa Formation, central Alabama to west-central Georgia [unpublished M.S. thesis]: Auburn, Alabama, Auburn University, 122 p.

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